The county of Brunengeruz (spelled in various ways such as Brugeron, Brunengeruuz, Brunengurt) existed in the 10th and 11th centuries in what is now eastern

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, between the town of

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

on the river Dyle and

Tienen Tienen (; ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Viss ...

on the river

Gete The Gete (; ) is a river in Belgium which flows south to north. It is a left tributary of the Demer. The Gete is formed by the confluence of the rivers ''Grote Gete'' ("Large Gete") and ''Kleine Gete'' ("Small Gete") near Budingen. From Budinge ...

. It was part of the larger region known as the

Hesbaye The Hesbaye ( French, ), or Haspengouw ( Dutch and Limburgish, ), is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has b ...

. The name is sometimes interpreted with "corrected" forms such as Brunenrode, because the Latin spellings are believed to derive from ''Brūninga roþa'', meaning a forest clearing (typically ''rode'' or ''rooi'' in modern Dutch placenames) belonging to the kinsfolk of Bruno. August 27th 988, this county was granted by

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

and became part of the secular lordship of the bishops of Liège, contributing to the creation of the "

prince-bishopric A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to ''Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the Bi ...

" of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. There are indications that prior to this the county had been held by a countess named Alpeidis, who may have also originally have held

Jodoigne Jodoigne (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Jodoigne had a total population of 12,440. The total area is which gives a population density of . The municipalit ...

in the 10th century as part of a larger version of this county. In 1036 the place Wulmerson, near Grimde, was mentioned in a record as being in the county of "Brunengurt". The county came to be claimed by the counts of Leuven and over several generations they achieved control of most of the area, excluding

Hoegaarden Hoegaarden () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaar ...

, Beauvechain, Tourinnes-la-Grosse and Chaumont. By 1155, if not earlier, Hoegaarden came to be seen as the chief town of the leftover "county", which remained under the bishops. The 13th-century writer

Giles of Orval Giles of Orval (; ; ) was a Cistercian monk and historian. Originally from the prince-bishopric of Liège, he lived and worked in the abbey of Orval in the archdiocese of Trier. His major work was the '' Gesta episcoporum Leodiensium'' he compiled ...

in his ''Gesta episcoporum Leodiensium'' (II.44) in the entry for 1099, defined the boundaries of the 11th-century version of the disputed county.Giles of Orval (''Aegidius Aureaevallensis''), ''Gesta episcoporum Leodiensium'', edited by Johannes Heller, in MGH SS 25 (Hannover, 1880) pp
91
2. He explained that this county, contested by the prince-bishops of Liège and the counts of Leuven, was granted by the prince-bishop to

Albert III, Count of Namur Albert III ( 1027 – 22 June 1102) was the Count of Namur from 1063 until his death. He was the son of Count Albert II and Regelinde of Verdun. Although he was not formally a duke, Albert is considered to have played the role of an acting Duk ...

. Albert's family did not maintain control though, and most of the county came increasingly under the control of Leuven. Giles described a relatively large area covering much of eastern

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

and

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant ( ; ; ) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Br ...

, stretching from Louvain to Tienen. Among the places named was Brunengeruz itself, which was in or near modern (medieval ''Rode''). Brunen map2

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *{{citation, last=Van der Velpen, first= J., title=Alpeide stichteres de Collegiale kerk van Hoegaarden , journal= Eigen Schoon en de Brabander , volume=36 , year=1953 , pages= 1–17 History of Walloon Brabant History of Flemish Brabant Counties of the Holy Roman Empire 11th century in Belgium