1574 Bruxella.

The earliest obtainable map of Brussels, Belgium. The plan shows an idealized almost circular view of the city with city walls nearly entirely ringed by a moat on one side and the River Senne on the other. This depiction makes clear the remarkable use of the region’s natural features as ships were able to dock inside the city proper by using a network of canals. Chartered in 1312, as early as 1357 extensive city walls were built which enclosed fields and tracts of land within it. The city was made seat of the government by the Dukes of Brabant in 1383, by which time the population had already reached 50,000. Descendants of the Dukes constructed a great palace in the city in the 15th century, an era during which the city experienced economic prosperity and the arts and science flowered in the city. During this time artists and craftsmen, manuscript illuminators, sculptors and goldsmiths all made their way to the city, permanently settling there. One of the era’s greatest artists, Piete