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How did Joseph II change the constitution of the Austrian Netherlands in 1787?
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Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman emperor, detail of a painting by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, 1769; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
In 1787, Holy Roman emperor Joseph II fundamentally altered the governance of the Austrian Netherlands by unilaterally negating centuries-old privileges he had previously sworn to uphold.1
As part of his broader effort to impose Enlightenment-era reforms, he eliminated the traditional ruling councils and judiciary bodies that had served as the foundation for local governance and upon which the population had come to depend. By dismantling these institutions, Joseph II violated the medieval charters of provincial and local liberties, such as the Joyeuse EntrƩe of Brabant. These actions were perceived as an illegitimate interference in regional autonomy, sparking widespread outrage and eventually precipitating the Brabant Revolution.12