Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...
Rely is situated some west of Béthune and southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D341 (an old Roman road, the Chaussée Brunehaut) and the D90 road. The
A26 autoroute
The A26 is a long French motorway connecting Calais and Troyes. It is also known as the Autoroute des Anglais (''Motorway of the English'') as its length forms the first part of the main route from the Dover-Calais ferries and the Channel Tunnel ...
passes by the commune.
History
The village of Rely existed during the Gallo-Roman period and was located on a Roman road, the ‘’Chausée (carriageway) Brunehaut’’, that connected Thérouanne,
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...
Auchy-au-Bois
Auchy-au-Bois () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in a Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
A farming village situated west of Béthune and west of Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in ...
and
Ferfay
Ferfay () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
A former coalmining and now a farming village some west of Béthune and southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D341 and the D91 roads ...
. Originally small Roman stations where troops or convoys came to rest and eat on their travels between Rome, Arras, Thérouanne and Boulogne, these stations then developed and became the villages of today.
The castle, built on a hill surrounded by a wide and deep moat served as a refuge against the successive invasions and plundering of the Normans, Flemish and Spanish armies.
Rely has followed the fate of the volatile Artois region over the centuries:
* In 863 it was part of Flanders.
* In 1180 it became French territory.
* In 1226 it was given to Robert I of Artois, son
Louis VIII
Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
.
* In 1493 it passed to the House of Habsburg.
* In 1640 Artois was reconquered by France, however only a portion of it was returned to France, the other part, which included Rely, stayed in Flanders.
* In 1679, all of the region of Artois was finally ceded to France.
Population
Places of interest
* The church of St.Martin, dating from the sixteenth century.
* The motte and
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
of a
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...