Fleeing the influence of a strong-willed mother-in-law The abductions of John IV, duke of Brabant

Having been twice hastily abducted by his own entourage for fear that he might have fallen in the control of his mother-in-law, the duke of Brabant John IV was, on top of all that, nearly kidnapped on her initiative some years later. He has indeed been considered as suggestible due to his young age. But it might well result from a convenient and commonplace stereotype of the 1400s. This article will attempt to deconstruct the bad reputation of that moving target.