Hekelgem

In the later Middle Ages and through the Early Modern period the territory was partly subject to the lordship of Asse and partly to Affligem Abbey, with frequent disputes about their relative rights and privileges, particularly with regard to the woodland and heath surrounding the village.

[1] In the year 1295, John II, Duke of Brabant, recognised that the abbey by immemorial custom had the right to appoint a board of seven aldermen; the lords of Asse appointed a mayor, who was denied any authority within (and sometimes even physical access to) the monastery.

[1] In the 1680s and 1690s, the village repeatedly suffered pillage and destruction during the French invasions of the Nine Years' War.

[1] On 23 December 1792, in the aftermath of the French revolutionary army's victory in the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November, the men of the village assembled and declared that they wished to remain Catholic and continue to live as a free people under the institutions of the Duchy of Brabant, rather than accept French rule.

[2] Under French rule the village became a commune in the canton of Asse, as part of the Department of the Dyle.