Burcht Van Brustem

Sint-Truiden, Belgium, Belgium

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Burcht Van Brustem, located in the village of Brustem (part of Sint-Truiden) in the Belgian province of Limburg, is a medieval motte-and-bailey castle ruin that played a key strategic role in the conflict between the County of Loon and the nearby Abbey-town of Sint-Truiden during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The tower castle was erected in 1170 by Louis I, Count of Loon, as a fortified outpost aimed at limiting Sint-Truiden’s influence, and it was soon surrounded by a large earthwork ring and a water ditch, with a forecourt and chapel added shortly thereafter. The castle was captured and partly destroyed by Sint-Truiden in 1178, suffered further damage in 1346 during a local uprising, and later became a temporary stronghold in the Battle of Brustem in 1467, though it was not the main focus of that historic infantry battle between popular militias and the Burgundian army of Charles the Bold.

By the late 15th century, after being seized and deliberately dismantled in 1489 during family feuds, the fortress lost its military function, and over the following centuries the stone tower gradually fell into ruin, with half of it reportedly collapsing around 1840 and its remaining stones being reused as building material. Today, the site consists of an eight-sided stone tower ruin standing on a raised artificial motte, surrounded by a partially preserved moat and the remains of foundations from the original square tower and forecourt buildings, with the present parish church of Saint-Laurentius situated within the old defensive walls and replacing the earlier castle chapel.