Situated between Brussels and Namur the small town of Gembloux (Flemish Gembloers), which dates back to a Roman settlement on the military road from Bavai to Cologne, received its town charter in the 12th C. The town walls, parts of which are still standing, were constructed in the same period. From the 1
7th to the 19th C. Gembloux was famous for its steelware but this was only small scale and was superseded by other metal-working industries. Together with several surrounding districts Gembloux forms the administrative district of Gembloux-sur-Orneau.
Sigisbert of Gembloux (1030-1112) wrote a world chronicle of the years 381-1111 in the Benedictine abbey.
During the Dutch Wars of Independence the Spanish commander Don Juan d'Austria defeated a Spanish army here in 1578.