Rising of 1360

   Brussels was divided into two hostile camps in the mid-14th century—the wealthy patricians and the bourgeois members of the craft guilds. Although class divisions were not as sharply defined as elsewhere in Brabant, the bourgeoisie in the city held little power. In 1356, as a reward for driving Flemish invaders from Brussels and to mark his displeasure at the disloyalty of the patricians, Duke Wenceslaus granted craftsmen an equal share with the lignages in city government. However, he soon revoked the concession, which sparked plans in July 1360 for armed action against the patricians by guild members. Butchers assembled under arms at their guildhall and weavers, fullers, and dyers burned the Steenporte. The rebels were subsequently cut down in the streets by mounted patricians and stringent penal laws were enacted to suppress dissent. Discontent remained rife and revolution continued to threaten until moderate patricians began implementing measures in 1368 to grant burgers greater participatory rights in city government.