Louis, who soon became the most powerful prince in southern Germany, was called "the Stern," because in a fit of jealousy he caused his first wife, Maria of Brabant, to be executed in '256.
Chief among these states were the duchy of Brabant, the counties of Flanders, Hainault, Holland, Gelderland, Limburg and Luxemburg, and the bishoprics of Utrecht and Liege.
Dordrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Delft, Vlaardigen, Rotterdam in Holland, and Middleburg and Zierikzee in Zeeland, repeated with modifications the characteristics of the communes of Flanders and Brabant.
In 1404 Antony, Philip's second son (killed at Agincourt 1415), became duke of Brabant by bequest of his great-aunt Joan.
On the death in 1430 of his cousin Philip, duke of Brabant, he took possession of Brabant and Limburg; the duchy of Luxemburg he acquired by purchase, 1 443.