Cambrésis (, , ) is a former ''
pagus
In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geograp ...
'' and
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
y of the medieval
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
, which constituted the Prince-Bishopric of Cambrai from the 11th to the 18th centuries. It was annexed by the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...
in 1679. It is now regarded as one of the "natural regions" of France, and roughly equivalent to the
Arrondissement of Cambrai in
department Nord. The capital of Cambrésis was
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river.
A sub-pref ...
.
Originally ruled by a dynasty of
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
s, Cambrésis became a
prince-bishopric
A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to ''Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the Bi ...
in 1007, comparable to the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...
and the
Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht
The Bishopric of Utrecht (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, in the present-day Netherlands. From 1024 to 1528, as one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, it was ruled by the b ...
. It encompassed the territory in which the
bishop of Cambrai
This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai.
Bishops
For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...
had secular authority.
History
Romans
''Cameracum'' became important during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
in the 3rd and 4th century due to its textile industry, taking over as administrative capital of the ''civitas
Nerviorum'' from ''Bagacum Nerviorum'' (modern
Bavay) around 400.
As a Roman cultural capital it maintained its importance as the seat of a bishop (which it became before 400
), whose jurisdiction stretched to medieval
Hainaut and
Brabant in the north.
Early middle ages and the Franks
Early medieval sources such as Volume II of
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
' ''History of the Franks'' (written late 6th century) and the anonymous ''
Liber historiae Francorum'' (written early 8th century) mention a
Salian Frankish warlord named
Chlodio
Chlodio (probably died after 450), also Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio, was a Frankish king who attacked and then apparently ruled Roman-inhabited lands around Cambrai and Tournai, near the modern border of Belgium and France. He is ...
or Chlogio, who conquered Turnacum (modern
Tournai
Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...
) and ''Cameracum'' in the 5th century. According to Lanting & van der Plicht (2010), this probably happened in the period 445–450. Around 509, the ruler of ''Cameracum'',
Ragnachar
Ragnachar or Ragnarius (died 509) was a Frankish petty king (''regulus'') who ruled from Cambrai. According to Gregory of Tours, Ragnachar "was so unrestrained in his wantonness that he scarcely had mercy for his own near relatives".Gregory, II, 4 ...
, was killed by his relative
Clovis I
Clovis (; reconstructed Old Frankish, Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first List of Frankish kings, king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a ...
, who then annexed the Frankish state around ''Cameracum''.
As an early
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties
* Francia, a post-Roman ...
territory, the ''Pagus Cambrecensis'' can be found in surviving records as early as 663.
[Ulrich Nonn (1983) ''Pagus und Comitatus'', p.118.]
When the Frankish kingdom was divided in 843, Cambrai became part of
Middle Francia
Middle Francia () was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Francia was allocated ...
and subsequently
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...
, with which it Cambrai came into the possession of
East Francia
East Francia (Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire created in 843 and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was established through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the for ...
(and subsequently the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
) in 925. Together with the surrounding area, Cambrai constituted a county, which would become known as ''Cambrésis'', the
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
of ''Cambrai''.
[Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Kamerijk § Geschiedenis". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.] The last dynastic count,
Arnulf of Valenciennes
Arnulf (or Arnoul, or Arnold) of Valenciennes (d. 22 October 1011), was a 10th and 11th century count and perhaps sometimes a margrave, who was lord of the fort of Valenciennes, which was at that time on the frontier with France (West Francia), on ...
, renounced his comital rights to Cambrésis to obtain the support of the bishop of Cambrai against his enemy
Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders
Baldwin IV (980 – 30 May 1035), called the Bearded, was the count of Flanders from 987 until his death.
Baldwin IV was the son of Count Arnulf II of Flanders (c. 961 — 987) and Rozala of Italy (950/60 – 1003), of the House of Ivrea.Detlev ...
.
Prince-bishopric
The German king
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
transferred the comital rights to the bishop of Cambrai in 1007,
in line with the
Ottonian
The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem du ...
policy of creating an
Imperial Church System
The imperial church system (German: ''Reichskirchensystem'', Dutch: ''rijkskerkenstelsel'') was a governance policy by the early Holy Roman emperors and other medieval European rulers to entrust the secular governance of the state to as many celib ...
. As a worldly lord, the bishop thus became a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. From the end of the 11th to the end of the 12th century, the emperors designated the
counts of Flanders as guardians of the county, resulting in extensive Flemish influence.
The city of Cambrai itself resisted episcopal rule ever since 1077, and eventually became a
free imperial city in the High Middle Ages.
In the 15th century, the
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...
managed to acquire ''de facto'' control over Cambrésis.
During the
War of the Burgundian Succession (1477–1482) France conquered the city, but
Emperor Charles V
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
managed to retrieve Cambrésis for the Holy Roman Empire in 1529 (
War of the League of Cognac
The War of the League of Cognac (1526–1530) 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 Re ...
, ended by the Ladies' Peace of Cambrai), and again in 1543 (
Italian War of 1542–1546
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
).
Although the Prince-Bishopric of Cambrai was formally neutral, its war-time neutrality was frequently violated by both French and Habsburg troops, and ever since Charles V placed a garrison inside Cambrai in 1543, Cambrésis remained inside the Habsburg sphere of influence until 1679. It was never annexed by Habsburg, however: it was not added to the
Burgundian Circle
The Burgundian Circle (, , ) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy (the former administrative region of Franche-Comté), the Burgundian Circle ...
, it was mentioned in neither the
Transaction of Augsburg of 1548, nor the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1549
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 was an edict, promulgated by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, reorganising the Seventeen Provinces of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg into one indivisible territory, while retaining existing custom ...
, it had no representation at the
States General of the Habsburg Netherlands, and thus was not one of the
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the France, French Departments of Franc ...
.
When the
Imperial Circles were introduced in 1500, Cambrésis was included into the
Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle
The Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (, ) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised territories of the former Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, Frisia and the Westphalian part of the former Duchy of Saxony.
The circle was mad ...
. In the
Imperial Register of 1521, the bishop of ''Camerich'' is recorded as having the duty to provide a contingent of 22 men on horse and 82 men on foot, and 120
Rhenish guilder
The Rhenish ''gulden'' or Rhenish ''guilder'' (; ) was a gold, standard currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries. They weighed between 3.4 and 3.8 grams ().
History
The Rhenish gold ''gulden'' was created when the Prince- ...
s. The 1532 Imperial Register records ''Camerich'' in the ''Niderlendisch vnnd Westuelisch Krayß'' ('Netherlandish and Westphalian Circle') with the obligation of providing 44 cavalrymen and 164 infantrymen. The Imperial Register of 1663 mentions: 'Vor disem hat man zum Westphälischen Craisse auch gerechnet die Bischöffe von Vtrecht vnd Camerach' ("For this, one has also counted the Bishops of Utrecht and ''Camerach'' to the Westphalian Circle").
In their 1654 ''Topographia Circuli Burgundici'', part of ''
Topographia Germaniae'' series,
Martin Zeiler and
Matthäus Merian Matthäus is a given name or surname. Notable people with the name include:
;Surname
* Lothar Matthäus, (born 1961), German former football player and manager
;Given name
* Matthäus Aurogallus, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wittenberg ...
the Elder described Cambrésis as the ''Stifft Camerich'': 'Concerning the Prince-Bishopric of ''Camerich'': formally, this
andbelongs to the
olyRoman Empire and to the Westphalian Circle, and in this book, it is also considered as such. The Bishop of this Bishopric, who is both the Spiritual and Temporal Lord there, has his own seat and vote in the
Imperial Diet. Nevertheless, the capital city of ''Camerich'', or ''Cameracum'', currently has a Spanish garrison, and this diocese is located between the two Counties of Artois and Hainaut that are under Spanish protection. Moreover,
Lodovico Guicciardini
Lodovico Guicciardini (19 August 1521 – 22 March 1589) was an Italian writer and merchant from Florence who lived primarily in Antwerp from 1542 or earlier. He was the nephew of historian and diplomat Francesco Guicciardini.
''Description of ...
mentioned it with Artois, although others mentioned it with Hainaut. Therefore, we also want make a mention of it here. We will wait with the description of this little state until the entry on the city of ''Camerach'', and now order this most distinguished place of these three lands according to the ABC.' Zieler and Merian thus pointed out that Cambrésis was ''de jure'' still an independent principality, whose bishop held both secular and religious authority, but it was surrounded by Spanish territories and occupied by Spanish troops, and like other writers before them, they decided to geographically describe Cambrésis in conjunction with the lands of the Burgundian Circle rather than the Westphalian Circle to which Cambrésis officially belonged. The further history of Cambrésis would be related under the entry of the city of Cambrai, which was to be found alphabetically rather than geographically.
French annexation
Cambrésis was not annexed by the French kings until the 1678
Peace of Nijmegen
The Treaties or Peace of Nijmegen (; ; ) were a series of treaty, treaties signed in the Dutch Republic, Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, ...
after a
siege in 1677, becoming part of the
French province Flandre and
Hainaut. The count-bishops continued to refer to themselves as princes of the Holy Roman Empire until the
French Revolution.
Instructions Pastorales sur le Jubilé
/ref> On 2 November 1789, during the French Revolution, all church property was nationalised, which meant the end of Cambrésis.
Maps
File:Les Francs entre 400 et 440.svg, Salian Franks' conquest of Tournai and Cambrai around 440.
File:Medieval and modern Cambrésis.png, The yellow dots show places in the early medieval ''Pagus Cambrecensis'', and the green is the modern arrondissement.
File:1250 Flandern Brabant Hennegau Loon Lüttich Limburg Jülich Köln Berg Namur Chiny Luxemburg Trier.png,
File:Political map of the Low Countries (1350)-NL.svg, Cambrésis ('Kamerijk') in the Low Countries around 1350
File:Karte Haus Burgund 4 EN.png, Prince-Bishopric of Cambrai under Burgundian influence in 1465–1477
File:Karte Haus Burgund 5.png, Prince-Bishopric of Cambrai under French rule in 1477–1493
File:Map of the Imperial Circles (1560)-en.svg, Imperial Circles in 1560.
File:Spanish Netherlands.svg, The Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
in 1560.
File:Cambrésis 1659 Joan Blaeu.jpg, Cambrésis in 1659 by Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...
See also
* Le Cateau-Cambrésis
Le Cateau-Cambrésis (, before 1977: ''Le Cateau'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. The term Cambrésis indicates that it lies in the county of that name ...
* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai
The Archdiocese of Cambrai (; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Cambrai, Dou ...
Le Cambrésis
french)
References
*Eugène Bouly de Lesdain. ''Histoire de Cambrai et du Cambrésis.'' Hattu, 1842.
{{Authority control
Former provinces of France
History of Cambrai
Counties of the Holy Roman Empire
Former states in the Low Countries