Great privilege (Netherlands)

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Charles Rochussen: Mary of Burgundy grants the "Great Privilege" (1853).

The Great Privilege was a document with a number of rights that Mary of Burgundy granted the States General of the Netherlands on February 11, 1477 .

prehistory

When her father, Charles the Bold, died in the Battle of Nancy on January 5, 1477 , Maria became Duchess of Burgundy at the age of twenty . She was unmarried at the time, so she stood alone to defend her legacy against neighboring rulers. King Louis XI. of France had already occupied the Duchy of Burgundy and the Free County of Burgundy and had invaded Artois and Picardy . It also seems that there was great discontent among their subjects, which did not make the situation any easier for them. The Duchy of Geldern and the Duchy of Liège had already declared themselves independent. A meeting of the States General was hastily called for February 3, 1477 . The States General were ready to recognize Mary as their princess and to support her financially, but asked for something in return.

The great privilege

Copy of the first page of the "Great Privilege"

The great privilege granted by it met the wishes and complaints of the States General. In order to be recognized by all provinces, she also issued so-called land privileges , with which Mary also complied with the demands of individual areas.

The main points of the Great Privilege were:

  • A great council with 24 members was set up to assist Mary in the administration of the land
  • The Duchess should only marry, declare war or raise taxes with the consent of the States General
  • Only locals were allowed to hold public offices
  • Only local judges are allowed to convict suspects
  • The States General received their own right of assembly
  • Dutch was allowed as the second official language (previously this was only French)

The end of the great privilege

The statutes of the Great Privilege were soon disregarded. Already in August 1477 Maria Maximilian of Austria married against the will of the States General. When she died in 1482 as a result of falling from her horse, the entire privilege was declared invalid by the regents of her son Philip I.

literature

  • Wim Blockmans: L'histoire parlementaire dans les Pays-Bas, XIIe-XVIIe siècles . 1990. online .
  • Wim Blockmans, Le Privilège général et les privilèges regionaux de Marie de Bourgogne pour les Pays-Bas. 1477. = Het algemene en de Gewestelijke privilegien van Maria van Bourgondie voor de Nederlanden . UGA, Kortrijk-Heule 1985, ISBN 90-6768-117-2 , ( Anciens pays et assemblées d'etats = Standen en landen 80).
  • Henri Pirenne : The formation and constitution of the Burgundian State (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) . In: The American historical review 14, 1909, 3, ISSN  0002-8762 , pp. 477-502, online (PDF; 1.25 MB)
  • Hans Blom: The great Privilege (1477) as "Code of Dutch Freedom". The political role of privileges in the Dutch Revolt and after . In: Barbara Dölemeyer, Heinz Mohnhaupt (Hrsg.): The privilege in European comparison . Volume 1. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-465-02899-6 , ( Studies on European Legal History 93), pp. 233–247.

Web link

Commons : Groot Privilege van Maria van Bourgondië  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Joh. Van Hulzen: Onze Vaderlandse Geschiedenis; Part 1, 1963