Joyous Entry Explained

A Joyous Entry (Dutch; Flemish: Blijde Intrede;) is a ceremonial event marking the entry into a city by a monarch, prince, duke, or governor in parts of modern-day Belgium. Originating in the Middle Ages, it generally coincided with the affirmation or extension of the city's civic rights and privileges.

Joyous Entries are primarily associated with the historic Duchy of Brabant and County of Flanders and continue in modern-day Belgium where the most recent Joyous Entries took place in 2013. The term is also occasionally used in relation to royal entries in Medieval France, Luxembourg, Hungary, Scotland, and elsewhere.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Ceremonial reception

A Joyous Entry is a particular form of, and title for, the general phenomenon of ceremonial entries into cities by rulers or their representatives, which were celebrated with enormous pageantry and festivities throughout Europe from at least the late Middle Ages on. The leading artists available designed temporary decorated constructions such as triumphal arches, groups of musicians and actors performed on stands at which the procession halted, the houses on the processional route decorated themselves with hangings, flowers were thrown, and fountains flowed with wine. The custom began in the Middle Ages and continued until the French Revolution, although less often in Protestant counties after the Reformation. A formal first visit to a city by an inheritor of the throne of Belgium upon his accession and since 1900 for a crown prince upon his marriage, is still referred to as a "Joyous Entry", a reminder of this tradition of the rule of law.^{[5] [6]}

Charter of liberties

In the Duchy of Brabant the term Joyous Entry was also applied to the charter of liberties that a new ruler was obliged to swear to uphold upon their formal first reception, dating back to the Joyous Entry of 1356. One of the functions of the Council of Brabant was to ensure that new legislation did not contravene or abrogate the liberties established in the Joyous Entry.^[7]

Kingdom of Belgium

See also: Swearing-in of the Kings of the Belgians. In Belgium this ceremonial reception of the new sovereign has continued since 1830. Ceremonial entries are performed by the new royal couple in the capitals of the provinces after the installation of the King. The same goes for the Duke of Brabant, who after his marriage presents the new duchess of Brabant to the public. The most recent Joyous Entries were organised in honour of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in 2013.^[8]

Some notable Joyous Entries

• In 1356, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Joanna and her husband Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg, upon her becoming Duchess of Brabant on the death of her father John the Triumphant.^{[9] [10]}
• In 1407?, a Joyous Entry, by John the Fearless.^[11]
• In 142?, a Joyous Entry, by Philip the Good.^[11]
• In 1464, the Joyous Entry into Sopron, by King Matthias of Hungary, atypically mainly celebrating the return of the object of the Crown.^[12]
• In 1467, the (not so very) 'Joyous' Entry into Ghent, by Charles the Bold.^{[11] [13] [14]}
• In 1468, the Joyous Entry into Bruges, by Charles the Bold and Margaret of York.^[15]
• In 1478, the Joyous Entry into Antwerp, by Maximilian of Austria.^[3]
• In 1493?, the Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Maximilian of Austria (and his young daughter Margarete)
• In 1496, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Joanna the Mad.^[3]
• In 1501, a tour of Joyous Entries throughout Hainaut, Picardy, Île-de-France, Champagne, Burgundy and Franche-Comté, by Philibert II, Duke of Savoy and Margarete of Austria upon their marriage, and the following year into Bourg-en-Bresse.^{[2] [16]}
• In 1507, the Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Philibert's widow Margarete, returning as Regent of the Low Countries.^{[16] [17]}
• In 1515, the Joyous Entries into Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Leiden, by young Prince Charles.^{[2] [13] [18] [19]}

• In 1520, the Joyous Entry into Bruges, by young King Charles
• In 1548, the Joyous Entry into Lyon, by Henri II of Valois.^[20]
• In 1549, a series of Joyous Entries into the Low Countries by Charles V and his son Philip II of Spain in (among other cities) Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges.^{[21] [22]}
• In 1550, the Joyous Entry into Rouen, by Henri II of Valois.^[20]
• In 1561?, the (not so very) Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Granvelle, as Archbishop.^[23]
• In 1577, the (not so very) 'Joyous' Entry into Brussels, by Don John, as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.^[24]
• In 1578, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Prince Matthias, later the Magnificent.^[25]
• In 1582, the Joyous Entry into Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, by François, Duke of Anjou.^[13]
• In 1594, the Joyous Entry into Brussels and Antwerp, by Archduke Ernest of Austria
• In 1590, the Entry into Edinburgh, by Anne of Denmark
• In 1599–1600, a tour of Joyous Entries into Leuven, Brussels, Mechlin, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Tournai, etc., by Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella.^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}
• In 1635, the Joyous Entry by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp (decorations designed by Gaspar Gevartius, Theodoor van Thulden and Rubens) and Ghent.^{[28] [30] [31]}
• On 9 October 1725, Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria made her Joyous Entry into Brussels as regent governor of the Austrian Netherlands.^[32]
• In 1891, the Joyous Entry into Luxembourg, by Grand Duke Adolphe and his wife Adelheid.^[33]
• On 22 November 1918, King Albert I entered Brussels with the Belgian Army of the Yser after four years of German occupation in World War I.^[34]

External links

• Festival Books online from the British Museum – records of these and similar occasions
• Festival books, mostly German from HAB Wolfenbüttel

Notes and References

1. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9044044/Joyeuse-Entree Encyclopædia Britannica Joyeuse Entrée
2. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0001/MQ43908.pdf Bell & Hawell Information and Leaming: Margaret of Austria and Brou: Habsburg Political Patronage in Savoy thesis submitted by Deanna MacDonald, Department of Art History and Archaeology, McGilf University, Montreal
3. https://www.openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/2473/1/351_025.pdf University of Leiden: Self-Representation of Court and City in Flanders and Brabant in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries, by Wim Blockmans & Esther Donckers
4. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10583 The Project Gutenberg EBook Holland, The History of the Netherlands by Thomas Colley Grattan
5. http://www.vitiaz.ru/congress/en/thesis/200.html Museum of the World Ocean — The thirtieth anniversary of the international conferences (schools) for marine geology
6. Nieuwsbank interactief Nederlands persbureau
7. D. De Stobbeleir, "Verzet tegen de hervormingen van Jozef II en de staatsgreep van 18 juni 1789", tr. M. Erkens, in Doorheen de nationale geschiedenis (State Archives in Belgium, Brussels, 1980), pp. 262–267.
8. http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20130723_00667925 De Blijde Intredes van Filip en Mathilde
9. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be-brab.html CRW Flags Brabant (Former province, Belgium)
10. VRTtaal.net Blijde Inkomst (Language site by the official public TV broadcaster)
11. University of Leiden: Vlaanderen 1384–1482, by W.P. Blockmans (pdf file)
12. Dissertations University of Groningen: De Hongaarse heilige kroon (The Hungarian Sacred Crown) (pdf file)
13. http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/c1718cs/progdutchrevolt.htm presentation of a university conference
14. http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/gutenberg/1/4/4/9/14496/14496-h/14496-h.htm The Project Gutenberg EBook Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, by Ruth Putnam
15. http://middleages.ca/Parma/steyned/STEYNED.html "whips and angels, Painting on Cloth in the Mediaeval Period" by Barbara Gordon
16. [series Joos De Rijcke: ''Margaretha van Oostenrijk of van Savoye'', mentioning sources <span style="font-size:87%;">DEBAE</span> 1987, Kocken 1981, <span style="font-size:87%;">DE IONGH</span> 1981]
17. Tertio, Christian weekly journal, 297 p. 11 – 2005-10-19: Stad in vorstelijke vrouwenhanden – Mechelse Margareta’s by Sabine Alexander
18. http://www.cmme.org/?page=database&view=projects&num=1 University of Utrecht – C.M.M.E. A Choirbook for Henry VIII and his Sisters ed. Theodor Dumitrescu
19. http://cf.hum.uva.nl/geschiedenis/medewerkers/tilmans/dk.pdf De Divisiekroniek van 1517, republished Amsterdam 2003, Editor: Karin Tilmans
20. http://www.bl.uk/treasures/festivalbooks/valois.html British Library Festivals in Valois France
21. "Kuyper,W. The Triumphant Entry of Renaissance architecture into the Netherlands. The Joyeuse Entrée of Philip of Spain into Antwerp in 1549. Renaissance and Mannerist architecture in the Low Countries from 1530 to 1630, Alphen aan de Rijn, 1994."
22. Bussels, S. "The Antwerp Entry of Prince Philip in 1549. Rhetoric, Performance and Power", Amsterdam - New York, 2012.
23. http://win.straatvaart.com/collection/AI/htmdoc/joy.htm American Presbyterian Church: Duchess Margaret I, part 2, chapter 2 Opposition to Philip and Cardinal Granvelle in the Netherlands
24. http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh.html University of Mannheim site: The Cambridge Modern History, planned by Lord Acton, ed. by Adolphus W. Ward. Cambridge: Univ. Press volume III, chapter XV Spain under Philip II by Martin Hume, of the Royal Spanish Academy
25. municipality of Willebroek, Flanders, Belgium: history Belgium and the Netherlands, year 1578
26. http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/sph/Monita.htm Catholic University of Leuven, Justus Lipsius: Philologist, Philosopher and Political Theorist
27. http://www.cathedralestmichel.be/eng/cult_archi_fastes.php?lang=eng site of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Brussels) — National events
28. dbnl (digital library for Dutch literature), Leiden: De weerliicke liefden tot Roose-mond, Justus de Harduwijn, edition O. Dambre, p. 11, 12
29. http://win.straatvaart.com/collection/AI/htmdoc/joy.htm Albert & Isabella's Virtual Tour – Joyous Entry
30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3049098 JSTOR A lost oil sketch by Rubens rediscovered: "Entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into the city of Antwerp in I635"
31. http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.338016 Ferdinand Receives the Keys of the City from the Virgin of Ghent
32. https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/nl/de-collectie/andreas-martin-de-intrede-te-brussel-op-9-oktober-1725-van-aartshertogin-maria-elisabeth-landvoogdes-der-nederlanden?letter=m&artist=martin-andreas Andreas Martin, De intrede te Brussel op 9 oktober 1725 van aartshertogin Maria-Elisabeth, landvoogdes der Nederlanden Inv. 2036
33. http://www.luxcentral.com/medals/LuxMedals.html Luxembourg Medals – 1891. Grand Duke Adolphe and Grand Duchess Adelheid
34. Ypersele. Laurence van. Tixhon. Axel. Célébrations de novembre 1918 dans le royaume de Belgique. Vingtième Siècle. 2000. 67. 1. 62. 10.3406/xxs.2000.4595. fr-FR. 0294-1759.