The county of Brunengeruz (or Brugeron, Brunengeruuz, Brunengurt) existed in the 10th and 11th centuries in what is now eastern

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, between the towns of

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, on the river Dyle and

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) 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-Marg ...

, on the river

Gete The Gete (; french: Gette) 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 Zoutleeuw, ...

, within 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 be ...

. The name is sometimes interpreted with "corrected" forms such as Brunenrode, because the Latin spellings are believed to derive from ''Brūninga roþa'', 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 Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

to be part of the secular lordship of the

bishops of Liège A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

, contributing to the creation of the " prince-bishopric" of

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. 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 (,As if it were spelled ''Jodogne''; is considered erroneous. nl, Geldenaken ; wa, Djodogne) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Jodoigne had a total populati ...

in the 10th century as part 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 municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Hoegaarden proper, Meldert and Outgaarden. On January 1, 2006, Hoegaarden had a tota ...

, 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 (french: Gilles d'Orval; la, Aegidius Aureaevallensis) 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 t ...

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 the 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 Duke o ...

. 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 ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) 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, Haina ...

and

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant (french: Brabant wallon ; nl, Waals-Brabant ; wa, Roman Payis) 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 ...

, 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 Counts History of Walloon Brabant History of Flemish Brabant Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Medieval Belgium