Matheus de Layens was a Brabantine

Duchy of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...

 architect from the 15th century.

He was employed in Leuven from 1433, first under the architect Sulpitius van Vorst (d. 1439), and afterwards under Jan Keldermans II, whom he succeeded in 1445 as master mason. In that capacity he developed the town fortifications, and more notably led the construction of the Leuven Town Hall

Leuven Town Hall

The Town Hall of Leuven, Belgium, is a landmark building on that city's Grote Markt square, across from the monumental St. Peter's Church...

 (1448-1469), as well as the transept

Transept

For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

 of the Saint Peter's Church

St. Peter's Church, Leuven

Saint Peter's Church of Leuven, Belgium, is situated on the city's Grote Markt , right across the ornate Town Hall...

. The sacrament tower

Church tabernacle

A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . A less obvious container, set into the wall, is called an aumbry....

 (by 1451) of that church is also attributed to him.

Around 1450 he worked on the St. Leonard's Church

St. Leonard's Church, Zoutleeuw

The Saint Leonard's Church in Zoutleeuw, Belgium, stands on the former site of a Romanesque chapel erected in 1125 by Benedictines from the Abbey of Vlierbeek near Leuven. Construction of the present church began around 1231, and additions continued into the 16th century...

 in Zoutleeuw

Zoutleeuw

Zoutleeuw is a municipality and city in the Hageland, in the extreme east of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 7,947 inhabitants...

, the "Our Lady of the Pool" (Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Poel) church at Tienen, and the St. Sulpitius Church at Diest

Diest

Diest is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60km from Brussels. The municipality comprises the city of...

. From 1457 he took over, from architect Jan Spijkens, the construction of the Church of St. Waudru at Mons

Mons

Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...

, and restored the town hall there in 1479.

His last work (1480-1487) was the monumental Round Table building (het Tafelrond) on the east side of Leuven's Grote Markt square. The building was torn down and replaced in about 1818, but was reconstructed in its original style and location in 1921.