The Council of Flanders ( nl, Raad van Vlaanderen, french: Conseil de Flandres), primarily sitting in the

Gravensteen The Gravensteen ( Dutch; literally "Castle of the Counts") is a medieval castle at Ghent, East Flanders in Belgium. The current castle dates from 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

from 1407, was a

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...

operating under the authority of the Count of Flanders and exercising jurisdiction throughout the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Yp ...

History

The council grew from less formalised exercises of jurisdiction by the count of Flanders and his advisers, with no clear date of origin.

Philip the Bold Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg. Philip II w ...

attempted to found a permanent court with codified rules and jurisdiction at Lille, at the same time as establishing the Lille Chamber of Accounts to audit government expenditure. However, the cities

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

and

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality c ...

, and the Franc of Bruges, refused to recognise the council as having appellate jurisdiction over their own magistrates.Jean Léonard Henri Ganser,
Le Conseil de Flandres
' (Ghent, 1846). In 1407 the council was relocated to Ghent, and on 17 August 1409 Duke

John the Fearless John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs durin ...

issued the council's statutes in 44 articles. Article 26 specified that in closed hearings the council was to use French, and in open hearings the choice of language was to be left to the parties. During the 15th century when the city of Ghent was at odds with the Duke of Burgundy, the council often sat elsewhere – at various times in Kortrijk, Dendermonde, Ypres or Bruges. It was finally re-established to Ghent in 1498. The counts of Flanders had recognised the appellate jurisdiction of the

Parlement of Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

for suits arising in those parts of Flanders anciently attached to the

kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

(essentially those parts west of the river

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

), but in 1521

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

decreed that the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ''De Grote Raad der Nederlanden te Mechelen''; French: ''le grand conseil des Pays-Bas à Malines''; German: ''der Grosse Rat der Niederlände zu Mecheln'') w ...

had sole appellate jurisdiction for the whole county of Flanders. By the

Treaty of Cambrai The Treaty of Cambrai is also known as the Paz de las Damas or Paix des Dames (Ladies' Peace). On August 3, 1529, this agreement ended a war between the French king Francis I and the Spanish Habsburg emperor Charles V. The treaty temporarily ...

(1529),

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

renounced all claim to sovereignty or jurisdiction in Flanders. During the Dutch Revolt, Calvinists seized power in Ghent in 1578. The council was reconstituted at

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

in 1580, under the presidency of Guillaume de Pamele, and remained there until 1585. In 1694

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War ...

disbanded the Admiralty Council and transferred maritime jurisdiction to the Council of Flanders. The last sentence of death issued by the Council of Flanders was on 24 July 1772.Jos Monballyu, ''Six Centuries of Criminal Law: History of Criminal Law in the Southern Netherlands and Belgium, 1400-2000'' (Leiden and Boston, 2014), p. 133. The council ceased to exist in 1795, when the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

were annexed by the First French Republic.

References

{{Reflist Legal history of Belgium 1400s establishments in the Burgundian Netherlands 1795 disestablishments in Europe 18th-century disestablishments in the Southern Netherlands Fl

History

See also

References