The Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch (; Dutch for "Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch") was one of the four parts of the Duchy of Brabant, the others being the Margraviate of Antwerp, the County of Brussels and the County of Leuven/Louvain. Located in the current-day Netherlands, it acquired its name from the bailiff of 's-Hertogenbosch, who administered the area in the name of the Dukes of Brabant. The Meierij roughly corresponds to the larger province of North Brabant. The capital city of North Brabant and the most important city of the bailiwick is 's-Hertogenbosch (Dutch for 'the Duke's Forest'), also known as Den Bosch ('The Forest') or Bois-le-Duc (French name). Other parts of the bailiwick are the so-called Vier Kwartieren (four quarters): Oisterwijk kwartier (with main city Oisterwijk) Kempenland kwartier (with main city Oirschot and later Eindhoven) Peelland kwartier (with main city Sint Oedenrode) Maasland kwartier (with main city Oss) In the northeast of the bailiwick there were some free lands which were also connected to the Meierij: Land of Cuijk County of Megen Land of Ravenstein Barony of Boxmeer Territory Gemert (belonging to the Teutonic order) Land of Bokhoven In the south, the nowadays Belgian town of Lommel belonged to the bailiwick, while the village of Luyksgestel belonged to the Prince-bishopric of Liège. In 1807 these areas were exchanged. Landscape The Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch consists mainly of the poor sandy grounds of the Peel and Kempen. Those areas, which in old times were not densely populated, consisted of enormous heaths and marshlands, interrupted by woods and fenlands. In the north and east the area is surrounded by the river Maas. Numerous little rivers rise in the high sand areas and find their way to the rivers Aa and Dommel. Both rivers come together in the marshlands around 's-Hertogenbosch where they form the river Dieze that ends up in the Maas. Since the Middle Ages the waste lands of Peel and Kempen have been cultivated. Only small parts of the once enormous heaths and marshlands have survived until modern times. In the first part of the 19th century the rivers Aa and Dommel were cultivated but nowadays they have gone back to their old run for the purpose of nature development. Legal re-division of land forms a major threat for the cultural and historical aspects of landscape at the moment. History Historically the Meierij is the descendant of Taxandria, when that area comes under