The Landgraviate of Brabant (1085–1183) was a small medieval fiefdom west of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, consisting of the area between the Dender and Zenne rivers in the Low Countries, then part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. Before 1085 the land had belonged to Hermann II,

Count Palatine A count palatine ( Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an o ...

of Lotharingia. Upon his death, Emperor Henry IV assigned it to Henry III, Count of Louvain and

, granting him the Landgrave of Brabant. This is the earliest known use of the term

Landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' (" margrave"), ...

. In 1183 the landgraviate of Brabant and the counties of Louvain and Brussels were formally merged and elevated together into the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg ...

, by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; Henry I became the first

Duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of ...

. The area made up part of South Brabant from 1815 to 1830 as part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and part of the Belgian Province of Brabant from 1830 to 1996. It is currently in the western part of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium.

* Frans J. Van Droogenbroeck, "Het landgraafschap Brabant (1085-1183) en zijn paltsgrafelijke voorgeschiedenis. De territoriale en institutionele aanloop tot het ontstaan van het hertogdom Brabant", in ''De Hertog en de Staten, de Kanselier en de Raad, de Rekenkamer, het Leenhof, de Algemene Ontvangerij, de Drossaard en de Woudmeester, het Notariaat en het Landgraafschap Brabant. Acht bijdragen tot de studie van de instellingen in het Hertogdom Brabant in de Middeleeuwen en de Nieuwe Tijd'', ed. Erik Aerts et al. (Brussels, 2011), pp. 161–176. Duchy of Brabant Counties of the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1085 States and territories disestablished in the 1180s 1085 establishments in Europe 1180s disestablishments in Europe {{Belgium-geo-stub

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