The General Council of Government (French: ''Conseil du Gouvernement Général''; Dutch: ''Algemene Regeringsraad'') was an institution established in 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 p ...

in 1787 in an attempt to replace the existing organs of central government, in particular the Collateral Councils. The purpose was to create a single body more amenable to implementing the policies of

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

. The abolition of the inherited system of government was one of the main causes of the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (french: Révolution brabançonne, nl, Brabantse Omwenteling), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Aust ...

. The council was to be chaired by

Ludovico, Count di Belgiojoso Ludovico Luigi Carlo Maria di Barbiano di Belgiojoso or Ludwig Karl Maria von Barbiano Graf von Belgiojoso (2 January 1728 – 15 May 1801, Milan) was an Austrian diplomat and Lieutenant Field Marshal who served the Habsburg monarchy in the sec ...

, and include one representative from each of the main provinces of the Austrian Netherlands, in lieu of the provincial estates, which were also to be abolished. The archives of the General Council of Government are now held in the

National Archives of Belgium The National Archives of Belgium (french: Archives générales du Royaume, nl, Algemeen Rijksarchief, both ) is the main depository of the State Archives of Belgium (''Archives de l'État''; ''Rijksarchief'') and is located on /, next to the Mon ...

.Inventaire des archives duConseil de Gouvernement général
website of the National Archives. Accessed 22 November 2015.

Studies

Joseph Lefèvre Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, ''Le Conseil du gouvernement général'' (Mémoires de la Classe des lettres, Académie royale des sciences, 23; 1928).

References

{{Reflist 1787 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy Brabant Revolution 1789 disestablishments in the Habsburg monarchy