The burgher town which was thus engaged in trade and manufactures was Flemish in speech and feeling, and lay in the hollow by the river and the Grand’ Place. But =a lordly suburb= began to arise at an early date on the hill to eastward, where the Counts of Louvain built themselves a mansion, surrounded by those of the lesser nobility. After 1380, the Counts migrated here from too democratic Louvain. Later on, in the fifteenth century, the Dukes of Burgundy (who united the sovereignty of Brabant with that of Flanders) often held their court here, as the population was less turbulent and less set upon freedom than that of purely commercial and industrial Bruges and Ghent. Thus the distinctive position of Brussels as the aristocratic centre and the =seat of the court= grew fixed. Again, the Dukes of Burgundy were French in speech, and surrounded themselves with French knights and courtiers; to suit the sovereigns, the local nobility also acquired the habit of speaking French, which has gradually become the language of one-half of Belgium. But the people of the Old Town in the valley were, and are still, largely Flemish in tongue, in customs, in sympathies, and in aspect; while the inhabitants of the Montagne de la Cour and the court quarter generally are French in speech, in taste, and in manners. We will trace in the sequel the gradual growth of Brussels from its nucleus by the river (the Lower Town), up the side of the eastern hill to the Palace district (the Upper Town), and thence through the new Quartier Léopold and the surrounding region to its modern extension far beyond the limits of the mediæval ramparts. Choose an hotel in the airy and wholesome Upper Town, as near as possible to the =Park= or the Place Royale. =St. Michael the Archangel= is the =patron saint= of Brussels: he will meet you everywhere, even on the lampposts. For the patroness, St. Gudula, see under the Cathedral. _B._ THE HEART OF BRUSSELS [The =nucleus of Brussels=, as of Paris, was formed by =an island=, now no longer existing. Round this islet ran two branches of the little =river Senne=, at present obliterated by the Inner Boulevards. Brussels, in short, has denied its parentage; the Senne, which is visible N. and S. of the Outer Boulevards, being covered over by arches within the whole of the Inner City. The =centre of the island= is marked by the little _Place St. Géry_, which the reader need not trouble to visit. Here, at the end of the 6th century, St. Géry, Bishop of Cambrai and apostle of Brabant, built a small chapel, succeeded by a church, now demolished. The true centre of Brussels, however, may be conveniently taken as the existing Bourse. Close by, as the town grew, the =Grand’ Place= or market-place was surrounded by noble mediæval and Renaissance buildings. To this centre then, the real heart of Brussels in the Middle Ages, we first direct ourselves.]