Editing Charter of Kortenberg

[[File:Charter van Kortenberg.PNG|thumb|One of the archived originals of the Charter of Kortenberg|310x310px]]
The '''Charter of Kortenberg''' (Dutch: ''Keure van [[Kortenberg]]'') is an agreement signed and sealed on September 27, 1312, in the abbey of Kortenberg by [[John II, Duke of Brabant|John II]], [[Duke of Brabant]] and representatives of the cities of [[Brussels]], [[Antwerp]], [['s-Hertogenbosch]], [[Tienen]] and [[Zoutleeuw]]. Creation of the document is of historical and political importance because it retains agreements between inhabitants of a territory with a ruler who had absolute power. This reflected the start of a current that would later be labeled by historians as Brabant's [[Constitutionalism]] because residents without control had claimed rights and powers, and had them recorded in writing, which are somewhat comparable to what have come to be called [[civil and political rights]] centuries later. In this process, the first simple rules were created for what would develop into a legal order that is now called democratic rule of law.   

The charter was valid for the entire [[duchy of Brabant]], for the rich and the poor. From this charter originated an early kind of [[parliament]], the "Council of Kortenberg" an assembly of lords.   

The control organ, a precursor of the later "Estate assembly" (namely, the first estate was the clergy, the second estate was the nobility, and the third estate was the municipalities) gathered in the [[Kortenberg Abbey]] and elsewhere with ups and downs until 1375.

From 1332 on the council was extended by two more members, so that there were 16 Lords; [[Antwerp]] got a second member and the [[Walloon Brabant]] town of [[Nivelles]] ({{langx|nl|Nijvel}}) also got a member. In 1340 documents were sealed with a special seal on which a tree was planted on a small hill.  The seal bore the words <span style="font-size:94%;">"SIGILUM COMMUNE : CONSILII DE CORTENBERGHE"</span> which was the common seal of the Council of Kortenberg.

== Charter of Kortenberg and ''Magna Carta'' ==

Although ''[[Magna Carta]]'' is commonly regarded as the very first charter giving rise to medieval European constitutionalism, the Charter of [[Kortenberg]] appears to have been more democratic in nature. This mainly because the beneficiaries of ''Magna Carta'' were only the [[baron]]s while the beneficiaries of the Charter of [[Kortenberg]] included all citizens, expressly 'the rich and the poor' (''riken ende armen'').

Reinforcing this view, the composition of the Council of [[Kortenberg]] marks a clear difference with the more 'elitist' ''Magna Carta''. Whilst ''Magna Carta'' was to be implemented by a council of 25 [[baron]]s, the Council of [[Kortenberg]] counted four [[knight]]s and ten townsmen. In the financial commission of August 1314 the [[nobility]] were only two with 12 civil representatives of eight towns.

== Follow up ==
A historical line of continuity can be drawn from the Charter of [[Kortenberg]] via the [[Joyous Entry|Joyous Entries]] of new Dukes into Flemish and Brabantian towns, the migration of educated citizens in the 16th & 17th century from these towns to the [[Dutch Republic|Seven United Provinces]] as a result of the [[Eighty Years' War]] and the stay of some of the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)#Leiden|Mayflower Pilgrim Fathers]] in those Provinces, who had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century [[Holland]] in the Netherlands. One group moved to the city of [[Leiden#16th to 18th centuries|Leiden]] and was living there for two decades, prior to their departure for America. Some worked or studied at [[Leiden University]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blockmans |first=Wim |title=Medezeggenschap - Politieke participatie in Europa vóór 1800 |publisher=´Prometheus |year=2020 |isbn=9789044635218}}</ref>

Coupled with the enduring influence of [[New Netherlander|New Netherlander society]] upon early American political life, the emphasis placed by American historians and the general public opinion upon the constitutive nature of ''Magna Carta'' for the [[United States Constitution#Influences|American constitution]] and the [[American Dream]] seems too narrow if no mention is made from the Charter of [[Kortenberg]] all following Brabantian constitutional charters and the [[Act of Abjuration]] (1581), dubbed the Dutch Declaration of Independence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=van der Sijs |first=Nicoline |url=http://archive.org/details/yankeescookiesen0000vand |title=Yankees, cookies en dollars : De invloed van het Nederlands op de Noord-Amerikaanse talen |date=2009 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-90-8964-130-4 |language=Dutch}}</ref>

==Modern translation of the charter of Kortenberg==
We, duke [[John II of Brabant]], agree

# That no other demands or taxes be levied than those which are known as the three feudal cases: 
#* at the knighthood of my son
#* the wedding of my daughter
#* and if I should be taken captive 
#:The taxes will be reasonable (fiscal prerogative)
# An honourable jurisdiction for rich and poor (judicial prerogative),
# To recognise the freedom of our good towns (municipal prerogative),
# To establish a council which shall be comprised (sic) of:
#* 4 knights or nobles.
#* 10 representatives from the 5 cities as follows: 
#** 3 from [[Leuven]]
#** 3 from [[Brussels]]
#** 1 from [[Antwerp]]
#** 1 from [['s-Hertogenbosch]] <small>(nowadays in [[North Brabant]], [[Netherlands]])</small>
#** 1 from [[Tienen]]
#** 1 from [[Zoutleeuw]]
# This council be allowed to meet at [[Kortenberg]] in the Abbey. It will meet every 3 weeks to monitor whether the financial, judicial and municipal prerogatives are observed.
# That in the future improvements are introduced to the administration of the land by the council.
# That upon the death of members of the Council of Kortenberg, new members be designated.
# That the members of the Council take an oath on the Holy Gospel that they will pursue the best interests of the public.
# That the people have the [[right to resist]] should the Duke or his descendants refuse to observe the Charter of Kortenberg.

==References==

* {{Citation |last=Vrancken |first=Valerie |title=De Blijde Inkomsten van de Brabantse hertogen: Macht, opstand en privileges in de vijftiende eeuw |year=2018 |publisher=Asp / Vubpress / Upa |language=nl |isbn=978-9057187155}}
* {{Citation |last=Prak |first=Maarten |title=Stadsburgers - Stedelijke burgerschap voor de Franse Revolutie |year=2019 |publisher=Promotheus |isbn=9789044641417}}

== Notes ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Charter Of Kortenberg}}
[[Category:Constituencies]]
[[Category:Duchy of Brabant]]
[[Category:History of Flemish Brabant]]
[[Category:1312 in Europe]]
[[Category:Kortenberg]]
[[Category:1310s in the Holy Roman Empire]]