Brussels was established about AD 977, but according to the legend, the city’s history began considerably earlier. St Gorik, bishop of Cambrai, built a chapel on an island formed by two arms of the river Senne (French), or Zenne (Dutch), a small river which runs through Brussels. The bishop was passing through the forest of Soigné in AD 580 and decided to build a chapel here. A small settlement gradually developed around the chapel, and by the 9th Century it had become the town of Brussels.

The name Brussels is derived from Broekzele, or Bruocsella, in Old Dutch, meaning ‘marshland’. All other municipalities in the region of Belgium have Old Dutch names, except the Celtic Evere. Belgium received its first mention in history in AD 977, when German Emperor Otto II gave the duchy of Lower Lotharingia (Lower Lorraine) to Charles, the son of Louis IV, king of France. Charles decided to build a castrum (plot or building use for military defense) on St Gorik’s island.

Charles died in the late 10th Century, and the territory of Lower Lorraine was acquired by Lambert I of Leuven in 1041. The counts of Leuven also ruled the surrounding regions, which later became part of the Duchy of Brabant. Lambert II Baldric decided to build a new castle in the middle of the 11th Century, and also began construction of the first city walls. Brussels became an important centre on the trade route from Brugge to Cologne in the 12th Century, thus enjoying stable population growth with some 30,000 inhabitants. The counts of Leuven also acquired the title Dukes of Brabant during this time.