Covalent organic networks derived from surface-mediated self-assembly of 1,3,5-tris(4-bromophenyl)benzene into two-dimensional networks on Au(111) have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and by X-ray spectroscopic methods. High resolution soft X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SXPS) using synchrotron radiation have been used to study the formation of the 1,3,5-tris(4-bromophenyl)benzene-derived 2D networks by observing temperature-dependent C 1s and Br 3d core level XPS spectra. X-ray absorption (XA) measurements of the formation of these 2D networks have been obtained at the C K-edge where their temperature and angular dependence are examined. The results of these XPS and XA spectroscopic measurements are compared to detailed ab initio electronic structure calculations of 1,3,5-tris(4-bromophenyl)benzene molecules to aid the interpretation of the features of these spectra.