Editing Grand-Place (section)

===Rise in importance===
Improvements to the Grand-Place from the 14th century onwards would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen relative to the [[nobility]]. As he was short on money, the Duke gradually transferred parts of his control rights over trade and [[Mill (grinding)|mill]]s to the local authorities, prompting them to build edifices worthy of their new status.{{sfn|State|2004|p=132–136}} In 1353, the [[City of Brussels]] ordered the construction of a large indoor cloth market ({{langx|fr|Halle au Drap|link=no}}), similar to those of the neighbouring cities of [[Mechelen]] and [[Leuven]], to the south of the square.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=120}}{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=5–9}}{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=10}}{{efn|It is represented occupying the entire rear of the Town Hall in an engraving by Abraham van Santvoort after [[Leo van Heil]], {{circa|1650}}.{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=197}}}} At this point, the Grand-Place was still haphazardly laid out, and the buildings along the edges had a motley tangle of gardens and irregular additions.<ref name=is>{{cite web| title=History of the Grand Place of Brussels|url=http://www.ilotsacre.be/site/en/curiosities/grand_place-brussels.htm| publisher=Commune Libre de l'Îlot Sacré|access-date=August 25, 2009}}</ref> The city [[:wikt:expropriate|expropriate]]d and demolished a number of buildings that clogged the square, and formally defined its edges.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=120}}{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=5–9}}{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=10}}

[[File:A market scene on the Grand Place in Brussels, oil on canvas, 81x101 cm, c. 1670.jpg|thumb|left|A market scene on the Grand-Place, {{circa|1670}}]]

[[Brussels Town Hall|Brussels' Town Hall]] was erected in stages, between 1401 and 1455, on the south side of the Grand-Place, transforming the square into the seat of municipal power.{{sfn|State|2004|p=147}} The Town Hall's spire towers some {{convert|96|m}} high, and is capped by a {{convert|2.7|m|ft}}{{efn|name=fn3|This is the height of Saint Michael alone. Including the base to the point of the sword, the statue is about {{convert|5|m|ft}} tall.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=5–9}}}} statue of [[Michael (archangel)|Saint Michael]] slaying a demon or devil.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=5–9}}{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=10}} To counter this, from 1504 to 1536, the [[Duke of Brabant]] ordered the construction of a large [[Flamboyant]] edifice across from the city hall to house his administrative services.<ref name=is/> It was erected on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use, and it became known first as the ''Duke's House'' ({{langx|dum|'s Hertogenhuys|link=no}}), then as the ''King's House'' ({{langx|dum|'s Conincxhuys|link=no}}), although no king has ever lived there. It is currently known as the {{lang|fr|Maison du Roi}} ("King's House") in French, but in Dutch, it continues to be called the {{lang|nl|Broodhuis}} ("Bread House"), after the market whose place it took.{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=19}} Over time, wealthy merchants and the increasingly powerful [[Guilds of Brussels]] built houses around the square.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=120}}{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=17}}

The Grand-Place witnessed many tragic events unfold during its history. In 1523, the first Protestant [[martyr]]s [[Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos]] were burned by the [[Inquisition]] on the square. Forty years later, in 1568, two statesmen, [[Lamoral, Count of Egmont]] and [[Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn]], who had spoken out against the policies of [[Philip II of Spain|King Philip II]] in the [[Spanish Netherlands]], were beheaded in front of the King's House.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=122–123}}{{sfn|Goedleven|1993|p=56–58}}{{sfn|De Vries|2003|p=36}}{{sfn|Heymans|2011|p=16}} This triggered the beginning of the [[Eighty Years' War|armed revolt against Spanish rule]], of which [[William the Silent|William of Orange]] took the lead. In 1719, it was the turn of [[Frans Anneessens|François Anneessens]], dean of the Nation of St. Christopher, who was beheaded on the Grand-Place because of his resistance to innovations in city government detrimental to the power of the guilds and for his suspected involvement with uprisings within the [[Austrian Netherlands]].{{sfn|Goedleven|1993|p=116}}{{sfn|State|2004|p=12–13}}