Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. 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 In France, an urban unit (''fr: "unité urbaine"'') is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a ...

of Cambrai with 46,772 inhabitants. Its functional area, a more extensive range, included 94,576 inhabitants in 2018.Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Cambrai (108), Unité urbaine 2020 de Cambrai (59403), Commune de Cambrai (59122)
INSEE With

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

and the towns of the former Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, it is also part of the which has more than 3.8 million inhabitants. Towards the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, Cambrai replaced

Bavay Bavay () is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The town was the seat of the former canton of Bavay. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bavaisiens'' or ''Bavaisiennes'' Geography Bava ...

as the "capital" of the land of the

Nervii The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. ...

. At the beginning of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

era, Cambrai became the seat of an immense archdiocese covering all the right bank of the

and the centre of a small

ecclesiastical principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

, roughly coinciding with the shire of

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

, including the central part of the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. The bishopric had some limited secular power and depended on the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but in modern times it is less industrialised than its neighbours of

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais ...

. Cambrai was the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

's headquarters, for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818. Occupied by the German army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Cambrai suffered partial destruction in the First Battle of Cambrai from British artillery attacks on the town, including the nearby

Bourlon Bourlon () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Arras on the D16 road, just yards from the A26 autoroute. Populati ...

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

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s in battle. A second Battle of Cambrai took place between 8 and 10 October 1918 as part of the Hundred Days Offensive.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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.

Geography

Location

The town of Cambrai is located in the south of the Nord Department, of which it is

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

. It belongs to the dense network of the cities of the area which are separated by a few tens of kilometres:

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

is only ,

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

is , Arras is and Saint-Quentin

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

. The regional capital of

is away. Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals:

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

is ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

is and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

is . The city was born and developed on the right bank of the

river. Locally known as the Escaut, the river has its source in the department of Aisne, which is barely any more than away.

Geology and landforms

Cambrai is located on

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

bedrock of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

period, which forms the northern boundary of the

Paris Basin The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in th ...

, between, to the east, the hills for

Thiérache The Thiérache () is a region of France and Belgium united by similar geography and architecture, including the presence of hedgerows, grassland, hilly terrain, scattered settlements, and traditionally-built stone or brick houses with stone dividi ...

and

Avesnois The arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe is an arrondissement of France in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region. It has 151 communes. Its population is 230,372 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondissement ...

, the foothills of the , and northwest, the hills of

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

. 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) is above sea level,

Avesnes-sur-Helpe Avesnes-sur-Helpe (; vls, Avenne aan de Helpe) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Nord department. It is situated 14 km from the Belgian border, and 18 km south of Maubeuge, the near ...

(Avesnois) is at and Cambrai only . The Saint-Quentin canal, the Canal du Nord, the A1, A2 and

A26 A26 or A-26 may refer to: Roads * List of A26 roads Transportation * Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber built by Douglas * Aero A.26, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft of the 1920s * Focke-Wulf A 26, a German Focke-Wulf aircraft * Blekinge- ...

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 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 Marcoing () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History During World War I, there was an alleged incident between a British soldier named Henry Tandey and Adolf Hitler in this area. Hitler was unarmed and appeared wounded, so ...

was used.p.37 The city is bordered in its western part, as well as to the north and the south, by the alluvial zones of the Scheldt Valley.

Hydrography

Cambrai is built on the right bank of the

. 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 Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...

in 1734 that the Scheldt was expanded and declared navigable in 1780, from Cambrai to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

.p.66 The Scheldt is today the

Canal de l'Escaut The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

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.p.46 When the division of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

's Empire in 843, this border was retained to delimit the kingdoms of Lothair I and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

, making Cambrai a city of the

until 1677. The Scheldt was also indispensable to many economic activities, such as the tanning, milling, the manufacture of salt and soap,p.62 as well as for

retting Retting is a process employing the action of micro-organisms and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and pectins surrounding bast-fibre bundles, and so facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem.retting ...

of linen, the weaving of which was one of the main activities of the city.p.98 Finally, the river was used in the

and then by Vauban, for 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

:Main article: ' Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate). However, the city is about from the nearest coast. Dunkirk is ,

Berck Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer (, literally ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. It lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve. Geography Situa ...

is .

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

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 at Cambrai-Épinoy; identical to the Montsouris Paris station, which is at the same altitude, it is less than those of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

at or

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

at . 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). If comparing the data of Cambrai and those of towns such as Dunkirk or Boulogne, there are colder minimum temperatures and a warmer maximum in Cambrai, the difference being approximately 2 °C, as well as a larger number of freezing days and less heavy precipitation: It's described a "transitional" oceanic climate, with some continental influences. The temperature record in Cambrai is , which was established on 6 August 2003 (data collected since 1954 and record updated to 5 September 2013).

Ombrothermic diagram ImageSize = width:464 height:220 PlotArea = left:40 right:30 top:40 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical Colors = id:blue value:blue AlignBars = justify Period = from:0 till:80 ScaleMajor = increment:10 start:0 gridcolor:black start:0 PlotData = align:center mark:(line,black) width:31 bar:Jan color:blue from:start till:47.5 bar:Feb color:blue from:start till:39.7 bar:Mar color:blue from:start till:51 bar:Apr color:blue from:start till:46.2 bar:May color:blue from:start till:59.1 bar:Jun color:blue from:start till:66.3 bar:Jul color:blue from:start till:57.4 bar:Aug color:blue from:start till:52.4 bar:Sep color:blue from:start till:51.3 bar:Oct color:blue from:start till:58.1 bar:Nov color:blue from:start till:60.9 bar:Dec color:blue from:start till:52.1 LineData = layer:front points:(56,30)(89,33) color:red width:1 points:(89,33)(122,43) color:red width:1 points:(122,43)(155,54) color:red width:1 points:(155,54)(188,70) color:red width:1 points:(188,70)(222,81) color:red width:1 points:(222,81)(254,89) color:red width:1 points:(254,89)(287,89) color:red width:1 points:(287,89)(320,79) color:red width:1 points:(320,79)(353,64) color:red width:1 points:(353,64)(386,44) color:red width:1 points:(386,44)(419,33) color:red width:1 at:10 color:black width:0.5 at:20 width:0.5 at:30 width:0.5 at:40 width:0.5 at:50 width:0.5 at:60 width:0.5 from:0 till:80 atpos:435 width:0.5 TextData = pos:(16,190) fontsize:S text:"Precipitation" pos:(32,182) fontsize:XS text:"(mm)" pos:(390,190) fontsize:S text:"Temperature" pos:(418,181) fontsize:XS text:"(°C)" pos: (438,29) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "0" pos: (438,49) text: "5" pos: (438,69) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "10" pos: (438,89) text: "15" pos: (438,109) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "20"

Routes of communication and transport

Road

Cambrai is located at the crossroads of two French autoroutes, the A2 from

Combles Combles () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Combles is situated on the D20 road, some north-east of Amiens. History Combles was the operations centre for the battle of Bapaume during the ...

(junction with the A1 coming from Paris) to the Franco-Belgian border, opened in 1973, and the

from Calais to Troyes, opened in 1992. These autoroutes partly merge with the

European roads The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Centr ...

of the E19 from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

via

, for the A2, and the E17 from Antwerp to

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

via

and Reims, for the A26. Cambrai and its region are served by four autoroute interchanges: The A2, exit 14 (Cambrai) from

and exit 15 (

Bouchain Bouchain (; vls, Boesem) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies halfway between Cambrai and Valenciennes. Bouchain, seat of the early medieval County of Ostrevent, was taken by Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, in the 10th ...

) from

, and on the A26 the exits 8 (

Marquion Marquion () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...

) from Calais and 9 (

Masnières Masnières () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry History Masnières figured into the 1917 Battle of Cambrai during which time it was briefly captured by the British on the first day of the battle, November 20, an ...

) from Reims. Cambrai is also at the crossroads of the Route nationale 30 of

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a far ...

Quiévrain Quiévrain (; pcd, Kievrin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 6,559 inhabitants. The total area is 21.22 km2, giving a population density of 309 inhabitants p ...

(Franco-Belgian border), Route nationale 43 of Sainte-Ruffine (

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

) to Calais, of Cambrai to Vitry (these last three have since 2006 been downgraded to and therefore consequently renamed to D6xx), and D939 (former ) of Cambrai to Arras. To facilitate access to the east of the Cambrésis from the A2 and A26 autoroutes, to alleviate traffic in the crossing of the city and to serve the future Niergnies business zone, a southern bypass was the subject of a declaration of public utility (DPU) on 22 April 1999. Its route has been repeatedly modified and challenged, because it crosses the urban ecological park of the in

Proville Proville () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate in ...

, the only public natural green space of the Cambrésis. The bypass is in service since 17 September 2010. A bypass to the north is also part of the program of major departmental projects, which was required to have been initiated by 2011.

Railway

Cambrai railway station is connected by direct trains (

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

) to

, Saint-Quentin, Reims. The link to Douai and Lille has improved after the electrification of the single-track in 1993, for the commissioning of joining

to Cambrai by

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

via Douai, which was subsequently cancelled. Direct connections on weekdays are fifteen trains per day, with a journey time of about 30 minutes between Douai and Cambrai; eight trains, with a journey time often less than an hour, to

Lille-Flandres station Lille-Flandres station ( French: ''Gare de Lille-Flandres'', Dutch: ''Rijsel Vlaanderen'') is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the ''Gare ...

; ten trains, with a time of little more than 40 minutes on average to Valenciennes and a dozen trains, with a journey time of around 50 minutes, to Saint-Quentin. Cambrai is directly connected by rail to any European city, but links to Paris ( Gare du Nord) are mediocre if compared to those of the neighbouring cities. Valenciennes, Douai and Arras are connected to Paris by TGV several times per day. Saint-Quentin is connected by TER or

Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

trains with less than two hours travel time. Cambrai was connected to Paris in 2010 by a single direct Intercités service of two hours, with a little-suited schedule for professional use. The times of other trains via Douai or Saint-Quentin vary between two and four and a half hours.

=Railway history

As early as 1833 the municipal council sought passage of a railway line through Cambrai. However, a route through Arras and Douai, to Lille, with a branch to Valenciennes, was preferred in 1845. It remained, therefore, to connect Cambrai to this line, which was done in 1878 by a single, winding line between Cambrai and Douai. Meanwhile, Cambrai had been linked, in 1858, to the Paris-Brussels line by a branch line from

Busigny Busigny () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Busigny station has rail connections to Douai, Paris, Lille, Maubeuge and Saint-Quentin. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a ...

and joining Somain, near Douai.p.150 Other railway lines of local interest saw development in the 19th century, particularly in 1880 the Société des Chemin de fer du Cambrésis which operated three routes in the Cambrésis between Cambrai, Caudry, Saint-Quentin, Le Cateau and Denain. An agricultural use of Cambrai to Marquion, now off line, was also open in 1898. Cambrai railway station was also the terminus of a standard gauge secondary route of linking

and

Boisleux-au-Mont Boisleux-au-Mont () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 6 miles (10 km) south of Arras at the junction of the D35 and D36 roads. Population ...

=Railway projects

= The regional transport scheme evokes three axes or projects concerning Cambrai: Improving the Douai-Cambrai connections, the construction of a new railway line between Cambrai and

- Arras, in conjunction with the large gauge Seine-North Europe canal project and the establishment of a business zone of Marquion, as well as "searching for a link from

Orchies Orchies (; nl, Oorschie) is a commune in the department of Nord in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Orchies is the biggest town of the Pévèle. It is especially known for its ''Musée de la chicorée'', the museum of chicory. ...

towards Cambrai".

Waterways

Cambrai is one of the seven territorial subdivisions of the regional management of Nord-Pas-de-Calais of navigable waterways in France. The city is located at the junction of the Saint-Quentin canal to the Oise and Paris and the

, which leads to the Dunkerque-Escaut canal. Commercial traffic on these canals is low, of the order of 250,000 tonnes upstream of Cambrai and 420,000 tonnes downstream. A marina is located at the junction of the two canals, at Cambrai-Cantimpré.

=Waterways history

= The

(

canal), between Cambrai and

, was opened to navigation in 1780. Moreover, a river link between Paris and the Nord department had been projected as early as the time of Mazarin and Colbert. The construction of the Saint-Quentin canal, between Chauny on the

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

and Cambrai, was taken up in 1802 on the order of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and completed in 1810, after the drilling of the

Riqueval Tunnel The Riqueval Tunnel is a -long tunnel on the St Quentin Canal, close to the commune of Bellicourt Bellicourt () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It lies on the N44 road between Cambrai and Sai ...

. The canal and tunnel were opened with great pomp on 28 April 1810 by the Emperor and Empress Marie-Louise. The Saint-Quentin canal has experienced heavy traffic, but since 1966, the date of the opening of the Canal du Nord, it has lost much of its importance.

=Waterways projects

= A wide-gauge river link project, called Seine-Escaut Link project is part of the 30 priority projects of the future

trans-European transport network The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunic ...

. The route of this project is through

, west of Cambrai. A platform of activities is planned therein. The commissioning of the canal could take place around 2015.

Airports

Cambrai is in close proximity to two airfields: ''Cambrai-Epinoy'', to the north-west, whose use was booked at the until its closure in 2012, and '' Cambrai Niergnies'', to the southeast, opened to recreational aviation. Within an approximate radius of 1 hr 30 mins by road are five major airports: Lille-Lesquin at , Brussels South Charleroi at , Brussels National at , Paris Beauvais-Tillé at and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle at .

Urban transport

LL 67 - CAMBRAI - La Grand'Place - Station des Tramways

By 1897, that is, upon completion of the demolition of the fortifications, the city had considered the construction of electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines. It was a very modern solution for the time, since electric traction only appeared in 1881 and the development of this mode of transport didn't truly occur until 1895 in Paris and the Paris region. In 1903, the network of the was opened, p.243 and with five lines. After World War I, the uneconomic network was not recommissioned.p.59 Since 1933 the agglomeration of Cambrai has been served by a , five urban routes were operating in 2010, run by CFC (Railways of Cambrésis): *A: Luxembourg – Cambrai stations – Escaudœuvres *B:

Neuville-Saint-Rémy Neuville-Saint-Rémy () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. T ...

– Cambrai stations – ZAC Cambrai-South *C: Les Martigues-Pyrénées – Cambrai stations –

Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The commune ...

*D: Cambrai stations – Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle *E: ZAC Cambrai-South – Cambrai stations Since 7 January 2013, the agglomeration community of Cambrai has implemented a free shuttle which serves seventeen stops around the city. In 2008, the "Urban Transport Perimeter" (PTU) of Cambrai which, with 59,326 inhabitants, is the smallest of the twelve PTU of the

region had completed about per year, corresponding to 740,000 journeys. The agglomeration community of Cambrai is the organising authority of urban transport. However, while it has twenty-three communes, only six were served by urban transport in 2006. For other towns and cities, the urban community has delegated jurisdiction to the department. In a relatively sparsely populated agglomeration with little extensive public transport, it cannot easily compete with the automobile. Nevertheless, the agglomeration community of Cambrai reflects on the future of urban transport from a perspective of sustainable development, with aims to strengthen the supply of public transport in order to capture a portion of travel by private car, and reducing car traffic and CO₂ emissions. The realisation of the new multimodal transport hub in the quarter of the railway station of Cambrai is part of this policy.

Urbanism

Urban morphology

Origins

The old centre of Cambrai was established on a small rise overlooking, from the right bank, the marshy area of the

Valley. Indications suggest that a

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

was built at this location, although the scarcity of excavations at Cambrai in has provided no archaeological evidence.p.13p.10 With its area of , the very modest castrum would've been much smaller than those of Boulogne at and Reims at , for example.

Development

Faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, t ...

s were developed, at the time of the

prosperity, to the north and west of the primitive castrum, around the churches of Saint-Vaast and Saint-Aubert. The looting of the city by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

in December 880 convinced the Bishop Dodilon to strengthen and expand fortifications: The new enclosure he built tripled the size of the city.pp.23–25 To the southeast, on a hillock called Mont-des-Bœufs, Bishop

Gaugericus Saint Gaugericus, in French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a bishop of Cambrai, France. Biography He was born to Roman parents, Gaudentius and Austadiola, at ''Eposium'' (present C ...

had founded an abbey in 595, originally dedicated to Saint Médard and Saint Loup, then, after the death of the founder, Gaugericus himself. This abbey was certainly also protected by an enclosure. The space which separated these two urban cores hosted markets and fairs.p.25 Cambrai - Cameracvm vulgo Cambray - Kamerijk (Atlas van Loon)

Cambrai - Cameracvm vulgo Cambray - Kamerijk (Atlas van Loon)

These two quarters were joined in the 11th century when Bishop

Gérard I Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constit ...

built the churches of Saint Nicolas and the Saint Sepulchre, southeast of the city and east of Mont-des-Bœufs. The town hall, the market, butcher and various bodies of craftsmen settled in this new urban space that Bishop Lietbert had protected by an earth rampart. Even today the ''Grand-place'', the covered market, and a few names of streets (the ''Rue de Liniers'', ''Rue des Rôtisseurs'', ''Rue des Chaudronniers'' and ''Rue des Cordiers'') recall this stage of urban development.p.37-38 The Bishop Gérard II later replaced the earth rampart with a stone wall with towers, gates and ditches and encompassed the entire built space. Therefore Cambrai had reached the perimeter it would retain until the 19th century: While other cities in the region such as

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

expanded their enclosures until the 14th century, that of Cambrai was redesigned and reinforced, but without affecting the outline.p.61-62p.355 The outline of this wall from the 11th century is still visible in the current boulevards. It was probably under the episcopates of the bishops Gérard I, Liebert and Gérard II, in the 11th century, that was built the , a fortress located on the edge of the Scheldt to the northwest of the city. In the 13th century, the Bishop Nicolas III de Fontaines ordered work to put it "on a good foot of defence". This castle, owned by the bishop-counts, was intended as much to monitor the city as to ensure the defence. Its military role ended in the 16th century, when

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

grabbed the city and ordered the construction, on Mont-des-Bœufs northeast of the town, of a citadel for which 800 houses were demolished along with the Abbey of Saint Gaugericus.p.106 The Château de Selles was then used as a prison.

Dismantling of fortifications

In the 19th century, the city was cramped within its fortified walls, which limited its development and prohibited any urban planning. The dismantling of the fortifications, requested by petition as early as 1862, was finally accepted by the State after a further 30 years.p.236-240. The work lasted 6 years and transformed the appearance of the city by the construction of a belt of wide

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

s, the sale of new land to build, connecting the city to its suburbs and the establishment of public gardens.

Drainage work

Cambrai is built on the edge of the wide marshy area of the Scheldt Valley encircling the western part of the city, the to the north at the gate of the Holy Sepulchre in the south: Wet gardens, ponds, meadows, ponds and marsh formed a flood zone sometimes also used for the defence of the city. The suburb of Cantimpré, linking the ancient heart to the Scheldt below to the west, had raised several metres.p.61 The two arms of the Scheldt (Escaut), the Escautins, are separated before entering the medieval town: The Escauette and the Clicotiau, which bathed the walls of the old urban core. These streams were probably due to man's hand because they do not correspond to natural landforms. However, it is unknown whether their origin dates back to the Roman era or is from a later time. Throughout the

, and again in modern times, the Scheldt and its arms required constant work: Repair of levees, enhancement of pavement, straightening of the bed, as well as the digging of ditches to regulate the course of the river, prevent floods and ensure as far as possible a steady water level, on which the mills and tanneries depended. Despite these works, floods were frequent.p.63 The absorption of rainwater and household water descending from the upper areas of the city was also a problem. Bouly spoke in 1842, in his ''History of Cambrai and le Cambrésis'', of "fast torrents tormwaterformed today by rolling up the Scheldt". In the Middle Ages the "flow of el kayère" (or "flow of the chair"),So named because of the neighboring infamy chair close to the current ''Grand-Place'', was dug a reservoir for "water courses of the falling waters of the sky", i.e. to control the flow of rainwater. In the 19th century aqueducts were built to carry these waters, and the streets were paved. Furthermore, in 1926 a drainage sewer was built at ''Rue Blériot''. The draining of the wetlands that surround the town began in 1804. The work ended in 1951 with the drying of the small stream of Saint Benoît near the Liberty Stadium, itself built on this wetland which dominated the ancient city walls, and in 1953 with the covering of the Clicotiau.

The 20th century

The destruction caused by

necessitated a reconstruction of the centre. The municipality organised a competition, which was won by . His project, inspired with both a regionalist taste and the Hausmannian style, completely redesigned the layout of roads from the

. It was rebuilt as a modern city. The architect

Louis Marie Cordonnier Louis Marie Cordonnier (July 7, 1854, Haubourdin, Nord – 1940) was a French architect, born in Haubourdin and associated principally with Lille and the French Flanders region. Biography Son of the architect Jean-Baptiste Cordonnier (182 ...

described the prospects to elected representatives: The Leprince-Ringuet plan was only partially achieved, but the streets were removed, others expanded, and new paths were created as the ''Avenue de la Victoire'' venue of Victory Further destruction due to the Allied bombing of April–August 1944 again required a reconstruction. It was especially, in the years following

, to rehouse the victims and to cope with the expanding population. Priority was given to detached houses, and new quarters appeared, such as the "Martin–Martine" subdivision south-east of the city. In the 1980s the municipality worked to restore and develop the ancient heritage.

Housing

Cambrai had 18,112 housing units in 2017, of which 15,925 were occupied as primary residences. The proportion of individual housing is 54.2%.

Primary residence A person's primary residence, or main residence is the dwelling where they usually live, typically a house or an apartment. A person can only have one ''primary'' residence at any given time, though they may share the residence with other people. A ...

s dominate with 87.9%, and one can especially note the very low proportion of secondary residences in Cambrai: 1.0%. Lotissement Martin Martine années 1970

The proportion of house owners, at 44.3%, is lower than in the rest of the country (57.5%). The tenants are much more numerous, 54.1% in Cambrai, against little more than 40% in France. Among rental housing, the proportion of

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France. The age of the accommodation in Cambrai is distinguished from both regional and national averages. Housing is older, on average, in Cambrai than in the rest of the country. The proportion of (pre-1945) "old" housing, is 33.5%, which is significantly higher than the French average of 22.2%. Meanwhile, dwellings built between 1946 and 1970 account for 37.0% of the total in Cambrai, significantly above the 21.5% of the country. This proportion can probably be explained by the necessary reconstruction which followed the destruction of

, as well as programmes of Maison Familiale group homes in the 1960s and 1970s. More recent housing is relatively less in the city than in the rest of France or even in the region: 7.3% of accommodation in Cambrai was built between 1991 and 2005, compared with 16.1% in France; 5.2% have been built since 2006, compared with 10.9% in France. This is probably a consequence of the less dynamic economy and population of the city in recent years. The agglomeration community seeks to improve the quality of the accommodation by various means: Encourage rehabilitation of vacant properties, expand available accommodation which is suitable for elderly or handicapped people, increase the supply of rentals and promote the construction of more energy-efficient housing. The creation of 960 new social houses was provided over six years, from 2008 to 2014. The signed in 2007 with the city and the urban community was the first of the Nord department. Five quarters, not classified as "sensitive urban areas", are concerned: The old centre where old habitat remains, the ''l'Amérique'' and ''La Forêt'' estates, consisting primarily of multi-family housing, and the ''d'Esnes'' and ''de Guise'' estates dominated by single-family housing.

Development projects

In 2010, the projects of the municipality include: *The "docks and warehouses," Brownfield site of at the edge of the Saint-Quentin canal, the assignment of which has not yet been determined but which should essentially be devoted to recreation. *The rehabilitation of the centre of the Martin–Martine quarter, and in particular the transformation of the green corridor which was originally reserved for an "urban expressway", never realised. *The layout of the ''Place du 9-Octobre'' around the Church of Saint-Géry aint Gaugericus*The redevelopment of the station quarter in the "exchange hub": A study on the development of the multimodal trade hub of Cambrai was launched in 2007 by the agglomeration community of Cambrai in partnership with the city, the Northern Department and the region, with purpose the station District redevelopment and improvement of intermodality. *The relocation of the library to new premises. *The "modernisation" of the public garden. On the other hand, the revolves around eight themes: "Cambrai, an urban centre in the countryside", "Preserve and enhance the natural, rural and agricultural space", "Reclaim and restructure", "Render Cambrai fully in its ''urbanity''", "Build upon the city of history", "Save and protect the environment, improve the quality of the living environment", "Ensuring economic and sustainable development", and also "Mastering travel or promoting changes in modes of transport".

Toponymy

The location is attested as ''Camaracum'' in the 4th century in the

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

and ''Cameracum'' (no date). It recognises the Gallo-Roman suffix of Celtic origin "place of", "property of", preceded by an element not identified with certainty. Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing offered the Gallo-Roman type name of a person called Camarus. This is also found in the anthroponym of

Chambray Chambray () is a commune in the Eure department of northern France, 13 km northeast of Évreux on the north bank of the river Eure. The Château de Chambray, in the north of the commune, is the ancestral home of the Marquis de Venevelles ...

(Eure) (''Cambracus'' 1011, ''Cameragus'' to 1025). Variants ''Cambarius'' and ''Camarius'' would also explain Cambayrac, Chambry in Aine and

the same The Same was a punk band from Sundsvall. Members were among others Magnus Holmén, Per Kraft, Peter Byström and Tomas Broman. Their most popular song was "Kuken i styret". This song also resulted in that the P3 radio show Ny våg was convicte ...

in Seine-et-Marne,

Chamery Chamery () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the following in ...

, Chémery, etc. François de Beaurepaire notes that it may also be a pre-Latin ''camar'' or ''cambar'' theme. However,

Xavier Delamarre Xavier Delamarre (; born 5 June 1954) is a French linguist, lexicographer, and diplomat. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the Gaulish language. Since 2019, he has been an associate researcher for the CNRS- PSL AOrOc ...

cited the personal name ''Cambarius'', which he considers as based on the Gallic word ''cambo-'' "curve" (cf. old Irish ''camb'', ''camm'' "curved", "bent" or "twisted"). ''Camarus'' would be a variant of this Gallic nickname meaning "that which is curved". The Cambrai shape is Normanno-Picard with a hard "C", characteristic of the north of the

Joret line The Joret line (french: ligne Joret; Norman: ''lène Joret'') is an isogloss used in the linguistics of the . Dialects north and west of the line have preserved Vulgar Latin and before ; dialects south and east of the line have palatalized and ...

and therefore corresponds to the form of Francien type Chambray. In addition, the name of the town was written ''Cambray'' until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. It is known under the name of ''Kamerijk'' in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and formerly ''Kamerich'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and ''Camberick/Cambrick'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

History

Antiquity

Little 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 ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

in the middle of the 4th century. It became the main town of the Roman province of the

, whose first Roman capital had been at ''Bagacum'', present-day

. In the middle of the 4th-century,

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

raids from the north threatened Bavay and led 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 the early 5th century the town had become the administrative centre of the Nervii in replacement of Bavay which was probably too exposed to the Franks' raids and perhaps too damaged.

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

arrived in the region at about the same time. A bishop of the Nervii by the name of ''Superior'' is mentioned in the middle of the 4th century, but nothing else is known about him. In 430 the

Salian Franks The Salian Franks, also called the Salians (Latin: ''Salii''; Greek: Σάλιοι, ''Salioi''), were a northwestern subgroup of the early Franks who appear in the historical record in the fourth and fifth centuries. They lived west of the Low ...

under the command of

Clodio Chlodio (probably died after 450), also Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio, was a Franks, Frankish king who attacked and then apparently ruled Roman-inhabited lands around Cambrai and Tournai, near the modern border of Belgium and France. ...

the Long-Haired took the town. In 509 Clovis undertook to unify the Frankish kingdomsp.12-14 by getting rid of his relatives. One of them was Ragnachar, who ruled over a small kingdom from Cambrai.

Middle Ages

Cambrai began to grow from a rural market into a real city during the

times, 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

(in French Géry), founded abbeys and churches to host relics, which contributed powerfully to giving Cambrai both the appearance and functions of a city.p.16 Traité de Verdun 843

When the

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among 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 ...

in 843 split

'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

tried to gain control of his kingdom by having himself sacred at

. Cambrai thus reverted, but only briefly, to the Western Frankish Realm. In 870 the town was destroyed by the Normans. By 925 Henry the Fowler had regained control of Lothair's former domains. Cambrai henceforth belonged to the

, in an uncomfortable position on the border with France, until it was annexed by

eight centuries later after being captured by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

in 1677.

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 Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

granted the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

with temporal powers over the city.p.29-30 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 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 953, the Magyars 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 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, 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.

Economic activity

In the Middle Ages the city grew richer and larger thanks to its weaving industry which produced woollen cloth, linen and

cambric Cambric or batiste, is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often g ...

. Cambrai, and in particular the drapery, experienced an economic decline from 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 Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

and

. By the 11th century the city walls had reached the circumference they would keep until the 19th century.

Music history

Cambrai has a distinguished musical history, particularly in the 15th century. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

there, a musical center until the 17th century, had one of the most active musical establishments in the Low Countries; many composers of the

Burgundian School The Burgundian School was a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The school inaugurated the music of Burgundy. The ...

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 Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

, the most famous European musician of 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 Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music theorist and composer from the Low Countries. Up to his time, he is perhaps the most significant European writer ...

and Ockeghem went to Cambrai to study with Dufay.p.93-94. Other composers included Nicolas Grenon,

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he wa ...

, and

Jacob Obrecht Jacob Obrecht (also Hobrecht; 1457/8

. In the 16th century,

Philippe de Monte Philippe de Monte (1521 – 4 July 1603), sometimes known as Philippus de Monte, was a Flemish composer of the late Renaissance active all over Europe. He was a member of the 3rd generation madrigalists and wrote more madrigals than any other comp ...

Johannes Lupi Jean Leleu, most commonly known by the latinized version of his name, Johannes Lupi (c. 1506 – December 20, 1539), was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A representative of the generation after Josquin, he was a minor but skilled ...

, and

Jacobus de Kerle Jacobus de Kerle (Ypres 1531/1532 - Prague 7 January 1591) was a Flemish composer and organist of the late Renaissance. Life De Kerle was trained at the monastery of St. Martin in Ypres, and held positions as a singer in Cambrai and choirmaster i ...

all worked there.

Hundred Years' War

Even though 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 Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, of Hainaut and the kings of

, 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 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 John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs durin ...

, 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 Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

in 1477.

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

immediately seized the opportunity to take control of Cambrai, but left the city a year later.

The legend of Martin and Martine

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 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, 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.

Early Modern era

As the economic centre of northern Europe moved away from

, the area became poorer, with an associated period of cultural decline. However the city's neutrality and its position between the possessions of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

and

made it the venue of several international negotiations, including the

League of Cambrai League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, an alliance engineered in 1508 by

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

against the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, concluding in the . The alliance collapsed in 1510 when the Pope allied with Venice against his former ally

. The conflict is also referred to as the

War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...

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 The War of the League of Cognac (1526–30) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Repub ...

. 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 a citadel built in its place. In 1595, the city was taken by the Spanish in the eighth and last

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

. In December 1623, the community of nuns of the

English Benedictine Congregation The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) unites autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of monks and nuns and is technically the oldest of the nineteen congregations that are affiliated in the Benedictine Confederation. History and ...

was founded at Cambrai. Expelled in 1793 as a result of the French Revolution, its successor community in 1838 was Stanbrook Abbey, near

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

and later

Wass Wass or WASS may refer to: People * Wass de Czege, a Hungarian noble family in Transylvania In arts and entertainment * Albert Wass (1908–1998), Hungarian nobleman, forest engineer, novelist, poet and member of the Wass de Czege family * Ashle ...

in Yorkshire. In 1630, Richelieu, wishing to counter 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 Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

, 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 War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

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 the Cambrésis.pp.144–145 Mazarin tried unsuccessfully, in 1649, to seize the city which was being besieged by

Henri de Lorraine-Harcourt Henri de Lorraine (20 March 1601 – 25 July 1666, Royaumont Abbey), known as ''Cadet la Perle'', was a French nobleman. He was count of Harcourt, count of Armagnac, count of Brionne and viscount of Marsan. He was the younger son of Charles I, ...

and the

Vicomte de Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...

. A Spanish regiment, which came from

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 the city.pp.145–146 In 1666, in the greatest secrecy,

prepared new conquests by making plans of the Spanish fortifications, and then began the

War of Devolution In the 1667 to 1668 War of Devolution (, ), France occupied large parts of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté, both then provinces of the Holy Roman Empire (and properties of the King of Spain). The name derives from an obscure law know ...

. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle from 1668 allowed the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

to obtain a large number of strongholds, but Cambrai was not a part of them, nor were

Condé-sur-l'Escaut Condé-sur-l'Escaut (, literally ''Condé on the Escaut''; pcd, Condé-su-l'Escaut) is a commune of the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the border with Belgium. The population as of 1999 was 10,527. Residents of the area are kno ...

The annexation by France

In 1672,

hostilities War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

resumed against the Protestant Republic of the Netherlands and continued in the following years. In 1676,

, 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

. On 17 March 1677, the French troops stormed Valenciennes and moved toward Cambrai, the strongest place of the Netherlands,p.147 which was reached on 20 March. On 22 March, Louis XIV was in the city in person.p.149 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 A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

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.p.151 Louis XIV named the Marquis de Cesen as governor, and appointed 14 new

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

while keeping the same provost. By the

Treaty of Nijmegen The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Repub ...

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 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 Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), French bishop and theologian, uncle of Louis * Louis Bossuet Louis Bossuet (22 February 1663 – 15 January 1742) was a French parle ...

, 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 French Revolution

The city suffered from the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

Joseph Le Bon Joseph Le Bon (29 September 1765 – 10 October 1795) was a French politician. Biography He was born at Arras. He became a priest in the order of the Oratory, and professor of rhetoric at Beaune. He adopted revolutionary ideas, and became a c ...

, sent by the Comité de salut public, arrived in Cambrai in 1794. He was to set up an era of "terror", sending many to the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

, 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 François III Maximilien de la Woestyne, 3rd Marquess of Becelaere, Grande of Spain and Lord of Walincourt, died in Cambrai 12 May 1794, was a victim of the French Revolution. Family His father was Maximilien de la Woestyne, heir of the Flemi ...

. Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished in that period: in 1797, the old cathedral, which had been dubbed the "wonder of the low countries", was sold to a merchant on 6 June 1796 who left only the tower,p.410 after exploiting the cathedral as a stone quarry. The main tower was left standing until 1809, when it collapsedp.424 in a storm. However the cathedral's archives have been preserved (they are now at the Archives Départementales du Nord in

) and a new cathedral was later provided.

19th century

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 widely spared Cambrai. It also showed the futility of the fortifications which the city obtained permission to demolish, at its expense, in 1892.p.238 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.p.245

20th century

LL 16 - Cambrai - Vue générale vers la Place d'Armes

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1974-029-09, Frankreich, Cambrai, Flüchtlinge

In 1914, the German army occupied the city: This occupation, which lasted for four years, 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

s 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 the 3,500 which consisted of Cambrai. The centre was to be rebuilt, a task which was entrusted to the architect .p.264p.266

also struck Cambrai. The city was bombed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

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 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,p.275 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 who would remain at the head of the city until 1981, promoting moderate Socialism.p.285 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'' ouse of le Cambrésis later ''Maison Familiale'' group, an

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and the French in general: The

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the ratification of the Treaty on European Union of 1992 was rejected by 53.35%, while at the national level it was approved by a narrow majority of 51.04%. In 2005, the draft law on the ratification of the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an un ratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...

was rejected more widely in Cambrai (59.8% of voted "No") than at the national level (54.67%). In the presidential election of 2007 the results of the second round were very close to national figures: 54.07% for Nicolas Sarkozy and 45.93% for

Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...

, against respectively 53.06% and 46.94% at the national level. In the first round

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

achieved a slightly better result at Cambrai (13.28%) than France (10.44%), while François Bayrou was in a reversed situation (16.77% against 18.57%).

Arlette Laguiller Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born 18 March 1940) is a French politician. From 1973 to 2008, she was the spokeswoman and the best-known leader and presidential nominee of Lutte Ouvrière (LO), Trotskyist political party. Career Born at Les Lilas, ...

(2.02%) and

Olivier Besancenot Olivier Christophe Besancenot (; born 18 April 1974) is a French left-wing political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party (''Nouveau parti anticapitaliste'', NPA) from 2009 to 2011. He w ...

(4.77%) were the only other candidates to exceed 1.5%. In the second round of the presidential election of 2002 Jacques Chirac arrived largely in the lead in Cambrai as in the rest of the country but Jean-Marie Le Pen's result was higher (21.11% against 17.79%). In the legislative elections of 2007,

François-Xavier Villain François-Xavier Villain (born 31 May 1950 in Abbeville, Somme) was a member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the Nord department, from 2002 to 2017 and is a member of Arise the Republic, a small Gaullist party led by Nicol ...

, the candidate related to the UMP and who was also the incumbent Mayor of Cambrai, achieved 57.42% in the first round (48.03% in the constituency). All the other candidates were below the national percentage of their party. For example, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

achieved 22.91% against 24.73%, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

at 3.10% compared to 4.29% and the UDF at 6.21% against 7.61%. The decline of the National Front was also more marked in Cambrai (4.14%) than elsewhere (4.24%). One finds a situation close to the 2002 elections. In the first round of the presidential election of 2012, the four candidates in the lead in Cambrai were Nicolas Sarkozy ( UMP, 28.29%), François Hollande ( PS, 27.56%), Marine Le Pen ( FN, 20.81%) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon ( Left Front, 10.14%) with a turnout of 72.61%. In the second round, François Hollande was in the lead with 50.75% of the vote, with a participation rate of 73.09%.

Municipal government

Cambrai is the

of one of the six

s in the Nord department. Cambrai is also the seat of the

canton of Cambrai The canton of Cambrai is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Cambrai. It consists of the following communes: ...

, which consists of 27 communes (including Cambrai). Since 22 December 1992, Cambrai is the seat of the which includes 33 communes and approximately 68,000 inhabitants. The city also adheres to the following intercommunal structures: *The Intercommunal Association of Sanitation of the Cambrai Agglomeration (SIAC). * ''"Scènes mitoyennes"'' Adjoining Stages" created in August 2000, brings together the communes of Cambrai,

Caudry Caudry () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Its inhabitants are called theCaudrésiens. The town is mostly known as the Capital City of French Lace (along with Calais). Caudry station has rail connections to Douai, Cambr ...

, Escaudœuvres and

with which it harmonises cultural policies. *SIVU ''"Murs mitoyens"'' Adjoining Walls" operational since 1 January 2006 and headquartered in Caudry, its mission is to educate the various planning authorities for the two cities. *The Intercommunity Association of the energy of the Cambrésis (SIDEC), which is headquartered at Neuville-Saint-Rémy, brings together the 111 communes in the arrondissement. It concedes the management of the public service energy distribution to ERDF and manages the work of strengthening and concealment of networks. *The (SCoT) of le Cambrésis (via the agglomeration community of Cambrai). *The Joint Association for the Enhancement of the Upper Scheldt (via the agglomeration community of Cambrai). Cambrai was merged with the commune of Morenchies in 1971.

List of mayors

Since 1945, Cambrai has had three mayors. The city, after having constantly re-elected a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

mayor from the Liberation until 1977 in the person of Raymond Gernez, has since been administered by mayors from RPR or the related UMP: Jacques Legendre until 1992, then François-Xavier Villain. The latter was elected to the 18th constituency in Nord on 16 June 2002 and re-elected in 2007 and 2012.

Judicial and administrative authorities

Cambrai was for a short time the seat of the Parlement of

French Flanders French Flanders (french: La Flandre française) is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France where a dialect of Dutch language, Dutch was or still is traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day region of Hauts ...

, from 1709 until its transfer to

in 1713. The city is now within the jurisdiction of the . It is the seat of a whose jurisdiction coincides with the boundaries of the

, a

Tribunal d'instance In France, the ''Tribunal d'instance'' (literally "Court of First Instance") is a judicial lower court of record of first instance for general civil suits and includes a criminal division, the Police Court (''tribunal de police''), which hears case ...

and an

industrial tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

, installed in the restored . With the reform of the judicial map launched in 2007 the city has lost its commercial court and is linked to that of Douai.

Environmental policy

Beginning 2010, the city's environmental policy seems difficult to read: There is a Directorate for the Environment at the mayor's office but the site fails to deliver any information. The environmental policy is one of the competences of the .

International relations

Cambrai is twinned with: *

Pushkin, Saint Petersburg Pushkin (russian: Пу́шкин) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its railway station, Tsarskoye Selo, is direct ...

, Russia *

Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2021 Cen ...

, Canada, since 1980 *

Gravesham Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. Its administrative centre and largest town is Gravesend, which was known as ''Gravesham'' in ancient times. Gravesham was formed on 1 April 1974 ...

, United Kingdom, since 1989 *

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Dan ...

, Hungary, since 1991 *

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitan ...

, Poland

Population and society

Demography

In 2018, the commune had 32,501 inhabitants. The

(''unité urbaine'') of Cambrai had 46,772 inhabitants in 2018, and the

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

(''aire urbaine'') 94,576 inhabitants. In other less populated regions, Cambrai would be an important city, but in

, densely populated and urbanised, the city and its suburbs come far behind

(1,143,125 inhabitants),

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

(552,682),

(399,677), Dunkirk (265,974) and Maubeuge (125,000). The population of Cambrai increased little over the centuries: Estimated at 10,000 souls in the 15th century, it is, according to a memorandum of intendant who described it as "very diminished", at 12,000 in 1698.p.95 At the end of the Revolution, in 1801, it was still only approximately 15,000 inhabitants. It increased slowly but steadily throughout the 19th century with a net decline in the early 20th century: the birth rate, as everywhere else in France, declined. At the same time, infant mortality remained high (20.3% in 1900, 10.2% on the eve of the war),p.247 which explains the low natural growth. The population growth resumed at a rapid pace between the end of

and the beginning of the 1970s (the

Trente Glorieuses ''Les Trente Glorieuses'' (; 'The Glorious Thirty') was a thirty-year period of economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975, following the end of the Second World War. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourastié, who ...

), through

natural increase In Demography, the rate of natural increase (RNI), also known as natural population change, is defined as the birth rate minus the death rate of a particular population, over a particular time period. It is typically expressed either as a number ...

(

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

and sharp decline of infant mortality) and the

rural exodus Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in the ...

, which slowly emptied the villages of Cambrésis of their population (partial) towards the town of Cambrai. This dynamism, however, showed however signs of stalling since 1968: in fact, the progress of jobs (+27.5% from 1952 to 1975) did not follow that of the population (+44.2%).p.281 The curve was brutally reversed by the 1973 oil crisis. The city's population plummeted from the 1975 census, net migration which was largely positive in the 1960s became negative, while the natural balance, which remains positive, tends to shrink. Many traditional activities have disappeared (chocolate production, brewery, chicory, weaving, metallurgy, etc.), representing several thousand jobs.

Age structure

The graphics below represent the age structure in 2017 of the population of the commune of Cambrai, and of the Nord department. The population of Cambrai is relatively old, partly compensated by a higher representation of the age group 15–29 years.

Population distribution

The population distribution of Cambrai (active population aged 15 or more in employment) by showed an under-representation of managers and higher intellectual professionals (10.0%) with the French average (16.3%), in 2017, and vice versa slightly higher proportions of manual workers (28.3% compared with 21.5%) and employees (30.2% against 28.5%). The proportion of is lower (22.8% against 24.8%). The percentage of

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

s is naturally low in Cambrai (0.2%). The distribution of the population over the age of 15 years, and not enrolled in study, showed lower education rates than those of metropolitan France in 2017, most significantly in the higher levels (Baccalauréat or Bac+5 years of study).

Education

Cambrai is the seat of a pool of training divided into three districts (Cambrai-North, Cambrai-South and Cambrai-Le Cateau) and dependent on the of Nord and the Academy of Lille.

Schools

The city administers twelve , and eleven . The department manages four : Jules-Ferry, Fénelon, Lamartine and Paul-Duez. The

region operates four : Fénelon, Paul-Duez and the vocational

Louise de Bettignies Louise Marie Jeanne Henriette de Bettignies (; 15 July 1880 - 27 September 1918) was a French secret agent who spied on the Germans for the British during World War I using the pseudonym of Alice Dubois. She was arrested in October 1915 and impr ...

and Louis-Blériot. Cambrai also has a private institution, the ensemble of Saint-Luc, bringing together three former private schools merged in September 2009: Collège Jeanne d'Arc, Institution Notre Dame de Grace (college and high school of general and technological education) and the vocational high school La Sagresse.

University life

Cambrai hosts two branches of the

University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambresis The Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France (''Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France''), previously known as University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis (''Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis'') until 1 January 2 ...

(UVHC), and Lille-2. UVHC antenna prepares eleven diplomas, which include of DUT, IUP, Master Pro, professional licenses (including "Cultural Actions and Promotion of Heritage" and "Trades of Archaeology") and licenses. The branch of Lille-2 prepares to obtain a license "mention droit" or "mention economic and social administration", as well as three professional licenses: For management of small-medium businesses, for transportation of goods and for security professions. Finally, Catholic teaching. The whole of Saint Luc de Cambrai was a centre of higher education (Sup'Sagesse) from Bac+1 to Bac+5: BTS optician, BTS insurance, NRC, MUC, AG and AM, two professional licenses ("Operational Marketing Manager" and "Contingency Insurance and Management of Goods") and finally a Professional Master of "Entrepreneurial Strategy and Management", opened to the entrepreneurs. With nearly 500 students in alternation, learning or school track, Sup'Sagesse is a real city centre campus, incorporating a boarding school. Other institutions of higher education in Cambrai are the and the Institute of Nursing Education. Among the

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

of Cambrai are Marie-Anne and Ludovic Belleval who are now both the Lamour Mill's

owners Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

s in

Briastre Briastre () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry Economics In Briastre is a chemistry-factory. In the near of Briastre are agriculture farms. The Lamour Watermill The Lamour Watermill, Briastre ...

Cultural events and festivities

On 15 August is the communal festival of Cambrai, and one of the highlights of the popular local life. This great festival (or ) extends for ten days in the ''Place de l'Hôtel de ville'' ity Hall Square The day of 15 August is punctuated by the traditional parade of the giants , symbols of the city, and a fireworks display. This festival, originally a procession which took place the day after

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: th ...

, dates back to 1220. It was embellished over time with fireworks, banquets and cavalcades, and was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the Cambrésis. Over the centuries the festival has changed, reflecting the concerns of the contemporary: Since attachment to France it has been celebrated on 15 August, festival of the

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Tow ...

, in response to the wish of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

to devote the Kingdom to the Virgin; in 1790 it celebrated the

Declaration of the Rights of Man The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...

and the

Fête de la Fédération The (Festival of the Federation) was a massive holiday festival held throughout France in 1790 in honour of the French Revolution, celebrating the Revolution itself, as well as National Unity. It commemorated the revolution and events of 1789 ...

; in 1802, with the signature of the

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

, the image of Our Lady of Grace was again carried in procession, reinforced by the bust of Fénelon. Under the

First Empire First Empire may refer to: * First British Empire, sometimes used to describe the British Empire between 1583 and 1783 * First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018) *First French Empire (1804–1814/1815) * First German Empire or "First Reich", sometimes u ...

it celebrated his Imperial Majesty

. In the 19th century, finally, interests turned more to local life, and the progress of science and industry.p.196 Musically, the town of Cambrai receives two festivals. Firstly, the ''Juventus'' classical music festival. The Juventus association mark young talented European soloists. They are appointed, if they accept it, "Juventus Winners" during their first participation in a Juventus festival. Every summer the old and the new winners gather for a fortnight at the festival to prepare chamber music concerts in exceptional conditions. ''Juventus'', established in 1991 at the

Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans The Saline Royale (Royal Saltworks) is a historical building at Arc-et-Senans in the department of Doubs, Eastern France. It is next to the Forest of Chaux and 29.2 kilometres (18.1 miles) to the southwest of Besançon. The architect was Claude- ...

, was set at Cambrai from 1998 with the help of the General Council of the department. Meanwhile, is an alternative music festival, which has been organised since 2003. It is organised during the month of April. ''Les Féodales'' is a street show which represents the

. The last edition took place in 2008. The Cambrai city hall is the national headquarters of the Union for the horse breed of the "

Trait du Nord The Trait du Nord, previously also known as Ardennais du Nord or Ardennais de type Nord, is a breed of heavy draft horse developed and bred in the area of Hainaut in western Belgium and in northeastern France. Originally considered a subtype o ...

". The Trait du Nord national competition is traditionally held during the last weekend of July at the ''Palais des Grottes''. Bringing together the elite of the breed, it ends on Sunday afternoon on the ''Place de l'hôtel de Ville'' with a grand parade, the most important festive presentation in France of a breed of draft horses.

Health

Medical density is quite good at Cambrai, when compared with the regional and national averages. In the agglomeration community there are 2.04 general practitioners per 1,000 inhabitants (Nord Pas-de-Calais region and metropolitan France 1.65), and 1.98 specialist doctors per 1,000 inhabitants (region: 1.39, metropolitan France: 1.74). The Saint-Julien hospital, which housed the poor and the sick, was founded in 1070. Today it remains as a chapel adjoining the municipal theatre. Over the following centuries, other hospitals were founded: The Saint-Lazare Hospital for lepers, the Charité Hospital, Saint-Jean Hospital, the Saint Jacques au Bois Hospital to welcome the pilgrims, the general hospice of La Charité founded in 1752 to accommodate the elderly, beggars and the marginalised. After

the construction of a modern hospital was envisaged. The Central Hospital of Cambrai has a capacity of 770 beds and 108 seats. It employs a staff of 150 officers and has a non-medical staff of 1,200. Three annex buildings are reserved for medium and long stay, maternity (1982) and Psychiatry (1983–1884) patients. A Nursing Training Institute was opened in 1967. The work for the construction of the present site began in 1959, the installation of the patients being carried out between 1966 and 1968. In 2007, the work to modernise and expand the central hospital was undertaken. The 2010 prize list of "the safest hospitals" places the Central Hospital of Cambrai as the 11th best in the national ranking. Cambrai has three private clinics: The Sainte-Marie Clinic, Saint-Roch clinic and the Cambrésis Clinic.

Sports

Cambrai has over a hundred clubs or sporting associations, including the playing in the Women's

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

Championship of France, as well as the team of which plays in the League (2nd division) and is the only professional club of le Cambrésis. Facilities include six gymnasiums, two swimming pools, of which the Liberty Swimming Centre was rebuilt and reopened in 2008, the Arsenal de Balagny, which was built between 1581 and 1595, abandoned by the army in 1967 and then rehabilitated as a gym, a leisure centre, a hockey stadium, a rugby stadium and many football pitches, including the Liberty Stadium, home of

AC Cambrai Athletic Club Cambrésien is a French association football team founded in 1919. They are based in Cambrai, France and play in the Division d'Honneur Nord Pas de Calais in the French football league system The French football league syste ...

. Cambrai has a rowing club that goes under the name of ''Union Nautique de Cambrai''. The club is regularly present to the Rowing French Championships. In the early 2000s, one of its feminine team members made it to the World Championships. Since then, the club has been in the phase of beginning a new cycle based on renewed team members, especially youngsters. Every year, the club is home to the Regattas of Cambrai, during which clubs from Northern France gather for sprint-races on a 1000m distance. The game of is practiced traditionally in regions of Cambrai and Douai. Cambrai was the departure point for Stage 4 of the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

and once again the departure point of Stage 4 in the

2010 Tour de France The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996. The race visited th ...

. Cambrai hosted the finish of Stage 4 in the 2015 Tour de France, on 7 July, with a route from

Seraing Seraing (; wa, Serè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Sai ...

. In 2010, the newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor w ...

'' ranked Cambrai among the top five cities as the most sporty in France with more than 20,000 inhabitants, along with

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

, Colmar, Antibes and

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba ...

. The special prize of "Sport and Disability" was awarded to the city for its access to sport for people with disabilities.

Media

The '' La Voix du Nord'' regional daily publishes a local edition. The ''L'Observateur du Cambrésis'' is a weekly local news and announcements. The municipal newspaper ''Le Cambrésien'' is distributed in all the mailboxes of the city. Cambrai is part of the territory served by radio BLC, a community radio station whose programmes are broadcast from

. The inhabitants of Cambrai also have, in addition to some national radio stations, the programmes of

France Bleu Nord France Bleu Nord is a French public radio station part of the France Bleu network for the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. History France Bleu Nord was established on 19 May 1980 and was dubbed ''Fréquence Nord'' by Radio France journali ...

Chérie FM Chérie FM is a French radio station created in 1987 and belongs to the NRJ Group. History Chérie FM is created in 1987 in Paris by Jean-Paul Baudecroux on the then defunct frequency of Gilda la Radiopolitaine. Chérie FM then started broadcast ...

Cambrai and RFM Nord. The city is covered by the programmes of France 3 Nord and the national DTT channels. It also received the regional channel of . Oxygen TV is a

web TV Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air ae ...

channel "100% of Cambrai" devoted to local information.

Worship

The people of Cambrai have places of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and Muslim worship. Cambrai is the seat of a Catholic archbishopric, suffragan of Lille since 29 March 2008. Until then, it was the opposite situation with the

Archdiocese of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-He ...

as the metropolitan archdiocese and Lille and Arras as its suffragans. The Archdiocese of Cambrai includes the arrondissements of Cambrai, Valenciennes and Avesnes-sur-Helpe. The deanery of Cambrai brings together 13 churches grouped into two

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es: Our Lady of Grace and Saint Vaast-Saint Géry. The

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

community has an Evangelical Baptist Church, just as there is a parish of the

Reformed Church of France The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...

. The Moroccan cultural and religious association of Cambrai manages the Al Mohssinine

Mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

of Escaudain. In early 2010, there was no synagogue in Cambrai.

Economy

Cambrai is the seat of the . In April 2007, it decided to merge with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Arras, a decision which was called into question on 4 October 2007, by the Ministry of Supervision of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. As a result of the planned closure in 2012 , Cambrai and Cambrésis are classified from 1 January 2010 and until 31 December 2012 in the free zone "Zone of Defence Restructuring", allowing enterprises to create, settle or develop tax and social security exemptions.

Economic history

As early as the

, Cambrai was both an agricultural market for its region, which produces mainly cereals and wool, and a centre of weaving (sheets,

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

, cloth, linen, chiffon). This dual role would persist for a long time. The drapery declined at the end of the 13th century but it was replaced by

batiste Cambric or batiste, is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often gl ...

, a speciality of the city, which experienced its greatest trend in the 17th century.p.137 Production declined, in turn, in the following century, but in 1775 there were still 58,000 pieces of batiste marked to Cambrai.p.161 Economic activity declined under the

due to the wars and the British

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...

. In the 19th century, the textile industry remained as the dominant activity of the city, with 2,546 workers, men, women and children, in 1848.p.222 Batiste made the bulk of Cambrai's trade with other productions such as soap and refined sea salt. The food industry grew: Brasserie, chicory; the Bêtise de Cambrai was invented in 1850. In the 19th century, the city was industrialised, especially when compared to its neighbours. Municipal officials often refused the installation of new factories, on behalf of sanitation or lack of space. The was created in 1872, by Jules Linard on the territory of the town of Escaudœuvres. However, according to the census of 1886, industry was supporting more than 9,000 people, while agriculture used only 2,000 at most. The city mainly developed its commercial function: At the beginning of the 20th century the branch of the Bank of France from Cambrai ranked 12th in France, before Nice and Toulouse.p.244 After the

reconstruction stimulated the building industry. New enterprises were created from 1950: Hosiery, mechanics and carpentry employed several thousand people, while traditional manufacturing was disappearing: Chicory, chocolate, brewery and weaving. The economic crisis, of the 1970s, seriously degraded the employment situation.

Business and shops

There are four zones and parks of activity in the agglomeration: * The industrial zone of Cantimpré, to the south-west of the city. * The Actipole Park, on the edge of the A2 autoroute west of Cambrai, offers a total area of . As it is completely occupied, it is being extended. * The zone of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, a kilometre from the A26 autoroute, offers a total area of . * The zone of South Cambrai Proville, one kilometre to the south of Cambrai, on the , in the direction of Saint-Quentin, is devoted to the commercial areas over an area of . The economy of Cambrai is based on four pillars: *

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, which occupies a third of the territory of the commune. * The agri-food industry, which occupies an important place in the economy of the commune (confectionery, candy, dairy, etc.) due to strong agricultural activity (

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ...

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

and cereals) in the arrondissement (80% of the area). * Logistics, benefitting from the situation of the commune of Cambrai in the heart of the triangle London–Paris–Benelux and the intersection of two motorways, tends to be concentrated in the western part of the agglomeration. Thus all of the of the Actipôle Raillencourt zone of activity located west of Cambrai on the edge of the A2 autoroute are now used, partly by distribution undertakings, for a thousand jobs around. The extensions Actipole 2 and 3 are underway or study. *

Textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, found predominantly in the rest of the arrondissement (

Villers-Outréaux Villers-Outréaux () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry History A German airbase was in the town in WW-I. War Memorial In September 2018 the villagers of Villers-Outréaux dedicated an especially commissioned ...

, etc.) is represented in Cambrai by clothing and linens. The Cambrai region is associated with those of Calais and the

Métropole Européenne de Lille The Métropole Européenne de Lille (MEL; en, "European Metropolis of Lille") is the '' métropole'', an intercommunal structure, composed by a network of big cities (Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Armentières etc.) whose majo ...

within the Up-Tex competitiveness cluster, specialised in textile products high performance and customisation. The Central Hospital of Cambrai, the commune of Cambrai, Auchan, Les Papillons blancs, Cora, TANIS (chemistry, rubber, plastic), the ''Compagnie des Engrenages et Réducteurs Messiaen Durand'' (mechanical equipment) and the departmental fire and rescue service were, in order, the eight major employers in the town, in 2008.

Perspectives

The future Seine-Scheldt link, the commissioning of which is scheduled for 2016, is today one of the most promising elements of economic development to the city and the area of Cambrai. The multimodal platform of activities of

, west of Cambrai and on , should be employed to host European logistics and distribution centres and agro-food industries.

Income of the population and taxation

In 2009, the median was €15,302, which ranks Cambrai at 25,917th place among the 31,604 communes with more than 50 households in metropolitan France. In 2008, 263 Cambrai tax households performed the

solidarity tax on wealth The solidarity tax on wealth (french: Impôt de solidarité sur la fortune or ISF) was an annual direct wealth tax on those in France having assets in excess of €1,300,000 (since 2011).

, for a mean wealth of €1.665 million and an average tax amount of €5,017.

Employment

According to the results of the 2017 Census, the economically active population aged 15 and over of the commune included 14,454 people, 24.3% were

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

(France: 13.9%). The distribution of jobs by sector of activity shows the predominant weight (almost 90%) of the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

. This distribution reflects the role which the administrative and commercial centre plays in the commune for the surrounding countryside. The distribution of jobs by socio-professional categories shows under-representation of "executives and intellectual professions", and "farmers", as well as an over-representation of the "intermediary professions" and "employees". The journeys to work are mostly by car (75.9%, France 70.5%) and one can note the low weight of public transport (5.8% against an average of 15.1% in France).

Local culture and heritage

French sartorial heritage

The city was a pivotal center of

mulquinerie Mulquinerie, is a landmark of French sartorial heritage and high craftsmanship, is the art of weaving and trading fine fabrics composed exclusively of linen: whether plain flax cloth, 'linon' or batiste. A 'mulquinier' was the artisan textile ...

Sites and monuments

A large part of the monumental heritage of Cambrai has disappeared over the centuries. It was firstly

, in order to build a citadel at the Mont-des-Bœufs, who ordered the destruction of the Abbey Saint-Gery of Gothic style in 1543. During the

all of the religious buildings of the town were sold as national property and destroyed, including the old cathedral. Only four churches, a converted attic, a hospital, a temple of reason and a prison, were spared. The dismantling of the fortifications, from 1894, led to the disappearance of many

gates Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to: People * Gates (surname), various people with the last name * Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player * Gates McFadde ...

. Some have been preserved thanks to the interventions of the Society of Emulation of the city.

was again responsible for significant destruction, the German army having undermined and torched the city centre before retreating in September 1918. A total of 1,214 buildings were destroyed, including the city hall, which was rebuilt in the neoclassical style before the Revolution by the architects Jacques Denis Antoine and

Nicolas-Henri Jardin Nicolas-Henri Jardin (22 March 1720 – 31 August 1799) was a French architect. Born in St. Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, Jardin worked seventeen years in Denmark–Norway as an architect to the Danish royal court. He introduced neoclassic ...

.p.208 Finally at the end of

, in April 1944, and then again in May, July and until 11 August, Cambrai suffered Allied bombardments. A total of 55% of the buildings were heavily damaged and 13% were completely destroyed. Despite this considerable destruction, the city kept an important monumental heritage. Cambrai has been classified as a City of Art and History since 1992, the first town of the Nord department to obtain this prestigious label.

Religious heritage

The Our Lady of Grace Cathedral was completed in 1703, in the classical style of the time, as the abbey church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church survived the turbulence of the

as a Temple of Reason from 1794. The admirable

Gothic Cathedral Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass t ...

from the 12th century was destroyed in the aftermath the Revolution of 1789. There is no trace on the present ''Place Fénelon'' of the former building. Bishop Louis Belmas adopted the former abbey church as the new cathedral in 1801. The apse contains the monumental tomb of Fénelon, a masterpiece of the sculptor

David d'Angers Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a French sculptor, medalist and active freemason.Initiated in ""Le Père de famille"" Lodge in Angers He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter ...

, and the semitransepts with ''l'Icône Notre Dame de Grâce'' he Icon of Our Lady of Graceand the nine reputed

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

s by Geeraerts of Antwerp. The grand

organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a f ...

were built by the house of of Ixelles in 1897. After the events of

, extensive restoration was undertaken by the organ builder Auguste Convers, who brought the current instrument to 49 stops with 3,670 pipes. The building was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 9 August 1906. The most commonly called the College of the Jesuits' Chapel, completed in 1692, is a unique example of Baroque art in France, to the north of Paris. The chapel served as a prison to the nearby Revolutionary Court in 1794, and it was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 30 April 1920. The , a listed historical monument since 26 November 1919, is one of the oldest monuments of Cambrai. It contains a remarkable

choir screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

in polychromatic marble carved by the Cambrai native Gaspard Marsy as well as ''La mise au tombeauu'' by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

dating from 1616. The grand organs built in 1867 by Merklin were the subject of a significant transformation in 1978. The current instrument has 41 stops. This church has been the subject of a restoration of the frontage and roofing over a period of four years (2011–2015). Other buildings of Cambrai are also classified or listed as Historic Monuments. The former has been registered since 2 March 1943, and the have been classified as Historic Monuments since 1949.

Military heritage

The Citadel: Despite its dismantling in the 19th century, the Citadel of Charles V retained the counter-mine galleries which are today buried; the Royal gate and drawbridge, classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 14 April 1932, flanked on the back of two guardhouses and an arsenal of the 16th century. Among subsequent developments, a powder magazine, housing for officers and a "bombproof" barracks of the 19th century are also noteworthy. The is an old fortified château, which was built in the 11th century. Once isolated by the waters of the Scheldt, it has retained its towers and walls and especially buried ducts. The ducts include much graffiti which attests to the desperation of the prisoners, confined on the orders of the Count-Bishop. The (late 14th century), (17th century) and the (or Saint-Fiacre), the Caudron (1st half of the 15th century) and (16th century) are the remains of the medieval walls.

Civil heritage

The , formerly the bell tower of the Church of Saint-Martin. The monument, built in the 15th century, became a belfry of Cambrai in 1550. Classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 15 July 1965, in 2005 the belfry was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

as part of the

Belfries of Belgium and France The Belfries of Belgium and France are a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, in recognition of the civic (rather than church) belfries serving as an architectural manifestation of emerging civic indep ...

site, in recognition of its architecture and importance to the history of municipal power in Europe. The city hall, renovated in 1932, opens onto the ''Grand'Place'' by a majestic Greek-style façade, surmounted by a bell tower where two bronze bell ringers, giant and Moorish type, strike the hours on a big bell above the big clock: , the protectors of the city. The marriage hall contains a series of frescoes and can be visited on request. The Hotel de Francqueville (18th century) houses the rich collections of the , considerably enlarged and renovated in 1994. The relief map of the city, as it was at the end of the 17th century, is the starting point for essential guided tours of the city. The ''Maison Espagnole'' panish House headquarters of the Tourist Office, dates from 1595 and is the last house which is half-timbered and gabled on regional-style street. Oak sculptures (

chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilici ...

s and

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

s) which adorned its façade in the 19th century are exposed on the first floor inside after undergoing a serious restoration. One can visit its medieval cellars. This building has been classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 31 August 1920. Marché couvert Cambrai

The covered market, built after World War II, is home to lively Les Halles market days. The subterranean space which extends below the centre of the city, as in other medieval cities, was explored in the middle of the 19th century as well as to the end of the 20th century. Carved into the white chalk, they include galleries, Romanesque and Gothic vaulted rooms. There are also wells, niches for statues. These excavations have served as quarries for the extraction of materials of construction, as well as stone for lime: The nderground quarriesare inverted funnels about deep and wide at the base. This underground space was also used, until 1944, for shelters and caches during sieges, invasion or bombing. Their dating is uncertain: It is not impossible that some of these excavations were carved during the Roman era, but it is likely that they were spaced out over a long period, according to the needs. Tours are organised by the tourist office.

Memorial heritage

The German military cemetery of the ''Route de Solesmes'' and Cambrai East Military Cemetery: The cemetery and the ''Route de Solesmes'' was created by the German army in March 1917. Occupied since 1914, Cambrai was an important centre of command, logistics and health for the occupant. The cemetery was opened to accommodate the bodies of soldiers who died in hospitals in the city, including at the end of the Battle of Arras (April–May 1917) and the Battle of Cambrai (November–December 1917). The cemetery currently has 10,685 German graves, as well as those of 192 Russian prisoners of war and six Romanians. Two spaces, forming the Cambrai East Military Cemetery, contain the graves of 501 soldiers of the British Imperial Army.

Environmental heritage

Cambrai has the label "Floral City" with three flowers awarded by the ''National Council of Floral Cities and Villages of France'' in the Foral Competition of Cities and Villages. The current public garden dates from the 19th century, which saw the creation of green spaces in the middle to encourage

hygienics Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

and which were liberated in addition to the areas occupied by the fortifications. This garden, divided into three distinct but contiguous parts, is located on the site of the old fortifications that surrounded the citadel built under

*The "flower garden", designed by the landscape architect

Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps (7 June 1824 at Saint-Antoine-du-Rocher – 12 September 1873 at Vichy) was a French horticulturist and landscape architect. He was the chief gardener of Paris during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III, and wa ...

, was established between 1852 and 1865 on . This garden was originally the only one planned but, at the insistence of the prefect of the time, it was increased to in 1864.p.198 *The "Monstrelet Garden" designed "in English", was soon added to the previous. It is so called because it houses a statue of

Enguerrand de Monstrelet Enguerrand de Monstrelet (c. 140020 July 1453) was a French chronicler. He was born in Picardy, most likely into a family of the minor nobility. Life In 1436 and later he held the office of lieutenant of the ''gavenier'' (i.e. receiver of the ' ...

, chronicler of the

who was the Provost of Cambrai. In 1876, the bandstand was erected, built on the plans of André de Baralle. *The "garden of caves", built in the early 19th century, carries a total area of more than . The "caves", decorated with a waterfall, were the main attraction and gave their name to this part of the garden. They were completed in 1906 and in 2010 are awaiting rehabilitation. These gardens, and in particular their statues, were damaged by the two world wars. In 1972, a modern hall, named as the ''Palais des Grottes'' ansion of Cavesand hosting exhibitions, trade fairs and concerts, was built in the middle of the garden of the same name. A few other squares or gardens complement the green spaces of Cambrai: Fenelon Square, established in 1861 to the designs of Barillet-Deschamps on the site of the ancient metropolis and decorated in 1864 with a water fountain, that of the ''Place Marcelin Berthelot'', which dates from 1911. This is at the foot of the walls of the Château de Selles, dating from the same year. The one of the Arquets tower dates from 1954.p.199 The avenues and boulevards planted with trees and flowers to complete make Cambrai a "green" city.

Cultural heritage

The , opened in 1847 to present revolutionary seizures, has been installed since 1893 in a mansion of the 18th century, the Hotel de Francqueville. Renovated in 1994, it has three departments (archaeology, fine arts and heritage of Cambrai) on of which the most important is that of art. It presents Flemish and Dutch paintings from the 17th century and French artists of the 19th and 20th century. A recent donation also allowed it to present a collection of geometric abstractions of the second half of the 20th century. The Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art still officially retains its label "

Musée de France Museum of France (''Musée de France'') is a title given to the main state museums in France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and ter ...

",Label renewed by Ministerial Decree of 17 September 2003 although it was closed to the public in 1975. This private museum is managed by the diocese, which is looking for ways to reopen the collections to the public. The items of this collection may be the subject of loans for temporary exhibitions and include objects from the archaeological excavations of the city of Cambrai, architectural elements, sculpture, paintings, pieces of jewellery and liturgical ornaments. This museum's history began in 1926 when Monseignor , Archbishop of Cambrai, established a commission of religious history and sacred art aimed to inventory and preserve the archives and movable heritage of the diocese. Canon Cyrille Thelliez became secretary. In 1958, many religious objects from the diocese were gathered together and Thelliez founded the Diocesan Museum, the first religious art museum opened in France. The museum was installed in the former chapel of the Grand Seminary. The Théâtre de Cambrai was built in 1924 by the architect , on the site of a chapel of the 16th century which was destroyed during

. The chapel had been abandoned for 25 years when its rehabilitation was undertaken in 1999. The renovated theatre was inaugurated in 2003. It is an Italian theatre of 700 seats which hosts various performances, including those of the ''Scènes mitoyennes'' djoining Stagesassociation and the . The ''Palais des grottes'' ansion of Cavessituated in the public garden, is a large multi-purpose hall with a capacity of 1,500 people and which can accommodate concerts, (including the ), fairs or exhibitions. Its remarkable roof shape, formed of a hyperbolic paraboloid (or "saddle"), was built in 1974 by then-advanced techniques and demonstrates a concrete form of architecture in the 20th century.pp.216–217 The media library is a classified municipal library: It has an important old

fonds In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...

, with 956 manuscripts, the oldest dating back to the 7th century, from the confiscations made during the revolutionary era to religious communities, very important in the city, and emigrants of the region. This fonds was subsequently enriched by gifts, bequests and purchases. In 1975, it was one of the first institutions to adopt the title of "media library". It is divided into four services: Youth, adults, library and local history and old books. Cambrai has a national school of music and dramatic arts which obtained the ''Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental'' label in 2007.

Personalities linked to the commune

Villard de Honnecourt Villard de Honnecourt (''Wilars dehonecort'', ''Vilars de Honecourt'') was a 13th-century artist from Picardy in northern France. He is known to history only through a surviving portfolio or "sketchbook" containing about 250 drawings and designs ...

, lived in Cambrai, architect of the 13th century *

Pierre d'Ailly Pierre d'Ailly (; Latin ''Petrus Aliacensis'', ''Petrus de Alliaco''; 13519 August 1420) was a French theologian, astrologer and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Academic career D'Ailly was born in Compiègne in 1350 or 1351 of a prospero ...

(1351–1420), Bishop of Cambrai from 1397 to 1411 * Nicolas Grenon (c. 1375–1456), died in Cambrai, composer *

(c. 1400–1471), died in Cambrai, composer *

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

(1469–1536), appointed Secretary of the Bishop of Cambrai in 1493 * (c. 1540–before 1600), born in Cambrai, composer * Franciscus van der Burch (c. 1567–1644), named seventh Archbishop of Cambrai in 1616 * Amé Bourdon (1636 or 1638–1706), born in Cambrai,

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

* François de Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon (c. 1651–1715), appointed Archbishop of Cambrai in 1695 *

Guillaume Dubois Guillaume Dubois (6 September 1656 – 10 August 1723) was a French cardinal and statesman. Life and government Early years Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers ( Richelieu, Mazarin, Dubois, and Fleury), was born in Brive-l ...

(c. 1656–1723), known as Cardinal Dubois. appointed Archbishop of Cambrai, though never set foot there * Charles François Dumouriez (1739–1823), born in Cambrai, soldier and politician * Francisco de Carondelet (1747–1807), in Noyelles, Spanish governor of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, president of the '' Audiencia'' of Quito *

(born c. 1765–1795), envoy of the Committee of Public Safety, made the Reign of Terror in Cambrai * Charles Defrémery (1822–1883), orientalist born in Cambrai * Charles Cordier (1827–1905), born in Cambrai, sculptor of ethnographic subjects *

Jules Gosselet Jules-Auguste Gosselet (19 April 1832 – 20 March 1916) was a French geologist born in Cambrai, France.Marcel Lermoyez (1858–1929), otologist * Georges Maroniez (1865–1933), painter and photographer, lived in Cambrai from 1897 * Louis Blériot (1872–1936), born in Cambrai, industrialist and aviator * (c. 1874–1954), architect of the reconstruction after World War II *

Henri de Lubac Henri-Marie Joseph Sonier de Lubac (; 20 February 1896 – 4 September 1991), better known as Henri de Lubac, was a French Jesuit priest and cardinal who is considered one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His writin ...

(1896–1991), born in Cambrai, Jesuit Catholic theologian and Bishop *

Julien Torma Julien Torma (Cambrai, 6 April 1902 – Tyrol, 17 February 1933) was credited as a French writer, playwright and poet who was part of the Dadaist movement. Torma disappeared in the mountains of the Tyrol at the age of 30. Due to his secretive ...

(1902–1933), writer, playwright and poet *

René Dumont René Dumont (March 13, 1904 – June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. Biography Dumont was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture ...

(1904–2001), born in Cambrai, engineer in agronomy, sociologist, and founder of the political ecology * (1907–1984), born in Cambrai, poet, painter, draughtsman and French filmmaker *

Maurice Godelier Maurice Godelier (born February 28, 1934) is a French anthropologist who works as a Director of Studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. He is one of the most influential French anthropologists and is best known as one o ...

(1934–), born in Cambrai, social anthropologist,

neo-Marxist Neo-Marxism is a Marxist school of thought encompassing 20th-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such as critical theory, psychoanalysis, or exi ...

* Jean-Pierre Destrumelle (1941–2002), born in Cambrai, football player and coach * Jean Gascou (1945),

papyrologist Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

Marie-Georges Pascal Marie-Georges Pascal (born Marie-Georges Charlotte Faisy; October 2, 1946 – November 9, 1985) was a French film, television

(1946–1985), actress * (1955–), born in Cambrai, visual artist * (1957–1991), born in Cambrai, actress * (1963–), born in Cambrai, journalist and actress * Loïc Attely (1977–), born in Cambrai, fencer (

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

fencer) * Nicolas Mérindol (1961–), born in Cambrai, banker, former Chairman of the Crédit foncier of France and Chairman of the Milton group

Culinary specialities

The two best-known gastronomic specialties of Cambrai are the , a sausage traditionally made of ground veal (which was prohibited by European regulations, following the episode of

mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...

until 2015
, which associated gastronomic society is one of the most representative in the region, and the Bêtise de Cambrai, a coated mint confection which is one of the most emblematic gourmet specialties of France. The gastronomy of Cambrai also accounts for other less known specialities: Tripe, liver pâté with plums, hare with grapes,

hochepot The hochepot ( nl, hutsepot) is a sort of stew much appreciated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, and in Flanders and Hainaut in Belgium. Its origins go back to the Middle Ages and its first known recipes are in the Manuscript of Sion ...

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...

with puréed lentils, but also the ,

fromage blanc ''Fromage blanc'' (; ; also known as ''maquée'') is a fresh cheese originating from the north of France and southern Belgium. The name means "white cheese" in French. ''Fromage frais'' ("fresh cheese") differs from ''fromage blanc'' in that, acc ...

with fine herbs, and also a cheese

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

ed as , or even crackers and ''pain crotté'' uddy bread(a type of French toast).

Heraldry, motto

The motto of the city has changed several times: *1579: ''"Cambray, city of peace."'' *1580: ''"Concordia parvæ res crescunt"'' ("Harmony makes small things grow"). This motto is the same as that of the United Provinces (''"

Unity makes strength "Unity makes strength" ( bg, Съединението прави силата, Săedinenito pravi silata; nl, Eendracht maakt macht, ; french: L'union fait la force) is a motto that has been used by various states and entities throughout histo ...

"'') *Current motto: ''"Proud of its past, sure of its future."'' The logo of the city is a stylisation of the steeples of the

, the Saint-Géry Church and , a visual signature of the city, visible from afar. Locally, Cambrai is known as "the city of three spires".

Military life

In 1711–1712, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, the regiments of and Royal-Comtois had their barracks at Cambrai. From the late 19th century, two military units were stationed at Cambrai. The 1st Infantry Regiment was quartered at Cambrai from 1870 to 1914, when it left for Belgium, before returning in 1919. It was split between the citadel and the Renel barracks. In 1940 it was again sent to Belgium, before being dissolved in 1942 in the free zone and did not return to Cambrai. The arrived in Cambrai in 1889 and is the Mortier quarter. This regiment was dissolved at the end of

. After

the Mortier quarter was assigned to the Selection Centre No. 2, today disbanded. Until 2012, the "

René Mouchotte Commandant René Mouchotte DFC (21 August 1914 – 27 August 1943) was a World War II pilot of the French Air Force, who escaped from Vichy French–controlled Oran to join the Free French forces. Serving with RAF Fighter Command, he rose to c ...

" was near the city, founded in 1953 and which hosted the 01.012 Fighter Squadron "Cambrésis" created in 1952, the 02.012 "Picardy" and the 03.012 "Cornouailles" ornwall as well as a ground-to-air defence squadron.

Cambrai in literature and cinema

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

in ''

Storm of Steel ''Storm of Steel'' (german: In Stahlgewittern, lit=In Steel Thunderstorms; original English title: ''In Storms of Steel'') is the memoir of German officer Ernst Jünger's experiences on the Western Front during the First World War from December ...

'', dedicated to

, described Cambrai in 1917: *The streets of Cambrai served as a backdrop to ''Sang noir'' lack Blood a 90-minute fiction filmed from 7 March to 6 April 2006 through Production of

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...

Lille, based on the novel of the same name by

Louis Guilloux Louis Guilloux (15 January 1899 – 14 October 1980) was a French writer born in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, where he lived throughout his life. He is known for his Social Realist novels describing working class life and political struggles in the mi ...

which takes place in 1917 in a small town, far from the Western Front. *In 2007, the construction of the bypass of Cambrai was used for the filming of the movie '' In the Beginning'' by

Xavier Giannoli Xavier Giannoli (born 7 March 1972) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. In 2010, he was named a Chevalier in the ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order ...

. Some scenes of the film ''Présumé coupable'' resumed Guilty by Vincent Garenq, were shot at Cambrai in April 2010. *The comic book ''

Asterix and the Banquet ''Asterix and the Banquet'' (, "Asterix's Tour of Gaul") is the fifth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was first serialized in ''Pilote'' magazine, issues 172–213, in 196 ...

'' by Goscinny and

Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; ; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the ''Astérix'' series in collaboration with Re ...

have a journey to various cities in Roman Gaul, including ''Camaracum'' (Cambrai):

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book book series, series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight th ...

and Obelix buy Bêtise de Cambrai, bêtises. *The young-adult novel ''Les Bêtises de Cambrai'' (Airvey, 2011) by Eric Callens.

Cambrai and philately

Four postage stamps have been issued in connection with the city of Cambrai: *10 July 1947, a stamp commemorating Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, with a face value of 4.50 French franc, Francs. *19 February 1972, a stamp commemorating Louis Blériot, born in Cambrai, with a face value of 0.50 Francs with surcharge: 0.10 Francs for the benefit of the French Red Cross. *14 May 1977, a stamp commemorating the capture of Cambrai in 1677 and the annexation of Cambrésis by France, with a face value of 0.80 Francs *25 July 2009, a stamp commemorating the crossing of the English channel by Louis Blériot, with a face value of €2.00.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * ''Revue du Nord'', Louis Trenard (dir.), Université de Lille III, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Vol. LVIII no.230, Numéro spécial "Cambrai et le Cambrésis", July–September 1976

Bibliography

: Document used as a source for the drafting of this article. * David Fallows, Barbara H. Haggh: "Cambrai", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 18 December 2005)
(subscription access)
(source for the music history section) * * * Nuvola apps ksig horizonta

* * *

* *

* * * Special number "Cambrai et le Cambrésis", July–September 1976 Nuvola apps ksig horizonta

External links

Cambrai website
(French)
Aujourd'hui à Cambrai
(French)
Cambrai Public Library

Silent short film from 1918 demonstrates the devastating effects of shelling
* Georges Vérez. Sculptor of Cambrai War Memorial. {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2018 Cambrai, Communes of Nord (French department) Subprefectures in France Free imperial cities