Lille has had a stormy history (it has been besieged no fewer than 11 times). In fact, the city only became definitely part of France just over 300 years ago. The town, whose name is derived from the French l’île (‘the island’), thus named because it was situated on an island in the Deûle River, started life as a small village founded by the Flemish in about 1030. Before the end of the 11th century, the village had grown into a town and had been fortified by Count Baldwin IV of Flanders. Before the end of the century, it became a leading textile producer.