Borgloon

Borgloon gave its name to the County of Loon and was the original seat of its counts. Its name recalls a castle on a wooded hill. In the twelfth century Count Arnold I probably built the motte-and-bailey castle here, while his successors extended their influence over neighboring lordships. Conflict with the prince-bishops of Liège culminated in 1179, when Bishop Rudolf of Zähringen's forces devastated the old capital. Count Gerard later moved his court to Kuringen and founded the Cistercian abbey of Herkenrode.

Loon remained linked to Liège, whose bishops became its overlords. When the male comital line ended in the fourteenth century, the prince-bishops took direct control of the county. Borgloon remained one of Loon's “good towns,” alongside Hasselt, Bree and others, within the prince-bishopric. Its history preserved the memory of a county whose early center had stood on the hill at Loon.