On 1 January 1787, Emperor
Joseph II decreed the abolition of the Council of Brabant, which had resisted his reforming measures as conflicting with the established liberties of the duchy, and ordered that it be replaced with a number of tribunals to be newly instituted. On 20 April the Council nullified this decree as contrary to the liberties of the duchy and ordered its members to give no heed to it. At the end of May 1787 the government in Brussels postponed the implementation of judicial innovations, and in September abolished the decree. On 18 June 1789 Joseph II's representative in Brussels,
Ferdinand von Trauttmansdorff, declared that the powers of the Council of Brabant would henceforth be exercised by the
Great Council of Mechelen. This government coup was one of the direct causes of the
Brabant Revolution. The Council was finally abolished under the
French occupation of 1794–1814. ==Notable members==