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62-517: A sub-prefecture of the department, Cambrai is a town which had 32,501 inhabitants in 2018. It is in the heart of the urban unit of Cambrai with 46,772 inhabitants. Its functional area , a more extensive range, included 94,576 inhabitants in 2018. With Lille and the towns of the former Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin , it is also part of the Metropolitan area of Lille  [ fr ] which has more than 3.8 million inhabitants. Towards

124-480: A subprefecture ( French : sous-préfecture ) is the commune which is the administrative centre of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the prefecture for its department . The term also applies to the building that houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement. The civil servant in charge of a subprefecture is the subprefect , assisted by a general secretary . Between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by

186-523: A bloody civil war, they defeated Lothair at the Battle of Fontenoy in 841 and sealed their alliance in 842 with the Oaths of Strasbourg which declared Lothair unfit for the imperial throne, after which he became willing to negotiate a settlement. The meeting happened shortly before August 10, as confirmed by a contemporary letter. Each of the three brothers was already established in one kingdom: Lothair in

248-789: A church principality, much like Liège , an independent state which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The spiritual power of the bishop was exercised over a vast diocese, which stretched on the right bank of the Scheldt to Mons , Brussels and Antwerp. In 954, the Magyars under Bulcsú besieged Cambrai, which resisted all their attacks. In 958 one of the first communal uprisings in Europe occurred in Cambrai. The inhabitants rebelled against Bishop Bérenger's power and abuses. The rebellion

310-698: A citadel built in its place. In 1595, the city was taken by the Spanish in the eighth and last French Wars of Religion . In December 1623, the community of nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation was founded at Cambrai. Expelled in 1793 as a result of the French Revolution, its successor community in 1838 was Stanbrook Abbey , near Malvern and later Wass in Yorkshire. In 1630, Richelieu , wishing to counter

372-589: A city. When the Treaty of Verdun in 843 split Charlemagne 's empire into three parts, the county of Cambrai fell into Lothaire 's kingdom. However, upon the death of Lothair II , who had no heir, king Charles the Bald tried to gain control of his kingdom by having himself consecrated at Metz . Cambrai thus reverted, but only briefly, to the Western Frankish Realm . In 870 the town was destroyed by

434-499: A firm rule over Lothair's kingdom. While the north of Lotharingia was then composed of independent countries , the southern third of Lotharingia , Alsace-Lorraine , was traded back and forth between France and Germany from the 18th to the 20th century. In 1766, it passed to France after the death of Stanisław Leszczyński , who had acquired the region from the German Habsburgs by the Treaty of Vienna (1738) ending

496-476: A long period of peace when the bishoprics of Arras and Cambrai were first unified (probably owing to the small number of clerics left at the time) and were later transferred to Cambrai, an administrative centre for the region. Successive bishops, including Gaugericus (in French Géry), founded abbeys and churches to host relics, which contributed powerfully to giving Cambrai both the appearance and functions of

558-483: A name, was inherited by Lothair's second son, Lothair II , and was then named Lotharingia (present day Lorraine ) after him. The division reflected an adherence to the old Frankish custom of partible or divisible inheritance amongst a ruler's sons, rather than primogeniture (i.e., inheritance by the eldest son) which would soon be adopted by both Frankish kingdoms. Since Lotharingia combined lengthy and vulnerable land borders with poor internal communications as it

620-415: A network of cellars, tunnels and quarries under the city. The poor quality of the Cambrai chalk was reserved for use in the manufacture of lime or filling, as well as common constructions. For prestigious buildings, stone from the nearby villages of Noyelles-sur-Escaut , Rumilly or Marcoing was used. The city is bordered in its western part, as well as to the north and the south, by the alluvial zones of

682-605: Is 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level, Avesnes-sur-Helpe (Avesnois) is at 143 metres (469 ft) and Cambrai only 41 metres (135 ft). The Saint-Quentin canal , the Canal du Nord , the A1 , A2 and A26 autoroutes all borrow all this passage between the basin of the Seine and the plains of the Nord department. The chalky subsoil allowed, as in many medieval cities, the digging of

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744-578: Is 108 kilometres (67 mi) away, Paris is 160 kilometres (99 mi) and London is 279 kilometres (173 mi). The city was born and developed on the right bank of the Scheldt river, locally known as the Escaut. The river has its source in the department of Aisne , just a little over 20 kilometres (12 mi) away. Cambrai is located on chalk bedrock of the Cretaceous period, which forms

806-641: Is known with certainty of the beginnings of Cambrai. Camaracum or Camaraco , as it was known to the Romans, is mentioned for the first time on the Peutinger table in the middle of the 4th century. It became the main town of the Roman province of the Nervii , whose first Roman capital had been at Bagacum , present-day Bavay . In the middle of the 4th-century, Frankish raids from the north threatened Bavay and led

868-819: Is less than those of Toulouse at 656 millimetres (25.8 in) or Nice at 767 millimetres (30.2 in). However, the number of days of rain (63 in Nice, 120 in Cambrai) confirms the oceanic character of the climate. The mean thermal amplitude between the winter and summer does not exceed 15 °C. Although again establishing a comparison with Paris, that Cambrai is 1.5 to 2 °C colder over all combined seasons. On average, there are 71 days of fog per year (Paris-Montsouris has 13) 15 days of storm (Paris-Montsouris has 19) and 20 days with snow (Paris-Montsouris has 15). Subprefectures in France In France ,

930-660: The Cambrésis . Mazarin tried unsuccessfully, in 1649, to seize the city, which was being besieged by Henri de Lorraine-Harcourt and the Vicomte de Turenne . A Spanish regiment, which came from Bouchain , succeeded in entering the city and the siege was lifted. In 1657, the Vicomte de Turenne captured Cambrai. Again 4,000 horsemen under the command of Condé , in the service of the Spain, manage to penetrate, and Turenne abandoned

992-454: The Comité de salut public , arrived in Cambrai in 1794. He was to set up an era of "terror", sending many to the guillotine , until he was tried and executed in 1795. One of his most famous victims was François III Maximilien de la Woestyne, 3rd Marquess of Becelaere . Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished in that period: in 1797, the old cathedral , which had been dubbed

1054-628: The Habsburg Empire and France made it the venue of several international negotiations, including the League of Cambrai , an alliance engineered in 1508 by Pope Julius II against the Republic of Venice , concluding in the Treaty of Cambrai  [ fr ] . The alliance collapsed in 1510 when the Pope allied with Venice against his former ally France . The conflict is also referred to as

1116-575: The Holy Roman Empire until annexation to France in 1678. Fénelon , nicknamed the "Swan of Cambrai", was the most renowned of the archbishops. The fertile lands which surround it and the textile industry gave it prosperity in the Middle Ages , but in modern times it is less industrialised than its neighbours of Nord-Pas-de-Calais . Cambrai was the Duke of Wellington 's headquarters, for

1178-501: The Hundred Days Offensive . World War II was followed by reconstructions and a rapidly developing economy and population, abruptly reversed by the 1973 oil crisis . Cambrai today is a lively city and, despite the past destruction, maintains a rich monumental heritage. Cambrai is affirmed as the urban centre of Cambrésis . Its economic life is strengthened by its position on the main local highway and river. Little

1240-644: The Kingdom of Italy ; Louis the German in the Kingdom of Bavaria ; and Charles II in the Kingdom of Aquitaine . After Lothair's death in 855, his eldest son, Louis II , inherited Italy and his father's claim to the Imperial throne. Upper Burgundy and Lower Burgundy ( Arles and Provence ) passed to Lothair's third son, Charles of Provence . The remaining territory north of the Alps , which did not previously have

1302-470: The Loi Godefroid promulgated by the bishop, in fact or in law, left the people a number of freedoms won in the management of communal affairs. Cambrai is also known for its Irish homily . In the Middle Ages , the city grew richer and larger thanks to its weaving industry which produced woollen cloth, linen and cambric . Cambrai, and in particular the drapery, experienced an economic decline from

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1364-775: The War of Polish Succession (1733–1738). In 1871, Alsace-Lorraine became German, after the victory of Prussia and its German allies over the French in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). In 1919, it became French again by the Treaty of Versailles (1919), following the French victory over the Germans in World War I (1914–1918). In 1940, Germany reannexed Alsace-Lorraine following Germany's conquest of France . Finally, in 1945, after World War II (1939–1945), Alsace-Lorraine

1426-505: The War of the League of Cambrai and lasted from 1508 to 1516. Cambrai was also the site of negotiations in 1529, concluding in the Paix des Dames , which led to France's withdrawal from the War of the League of Cognac . In 1543, Cambrai was conquered by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , and annexed to his already vast possessions. He had the medieval monastery of Saint-Sépulchre demolished and

1488-585: The "wonder of the low countries", was sold to a merchant on 6 June 1796 who left only the tower, after exploiting the cathedral as a stone quarry. The main tower was left standing until 1809, when it collapsed in a storm. However the cathedral's archives have been preserved (they are now at the Archives Départementales du Nord in Lille ) and a new cathedral was later provided. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 widely spared Cambrai. It also showed

1550-518: The 14th century the county was surrounded on all parts by Burgundy 's possessions and John of Burgundy , an illegitimate son of John the Fearless , was made bishop. However, what looked like an impending annexation of Cambrésis to the states of Burgundy was made impossible by the sudden death of Charles the Bold in 1477. Louis XI immediately seized the opportunity to take control of Cambrai, but left

1612-560: The 15th century, studied at the cathedral from 1409 to 1412 under Nicolas Malin and Richard Loqueville , and returned in 1439 after spending many years in Italy. Cambrai cathedral had other famous composers in the later 15th century: Johannes Tinctoris and Ockeghem went to Cambrai to study with Dufay. Other composers included Nicolas Grenon , Alexander Agricola , and Jacob Obrecht . In the 16th century, Philippe de Monte , Johannes Lupi , and Jacobus de Kerle all worked there. Even though

1674-458: The 15th century. Cambrai then belonged to a commercial hansa of seventeen low country cities whose aim was to develop trade with the fairs in Champagne and Paris . By the 11th century the city walls had reached the circumference they would keep until the 19th century. Cambrai has a distinguished musical history, particularly in the 15th century. The cathedral there, a musical center until

1736-558: The 17th century, had one of the most active musical establishments in the Low Countries; many composers of the Burgundian School either grew up and learned their craft there, or returned to teach. In 1428 Philippe de Luxembourg claimed that the cathedral was the finest in all of Christianity, for the fineness of its singing, its light, and the sweetness of its bells. Guillaume Dufay , the most famous European musician of

1798-486: The 3,500 which consisted of Cambrai. The centre was to be rebuilt, a task which was entrusted to the architect Pierre Leprince-Ringuet  [ fr ] . World War II also struck Cambrai. The city was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 17 May 1940, during the Battle of France , before falling the next day at the same time as Saint-Quentin . The remains of the 9th French Army and General Giraud were taken prisoner by

1860-636: The British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818. Occupied by the German army during World War I , Cambrai suffered partial destruction in the First Battle of Cambrai from British artillery attacks on the town, including the nearby Bourlon Wood. The fighting around Cambrai, known as the Battle of Cambrai (20 November 1917 – 3 December 1917) is notable in that it is considered to be the first mass use of tanks in battle. A second Battle of Cambrai took place between 8 and 10 October 1918 as part of

1922-438: The Germans. From 27 April until 18 August 1944, 18 Allied air raids were directed against the railway tracks, killing 250 people and destroying 1,700 buildings, or more than 50% of the city. The first American tanks entered the city on 2 September. After the war, the priority again was reconstruction. A municipality of the "union of the left" was elected in 1945, led by Raymond Gernez  [ fr ] who would remain at

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1984-542: The Marquis de Cesen as governor, and appointed 14 new aldermen while keeping the same provost . By the Treaty of Nijmegen of 1678, Spain had relinquished Cambrai, which has remained as a part of France, to this day. French influence would transform the architecture and urbanism of the city. The gables of the houses on the street were blocked and the city was embellished with mansions. The fortifications were reinforced with advanced works. The first archbishop appointed by

2046-491: The Netherlands, which was reached on 20 March. On 22 March, Louis XIV was in the city in person. On 2 April, the French invested in a part of the place. By 5 April, the city surrendered, given the same benefits as Lille in 1667, but the Spanish garrison took refuge in the citadel and the siege continued until 17 April. After 29 days of siege the king made his entry into the city, on 19 April, Easter Monday. Louis XIV named

2108-560: The Normans. In the Middle Ages the region around Cambrai, called Cambrésis, was a county. Rivalries between the count, who ruled the city and county, and the bishop, ceased when in 948 Otto I granted the bishop with temporal powers over the city. In 1007, Emperor Henry II extended the bishop's temporal power to the territory surrounding Cambrai. The bishops then had both spiritual and temporal powers. This made Cambrai and Cambrésis

2170-479: The Protestant Republic of the Netherlands and continued in the following years. In 1676, Louis XIV , in an effort to "safeguard the tranquility of his borders for ever" (" assurer à jamais le repos de ses frontières "), focused most of his efforts against Spain and occupied Condé and Bouchain . On 17 March 1677, the French troops stormed Valenciennes and moved toward Cambrai, the strongest place of

2232-715: The Romans to build forts along the Cologne to Bavay to Cambrai road, and thence to Boulogne. Cambrai thus occupied an important strategic position. In 430, the Salian Franks under the command of Clodio the Long-Haired took the town. In 509, Clovis undertook to unify the Frankish kingdoms by getting rid of his relatives. Cambrai began to grow from a rural market into a real city during the Merovingian times,

2294-466: The Scheldt Valley. Cambrai is built on the right bank of the Scheldt . The river, still of a very modest flow in Cambrai, played a crucial role in the history of the city by providing multiple functions, including allowing the transportation of men and goods since antiquity. However, it was undeveloped and was crossed by numerous marshes. It was with the discovery of coal at Anzin in 1734 that

2356-467: The Scheldt was expanded and declared navigable in 1780, from Cambrai to the North Sea . The Scheldt is today the Canal de l'Escaut downstream of Cambrai. In addition, the river initially served as the boundary between the bishoprics of Tournai on its left bank and Cambrai on its right bank, from the 6th century. When the division of Charlemagne 's Empire in 843, this border was retained to delimit

2418-415: The area which are separated by a few tens of kilometres: Douai is only 24 kilometres (15 mi) away, Valenciennes is 29 kilometres (18 mi), Arras is 35 kilometres (22 mi) and Saint-Quentin 37 kilometres (23 mi), all measured as the crow flies . The regional capital, Lille , is 52 kilometres (32 mi) from Cambrai. Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals: Brussels

2480-519: The bishop tried to preserve the independence of his small state of Cambrésis, the task was not easy, wedged as the county was between its more powerful neighbours the counts of Flanders , of Hainaut and the kings of France , especially during the Hundred Years' War . In 1339, in the early stages of the war, the English king Edward III laid siege to the city but eventually had to withdraw. By

2542-405: The city a year later. Martin and Martine are two legendary characters who have come to represent the city which they are said to have saved. There are different versions of the story. The most commonly accepted version runs as follows: around the year 1370, at the time of Bishop Robert, Count of Geneva, Martin, a blacksmith of Moorish descent established in Cambrai, was among the burghers who left

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2604-487: The city is about 110 kilometres (68 mi) from the nearest coast. Precipitation is distributed year-round, with highs in the spring and autumn, with February being the driest month. Contrasting with the rainy image of the region, the total annual precipitation is relatively small with 642 millimetres (25.3 in) at Cambrai-Épinoy; identical to the Montsouris Paris station, which is at the same altitude, it

2666-470: The city progressed, while the arrondissement tended to be depopulated. At the same time, the city lost industrial jobs and moved towards the tertiary sector, but it was public administrations which provided the bulk of jobs. The town of Cambrai is situated in the southern part of the Nord Department, of which it is chef-lieu of the arrondissement . It belongs to the dense network of the cities of

2728-419: The city to fight the lord of Thun-Lévêque , who was then reputed to ransom the population around the city and generally to afflict the region. Martin, armed only with his heavy iron hammer, soon came face to face with the enemy. He dealt such a heavy blow on his opponent's head that, although the helmet of the lord did not break, because it was made of good steel, it was driven down to his eyes. Dazed and blinded,

2790-420: The city. In 1666, in the greatest secrecy, Louis XIV prepared new conquests by making plans of the Spanish fortifications, and then began the War of Devolution . The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle from 1668 allowed the Kingdom of France to obtain a large number of strongholds, but Cambrai was not a part of them, nor were Bouchain , Valenciennes or Condé-sur-l'Escaut . In 1672, hostilities resumed against

2852-434: The defence of the city by the establishment of flood defensive areas. Despite its important role in the history of the city, the Scheldt is little integrated into the present urban landscape. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ). However,

2914-580: The end of the Roman Empire , Cambrai replaced Bavay as the "capital" of the land of the Nervii . At the beginning of the Merovingian era, Cambrai became the seat of an immense archdiocese covering all the right bank of the Scheldt and the centre of a small ecclesiastical principality , roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant , including the central part of the Low Countries . The bishopric had some limited secular power and depended on

2976-427: The futility of the fortifications, which the city obtained permission to demolish, at its expense, in 1892. The outer boulevards were constructed and off to the location of the walls, between 1894 and the beginning of the 20th century. The appearance of the city was radically transformed, and the works stimulated the city's economy. In 1914, the German army occupied the city. This occupation, which lasted for four years,

3038-469: The head of the city until 1981, promoting moderate socialism. As early as 1947, the city submitted to a development project of the Ministry of Reconstruction. The municipality gave priority to the construction of houses: The Maison du Cambrésis [House of le Cambrésis], later Maison Familiale group, an HLM cooperative society, contributed substantially to the reconstruction of the city. The population of

3100-537: The king of France was François Fénelon . He came to be known as the "Swan of Cambrai" (" le cygne de Cambrai "), in opposition to his friend and rival Bossuet , the "eagle of Meaux" (" l'aigle de Meaux "), and he wrote his Maxims of the Saints while residing in the city. He had a relentless zeal to enlighten the faithful and to convert the unfaithful. The city suffered from the Revolution : Joseph Le Bon , sent by

3162-421: The kingdoms of Lothair I and Charles the Bald , making Cambrai a city of the Holy Roman Empire until 1677. The Scheldt was also indispensable to many economic activities, such as the tanning, milling, the manufacture of salt and soap, as well as for retting of linen , the weaving of which was one of the main activities of the city. Finally, the river was used in the Middle Ages and then by Vauban , for

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3224-401: The lord of Thun quickly surrendered. Today the automatons of Martin and Martine, standing at the top of the town hall, strike the hours with a hammer as a reminder of that mighty blow. As the economic centre of northern Europe moved away from Bruges , the area became poorer, with an associated period of cultural decline. However, the city's neutrality and its position between the possessions of

3286-520: The northern boundary of the Paris Basin , between, to the east, the hills for Thiérache and Avesnois , the foothills of the Ardennes  [ fr ] , and northwest, the hills of Artois . It is at a point which is relatively lower than these two regions, called the "Cambrai threshold" or the "Bapaume threshold", which facilitates the passage between the south and the north: Bapaume (Artois)

3348-852: The power of the Emperor and Spain, renewed the alliance of France with the United Provinces . The main effort of France had to focus on the Spanish Netherlands , and a sharing plan was established with the Dutch, with France to receive the Hainaut, Cambrésis, Artois, a large part of Flanders and Luxembourg and the County of Namur. War was declared against Spain in 1635: It was followed by a long series of wars which, compounded by subsistence and epidemics, caused crises which would bruise

3410-605: The resulting revolts, he became much less powerful. When Louis died in 840, Lothair I claimed overlordship over the entirety of his father's kingdom in an attempt to reclaim the power he had at the beginning of his reign as emperor . He also supported his nephew Pepin II's claim to Aquitaine , a large province in the west of the Frankish realm . Lothair's brother, Louis II , and his half-brother Charles II refused to acknowledge Lothair's suzerainty and declared war against him. After

3472-482: The same sense. Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun ( French : Traité de Verdun , German : Vertrag von Verdun ), agreed in 10 August 843, divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms between Lothair I , Louis II and Charles II , the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I , the son and successor of Charlemagne . The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and

3534-478: The title Deputy Commissioner of the Republic ( commissaire adjoint de la République ). Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the general secretary to the prefect carries out duties equivalent to those of the subprefect. The municipal arrondissements of Paris , Lyon and Marseille are divisions of the commune rather than the prefecture. They are not arrondissements in

3596-426: Was made ruler of the Frankish Empire. Agobard , archbishop of Lyon, opposed the division of the empire, as he claimed that it would divide the church . During his reign, Louis the Pious divided the empire so that each of his sons could rule over their own kingdom under the greater rule of their father. Louis’ eldest son, Lothair I , was given the title of emperor but because of several re-divisions by his father and

3658-423: Was marked by scenes of looting, requisitions and arrests of hostages. From 20 November to 17 December 1917, the vicinity of the town of Cambrai was the theatre of the Battle of Cambrai , which saw the massive use of tanks for the first time. In 1918, the Germans burned the city centre before leaving, destroying the city hall and the municipal archives. In total, more than 1,500 buildings were totally destroyed, of

3720-493: Was severed by the Alps , it was not a viable entity and soon fragmented. This made it difficult for a single ruler to reassemble Charlemagne's empire. Only Charles the Fat achieved this briefly. In 855, the northern section became fragile Lotharingia, which became disputed by the more powerful states that evolved out of Francia Occidentalis (present day France ) and Francia Orientalis (present day Germany ). Generations of kings of France and Germany were unable to establish

3782-427: Was severely repressed, but the discontent flared up again in the 10th and 11th centuries. Between 1077 and 1215, the burghers had a charter franchise on at least four occasions. Each time, these were eventually withdrawn by the combined efforts of the bishops and emperors. In 1227, following another period of unrest, the burghers of Cambrai finally had to give up their charters and accept the bishop's authority. However,

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3844-483: Was the culmination of negotiations lasting more than a year. It was the first in a series of partitions contributing to the dissolution of the empire created by Charlemagne and has been seen as foreshadowing the formation of many of the modern countries of western Europe . The treaty was the first of the four partition treaties of the Carolingian Empire , followed by the Treaties of Prüm (855), Meerssen (870), and Ribemont (880). Following Charlemagne's death, Louis

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