Heusden was a municipality located in the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 province of East Flanders

East Flanders

East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders...

. In 1977 it merged with the municipality of Destelbergen

Destelbergen

Destelbergen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Destelbergen proper and Heusden and was created on January 1, 1977 by the fusion of these two municipalities...

, of which it is now part.

It was mentioned for the first time in 11th century, by abbot Othejbold. Years after the invasion by the Norsemen

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

, the municipality fell into the hands of the Lords of Heusden. Because of the marriage of Beatrix of Heusden with Zeger III

Zeger III of Ghent

Zeger III of Ghent was the lord of Heusden, of Bornhem, and of Saint-Jean Steen, and the Châtelain of Ghent. He was the second son of Zeger II, Lord of Ghent and Petronella of Coutrai. His older brother, Arnold, died before 1190, leaving him the heat to the estate of his parents. He took his...

 (viscount of Ghent) in 1212, the seat of the viscountship of Ghent moved to Heusden. Until the end of the Ancien Régime Heusden stayed property of the viscounts of Ghent. In 1247 the Cistercian Abbey of Nieuwenbosch settled in Heusden. This cloister flourished until it was destroyed by the Iconoclasts

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...

 in 1578. After this the sisters moved to Ghent. Because Heusden was a part of the belt of defence around Ghent, it was looted many times during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

.

This rich history has resulted in a number of castles dotting the area.