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Thanks to its favorable situation alongside the old commercial route from Bruges to Cologne, Hasselt developed quite soon into an important center. Around 1200 Hasselt received communal rights and became the capital of the county of Loon, wich belonged to the Bischopric of Liège from 1365 until the end of the 18th century.

At the end of the 13th century, the city was fortified with a city wall. This wall was demolished by the troups of Charles the Bold in the 15th century, but quickly rebuilt.

The 17th century brought new hardship for Hasselt when foreign armies repeatedly attacked and took the city. During the French occupation at the end of the 18th century, the county of Loon and the Duchy of Luxemburg were joined into the new French "département de la basse Meuse" (Lower Meuse department), the capital of which was the city of Maastricht (now in the Dutch province of Limburg).

After the Belgian independance of 1830, Hasselt regained its place as provincial center and became the capital of the Belgian province of Limburg in 1839.

In the 19th century, the industrial revolution brought new developments to the city. The city broke out of its medieval boundaries when the city wall was taken down. On the site of that wall is today's Ringlaan (or Green Boulevard). The center of the city became more modernized and new traffic connections were made with other cities.

Also in the 19th century the "Jenever"-industrie (local Gin) became very florishing. Around 1840 Hasselt had 24 jenever distilleries, about one third of the entire number of distilleries in the province. Their owners gained a lot of influence in the economic life of  the city, especially because new railroads and traffic infrastructure allowed the distilleries to export to other parts of the Low Countries. However, the jenever industry gradually lost its importance for the Hasselt economic situation as from the end of the 19th century.

In the 20th century the economically important Albert Canal (1930 - 1939) was constructed. Hasselt started to profit from this new water route as from the 1950's when new industries arose around the old medieval nucleus. Hasselt became a modern administrative and economic center in the green and mainly rural province of Limburg.


 

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