Lezing: ‘Brabant is syn eighen lant’

The Barthold van Heessel local history society will give a lecture at De Couwenbergh.

The title of the lecture is "Brabant is its own country." This lecture will focus on Brabant's unique history within the Netherlands.

In the sixteenth century, the Duchy of Brabant was a core province of the Netherlands. It experienced an impressive economic and cultural boom. However, the Dutch Rebellion and the Eighty Years' War put an end to this. From the mid-seventeenth century onward, the north of Brabant was treated by the Republic as a conquered territory and governed directly from The Hague. Political immaturity, religious insecurity, and economic malaise then made Brabant an outlier and an outsider within the Dutch nation. Political equality only arrived at the end of the eighteenth century. Gradually, the economic and cultural disadvantages were also bridged, sometimes even transforming into a pioneering role.

In this lecture, they will explore Brabant's ever-changing role within the Netherlands. The event will also examine how successive generations of Brabant residents have dealt with these developments. Jan van Oudheusden is an enthusiastic and sought-after speaker. He was the provincial historian of North Brabant for many years and, from 2008 onwards, a research associate at the Chair of Culture in Brabant at Tilburg University. Upon his retirement in 2014, the provincial government of North Brabant awarded him the provincial distinction "Hertog Jan." The lecture promises to be an interesting evening for anyone interested in the rich history of Brabant and its role within the Netherlands.