Bruges, along with Venice and Edinburgh, is one of the three key towns in the House of Niccolo series.

Bruges in the later 15th Century (Brugge in the Flemish) is where almost all Niccolo Rising is set, and is the home of Claes vander Poele, the Charetty Company and Anselm Adorne. It is one of the seats of the powerful Dukes of Burgundy. The nobility of Flanders - including the Gruuthuuse family and the Van Borselen family live there for much of the time.

Bruges has links with the Hanseatic League in the north and the Baltic, and with Venice and thus on to Levant.

So, though a pretty backwater and tourist attraction today, in 1460, Bruges was one of the major hubs of world trade and politics.