Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch

The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch (Dutch

pronunciation: [mɛiəˈrɛi vɑn ˌsɛrtoːɣə(m)ˈbɔs]; Dutch
for Bailiwick of Bois-le-Duc) was one of the four
parts of the duchy of Brabant, the others being the
margraviate of Antwerp, the county of Brussels, and
the county of Leuven/Louvain. It got its name from
the Bailiff of 's-Hertogenbosch, which administered
the area in the name of the Dukes of Brabant. The
Meierij roughly corresponds to the somewhat larger
Dutch province of North Brabant. The historical Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch as
part of the Republic between 1648 and 1795.
The capital city of North Brabant and the most
important city of the bailiwick is 's-Hertogenbosch
(Dutch for 'the Duke's Forest'), also known as Den Bosch ('The Forest') or Bois-le-Duc (French
name). Other parts of the bailiwick are the so-called Vier Kwartieren (four quarters):

Oisterwijk Kwartier (with main city Oisterwijk)

Kempenland kwartier (with main city Oirschot and later Eindhoven)
Peelland kwartier (with main city Sint Oedenrode)
Maasland Kwartier (with main city Oss)

In the northeast of the bailiwick there were some free lands which were also connected to the
Meierij:

Land of Cuijk
County of Megen
Land of Ravenstein
Barony of Boxmeer
Territory Gemert (belonging to the Teutonic order)
Land of Bokhoven

In the south, the nowadays Belgian town of Lommel belonged to the bailiwick, while the village of
Luyksgestel belonged to the Prince-bishopric of Liège. In 1807 these areas were exchanged.

Landscape
The Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch consists mainly of the poor sandy grounds of the Peel and
Kempen. Those areas, which in old times were not densely populated, consisted of enormous
heaths and marshlands, interrupted by woods and fenlands. In the north and east the area is
surrounded by the river Maas. Numerous little rivers rise in the high sand areas and find their way
to the rivers Aa and Dommel. Both rivers come together in the marshlands around 's-
Hertogenbosch where they form the river Dieze that ends up in the Maas.

Since the Middle Ages the waste lands of Peel and Kempen have been cultivated. Only small parts
of the once enormous heaths and marshlands have survived until modern times. In the first part of
the 19th century the rivers Aa and Dommel were cultivated but nowadays they have gone back to
their old run for the purpose of nature development. Legal re-division of land forms a major threat
for the cultural and historical aspects of landscape at the moment.

History
Historically the Meierij is the descendant of
Taxandria, when that area comes under the rule of
the dukes of Brabant in the 12th century. To protect
the area from the counts of Gelre, the dukes
founded a new ring of cities. Hendrik I of Brabant
granted city rights to 's-Hertogenbosch (c. 1185),
Oisterwijk (1213 or 1230), Sint-Oedenrode (1232)
and Eindhoven (1232). However, despite these
foundings, the Meierij often suffered from conflicts
and wars between Brabant and Gelre.

The bailiwick was prosperous in the 15th and first

part of the 16th century. In these times many new
monumental buildings were built (like the famous
gothic style St. Jan's Cathedral of 's-
Hertogenbosch), the activities of well-known
painter Hieronymus Bosch (also called Jeroen
Bosch) and the Latin school of 's-Hertogenbosch.
In
the Eighty Years' War, times turned bad for the
Meierij. The area was literally a battlefield and was
heavily plagued by continuous raids. Around 1590 Duchy of Brabant c. 1350
the area was solidly in Spanish hands. Like the
southern Dutch states of Flanders and Hainaut, the
Duchy Brabant-Limburg had chosen the side of the Catholic Habsburg monarchs of Spain. The
strong catholic Counter-Reformation had had much influence on the population's mentality and
culture; the Bailiwick remained Catholic.

Though it was thought impossible, the mighty city of 's-Hertogenbosch was captured by the Dutch
Protestants in 1629. As 's-Hertogenbosch was the main capital of the Meierij, the Protestants
considered the bailiwick as their possession. However the Spanish kings refused to give it up, and
thus one of the most difficult times started, the so-called "retorsie tijd" in which the population
suffered from both Spanish and Dutch oppression. Finally in 1648 the whole bailiwick was given to
the Dutch republic at the Peace of Westphalia.

From now the former Brabant and Limburg areas were placed under the reign of the generality as
well as Zeelandic Flanders which had been taken from Flanders. Reign of the generality in fact
meant nothing else than oppression and colonisation by the Protestants. There was no self-
government and Catholicism was forbidden, which resulted in a flight of the Catholic clergy and
occupation of the Catholic churches. Due to high taxes and oppression the bailiwick couldn't
restore its old glory and became an intensely poor area without any importance. After the French
war of 1795 and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic, the Meierij disappeared as s political
unity and went up into Brabant. The people regained their old rights; self-government and
Catholicism weren't forbidden any longer.

Since 1810 the area has been part of the province of North Brabant and the Kingdom of the
Netherlands. Nowadays the area is still known as Meierij and is still mostly cultural Catholic. The
population is considered to have a “Burgundian character” by the other Dutch, meaning that they
are supposed to be companiable people who like to party exuberantly. (The term recalls the time of
Burgundian rule over the Netherlands.)
Around 1900 the area got an enormous growth of population when a combination of reviving
Catholicism and economic recovery caused high birthrates. Eindhoven, Tilburg and Helmond
developed into major industrial centres.

At the moment the area is again highly developing its industries (especially in Eindhoven and the
surrounding region), and is one of the most prosperous areas of the Netherlands and Northwest
Europe.

See also
Brabantse Stedenrij
BrabantStad
Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven
Apostolic Vicariate of Ravenstein-Megen

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meierij_van_%27s-Hertogenbosch&oldid=1086670819"

This page was last edited on 7 May 2022, at 16:43 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;

additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.