CAMBRAI, a town of northern France, the seat of an arch bishop and capital of an arrondissement in the department of Nord, 37 m. S.S.E., of Lille on the main line of the Northern railway. Pop. (1931) 26,239. Cambrai is situated on the right bank of the canalized Schelde, arms of which traverse the west of the town. Formerly strongly fortified, the ramparts had given way before the war of 1914-18, in which Cambrai figured prom inently and was badly damaged, to handsome boulevards.
Cambrai is the ancient Nervian town of Camaraczon, mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary. In the 5th century it was the capital of the Frankish king Raguacharius. Fortified by Charlemagne, it was captured and pillaged by the Normans in 870, and un successfully besieged by the Hungarians in 953. During the loth, and 12th centuries it was the scene of frequent hostilities between the bishop and the citizens ; but the latter ultimately effected their independence. In 1478 Louis XI., who had obtained the town on the death of Charles the Bold, handed it over to the emperor, and in the 16th century Charles V. built a strong citadel, for the erection of which the castles of Cavillers and Escaudoeuvres were demolished. From that date to the peace of Nijmwegen, 1678, which assigned it to France, it frequently changed hands by capture or treaty. The League of Cambrai is the name given to the alliance of Pope Julius II., Louis XII., Maximilian I. and Ferdinand the Catholic against the Venetians in 1508; and the peace of Cambrai (the Ladies' Peace) was concluded in the town in 1529 by Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I., and Margaret of Austria, aunt of Charles V., in the names of these monarchs. The bishopric of Cambrai, dating from the 5th century, was raised in 5559 to the rank of an arch bishopric which continued till the Revolution and has since been restored. The bishops received the title of count from the em peror Henry I. (919-936), and in 1510 were raised to the dignity of dukes, their territory including the town itself and its ter ritory, called Cambrcsis. In the war of 1914-18, Cambrai was occupied by the Germans from August 26, 1914, to October 8, When they retired they left the town heavily mined, and the central portion was wrecked. (See also CAMBRAI, BATTLE OF.) The former cathedral of Cambrai was destroyed after the Revolution. The present cathedral of Notre-Dame is a church of the 19th century built on the site of the old abbey church of St. Sepulcre. It was severely damaged in 1918, but the facade is intact. Among other monuments it contains that of Fenelon, archbishop from 1695 to 1715. The church of St. Gery (18th century) contains, among other works of art, a marble Renais sance rood-screen. The Place d'Armes, a large square in the centre of the town, is bordered on the north by the hotel de ville (1863 ). The Tour St. Martin is an old church-tower of the 55th and 18th centuries transformed into a belfry. The triple stone portal, which gave entrance to the former archiepiscopal palace, is a work of the Renaissance period.
Cambrai has a sub-prefect, tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators and a chamber of com merce. There is a museum of antiquities and objects of art. Prior to 1914 it was a prosperous industrial town, its chief in dustry being the weaving of muslin (batiste) and other fine fabrics (see CAMBRIC) ; wool-spinning and weaving, bleaching and dyeing were also carried on. The town has now regained its pre-war position; there are large beet-sugar works, and trade is in coal, cattle and grain.