Timeline of Brussels

The following is a timeline of the history of Brussels, Belgium.

Prehistory 10,000–2600 BCE – Polished silex from the Mesolithic era are located in the Nekkersgat. 5th–1st century BCE – A settlement from the La Tène culture is located on the / in Anderlecht. 3000–2200 BCE – Settlements from the Michelsberg culture are located in the Sonian Forest. 1000–800 BCE – Celtic tribes settle in what is now Brussels.

Roman Period

A fairly important Roman settlement is in existence in Stalle. 175 CE – A Roman villa is in existence in Laeken. 2nd century CE – A is constructed in Jette, located in today's . 2nd–3rd century CE – A Roman villa is built on a former Neolithic settlement in Anderlecht, near the present-day /.

Middle Ages 4th–6th centuries CE Frankish tribes occupy territories between the Meuse and Scheldt rivers. A Frankish tomb is built on the Zeecrabbeweg. 500–700: A Merovingian cemetery containing over three hundred graves is located on the /. 580 – Saint Gaugericus builds on an island in the river Senne, laying the origin of the settlement which is to become Brussels. – Saint Alena dies in Forest.Bart Fransen, "Recherches historiques / Historisch onderzoek", Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, 32 (2006–2008), p. 95–101 843 – 10 August: The region becomes part of Lotharingia after the signing of the Treaty of Verdun. 870 – First mention of the is made in the Treaty of Meerssen. 959 – The city becomes part of Lower Lotharingia. 977–979 – A castrum is constructed on Saint-Géry/Sint-Goriks Island.

979 – Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, transfers the relics of Saint Gudula to the chapel built by Saint Gaugericus, marking the city's official founding. 1001 – Otto, Duke of Lower Lorraine, becomes Count of Brussels. 1012 – Saint Guy dies in Anderlecht on his return home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 1015–1020 – Oldest written record of the city is made by . 1041–1047 – The Palace of Coudenberg begins construction. 1047 – The relics of Saint Gudula are transferred from the Church of St. Gaugericus to the Church of St. Michael by Lambert II, Count of Leuven. 1063–1100 – The city's first fortifications are built. 1076–1078 – Lady Renilde, widow of Folcard, Lord of Anderlecht, establishes a chapter in Anderlecht and brings over the relics of Saint Guy. 1095 Dieleghem Abbey is first attested. The is first recorded, possibly founded by Steppo de Brosele. 1105 – Forest Abbey is founded. 1125 – The is first attested. 1129 – The Lindekemale Mill is first attested. 1135 – The city's seal is first attested, depicting the Archangel Michael robed, with outstretched wings, a halo, and the Latin inscription . 1142 or 1147 – The takes place. 1150 – St. Peter's Hospital is established as a leper colony, run by a community of lay brothers and sisters, outside the city's walls. 1152 – is first attested. 1174 – The Grand-Place/Grote Markt is first attested as the or . 1183 – The Duchy of Brabant is formed after the merger of the Counties of Brussels and Leuven and the Landgraviate of Brabant. 1187–1260 – Gerard of Brussels, a geometer and philosopher, authors . 1190 – Richard I of England passes through the city. 1195 – St. John's Clinic is established. 1196 – La Cambre Abbey is founded by Benedictine noble . 1209 – The is first attested. 1213 The Grand Royal and Noble Oath of the Crossbowmen of Our Lady of Sablon is established. 9 August: The Meyboom is planted for the first time. 1225 – The current Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula begins construction. 1228 – Duke Henry the Courageous designates the Het Heideken area as common land. 1229 The city establishes an account to collect revenues, including taxes, fines, and royalties, ensuring financial independence. 10 June: Duke Henry the Courageous issues a for the city."De keure van 1229", Brussel: Waar is de Tijd, 6 (1999), pp. 133-135. 1238 – The Recollects establish a convent in the city. 1250 The Great Beguinage of Brussels is formalised by Duke John the Victorious. 11 June: Saint Alice dies in isolation from leprosy at La Cambre Abbey. 1252 – The Beguinage of Anderlecht is founded. 1253 – Karreveld Castle is first mentioned in a deed of donation by John the Victorious to his wife, Margaret.

1258 – The is first attested. 1262 – The is established by Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant. 1265 – 19 February: Saint Boniface dies at La Cambre Abbey. 1267 – Duke John the Victorious relocates the capital of the Duchy of Brabant from Leuven to the city. 1270 – First mention of the ducal is made. – Beghards first appear in the city. 1282 – First mention of the Drapery Court and the is made. 1289 – The cloth guild is officially recognised by Duke John the Victorious. 1290 Duke John the Victorious bans artisans from forming associations without prior approval from the aldermen and the amman. 18 June: The hermit is buried alive for theft and witchcraft, with a later built on her burial site. 1292 – Duke John the Victorious grants the city the right to collect taxes on crane use at the quay and on city gates rentes. 1295 Duke John the Peaceful authorises aldermen to collect duty on beer as a town revenue. Meulebeek (present-day Molenbeek-Saint-Jean) is part of the . 1296 – 14 February: Obbrussel becomes part of the Coop. 1301 – Schaerbeek becomes part of the Coop. 1303 – 6 May: Following a rebellion sparked by patriciate efforts to join the Drapery Court, Duke John the Peaceful grants them the right through a formal privilege, marking the beginning of the . 1304 – The Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon is founded. 1305 – Walter the Wild is killed by his cousin Joris van der Noot for their shared love for Goedele van der Zennen, and later lends his name to the . 1306 1 February: A quarrel between a commoner and a patrician sparks a riot and defies ducal authority. Early February: Craftsmen draft a new constitution, but Duke John the Peaceful refuses to recognise it. Mid-February: Duke John the Peaceful sides with the patricians, declaring virtual war on the craftsmen. 19 March: The Guilds of and are first attested. 1 May: The craftsmen are defeated in battle. 12 June: The Seven Noble Houses of Brussels are first attested when Duke John the Peaceful authorises the magistrates to suppress unrest, disarming craftsmen, prohibiting guild meetings, and restoring the city government with seven aldermen chosen by the Noble Houses. 1308 – The Meyboom is first attested. 1312 – Etterbeek becomes part of the Coop. 1315–1317 – The Great Famine ravages the region. 1316 – A plague epidemic strikes the city's population. 1318 – John of Ruusbroec becomes a parish priest at the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula together with his uncle Jan Hinckaert. 1320 – A horse market is first held on the Grand Sablon/Grote Zavel, continuing until 1754. 1321 – Dry Borren is first attested as a hermitage. 1328 The Elishout Farm is first attested. The is first attested suggesting an early presence of Romance-speakers in the city. 1331 – Laeken becomes part of the Coop. 1334 – The city sets up a financial structure with two treasurers overseeing accounts. 1335 – 23 August: The Christian mystic Heilwige Bloemardinne, considered the city's first feminist, dies. 1341 – An ordinance forbids defecation and urination in the streets under penalty of a fine, but it is widely ignored. 1342 – The city bans the construction of thatched roofs to prevent fires. 1344 – Willem van Duvenvoorde receives permission from the Diocese of Cambrai to add the to the Inn of the Lek. 1348 – The Ommegang begins as a Marian procession. 1349 The Black Death arrives in the city. September: A pogrom against the Jewish population takes place. 1353 The city council decides to build a cloth hall to complement the Bread Hall and the Meat Hall. A court of peacemakers for the settlement of disputes is established. 1356 The Joyous Entry of Joanna and Wenceslaus into the city takes place. 17 August: : Louis II, Count of Flanders defeats Joanna, Duchess of Brabant, who then besieges the city. 24 October: The city is liberated by group of Brabantian patriots led by Everard 't Serclaes, Lord of Kruikenburg. The expansion of the city's fortifications begins. 1360 – 22 July: occurs, inspired by revolt in Leuven, as craftsmen take up arms and burn the , but the rebels are soon defeated by patricians, and stringent penal laws are enacted. 1365 – The is recognised. 1367 – Rouge Cloître Abbey is founded. 1368 Jan Collaey donates land near the to the Alexians, on what is now the . Moderate patricians begin implementing measures to grant the bourgeois greater participatory rights in the city government, as discontent and revolution continue to threaten.

1370 – 22 May: The Sacrament of Miracle occurs, killing 6–20, followed by the expulsion of the city's remaining Jewish population. 1375 – 19 June: A ducal act requires all married or widowed men aged 28 or older to register in the city's books and designate affiliation with a specific Noble House. 1380 – Geert Pipenpoy becomes the city's first mayor. 1381 – The Grand Royal Oath of St. George of the Crossbowmen of Brussels and the Royal Grand Oath of the Archers of St. Sebastian are established by the Duchess of Brabant. 1382 – After unrest in Leuven, hundreds of merchants and thousands of skilled craftsmen migrate to the city in one of its earliest large-scale migrations. 1383 – The original Halle Gate is built. 1388 26 March: A military expedition heads to Gaasbeek Castle after Everard t'Serclaes, on his way from Ternat to the city, is mutilated by order of Sweder of Abcoude. 31 March: Everard t'Serclaes dies at the guildhall on the Grand-Place. 1394 – Anderlecht and Forest become part of the Coop.

1400 – Population: . 1401 – The Town Hall begins construction on the Grand-Place. 1402 – The Sacrament of Miracle is recognised by the church. 1404 – 1 July: The is established by Anthony, Duke of Brabant. 1405 – A fire ravages the city. 1406 14 April: A fire destroys part of the Church of Our Lady of the Chapel and the surrounding neighbourhood. 18 December: The Joyous Entry of Anthony the Great Bastard into the city takes place. 1407 – A fire brigade, made up of craft guild members and locals, is in existence, though water is often in shortage despite a water service. 1411 – 12 June: The Homines Intelligentiae are first mentioned in an ecclesiastical ruling by Pierre d'Ailly, and are prosecuted, resulting in the imprisonment and exile of their leader William of Hildernissen. 1420 5 February: chamber of rhetoric is recognised by John IV, Duke of Brabant. 30 September: Duke John IV flees the city after the States of Brabant appointed Philip of Saint Pol as . 1421 21 January: Duke John IV retakes the city with an army composed largely of German knights. 27 January: The guilds occupy the Grand-Place and crowds demonstrate before the Coudenberg Palace in support of Philip of Saint Pol. 29 January: The former Amman Jan Clutinc is decapitated, ducal household members arrested, and pro-John aldermen imprisoned or flee. 11 February: The guilds, organised into the Nine Nations, join the Seven Noble Houses in city governance as part of democratic reforms.David M. Nicholas, The Later Medieval City: 1300–1500 (Routledge, 2014), p. 139. 11 October: Duke John IV returns to the city. 1422 – The settle in the city. 1424 – The city's aldermen issue the earliest known municipal regulation in the Low Countries on medicine and midwifery. 1429 – Wein van Cotthem becomes chaplain of Dry Borren. 1430 – 4 August: The city becomes part of the Burgundian State when it is inherited by Duke Philip the Good following the death of Duke Philip of Saint-Pol. 1436 – Rogier van der Weyden is appointed city artist. 1444 – 4 March: Count Charles the Bold lays the foundation stone of the right wing of the Town Hall.