Joyous Entry of 1356

The Joyous Entry of 1356 (Dutch: Blijde Inkomst, French: Joyeuse Entrée) is the charter of liberties granted to the burghers of the Duchy of Brabant by the newly-ascended Duchess Joanna and her husband Duke Wenceslaus.

With the instrument, the dukes of Brabant undertook to maintain the indivisibility of the duchy, and not to wage war, make treaties, or impose taxes without the consent of their subjects, as represented by the municipalities.

[4] The Joyous Entry of 1356 has been viewed an equivalent to the rechtsstaat in the Low Countries or Magna Carta's establishment of a rule of law for England, the only other medieval document with claims to comprising a written basis of governance, in the other early successful example of a nation-state.

In the midst of the Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries, a book was repeatedly published (the 1578 edition safely from Cologne) with the Latin title Laetus introitus, with the view of reminding Philip II and his military commanders of the constitutional restraints of the Blijde Inkomst and giving heart to the insurgents in Brabant.

[citation needed] Later, the ill-advised attempt of the 18th century Austrian Emperor Joseph II in his reforming zeal to abrogate the Joyous Entry caused a revolt in Brabant, before which he had to yield.