HISTORICAL CONTEXT
From the eleventh century onwards, the power over Zoutleeuw belonged to the counts of Louvain. From the city of Louvain, the centre of their territory, the counts marched eastward and they steadily conquered more territory, including the sparsely populated area of Zoutleeuw. In 1106 these counts were granted the title of ‘dukes of Lower-Lorraine’, as a result of which they were later known as the ‘dukes of Brabant’. Right after Zoutleeuw the comital push was stopped by the bishops of Liège. In the course of the middle ages, Zoutleeuw was therefore situated in the conflictuous borderland between the duchy of Brabant and the prince-bishopric of Liège.