In Brussels, as in most European cities, one needed the capacity of bourgeois (equivalent to German burgher or English burgess; in French bourgeois or citoyen de Bruxelles; in Dutch poorter or borger van Brussel; in Latin civis or oppidanus Bruxellensis) to exercise political rights but also to practice a trade, which in Brussels meant to be a member of the guilds or of the Seven Noble Houses.
The charter of Brussels, as codified in 1570 in Articles 206 and following, provided the conditions of admission to the bourgeoisie of the city. The Bourgeois were the patrician class of the city. This social class was abolished by Napoleon during the French occupation.
