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ARRAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 646 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ARRAS , a See also:

city of See also:northern See also:France, See also:chief See also:town of the See also:department of Pas-de-See also:Calais, 38 m. N.N.E. of See also:Amiens on the Northern railway between that city and See also:Lille. Pop. (1906) 20,738. Arras is situated in a fertile See also:plain on the right and See also:southern See also:bank of the Scarpe, at its junction with the Crinchon which skirts the town on the See also:south and See also:east. Of the fortifications erected by See also:Vauban in the 17th See also:century, only a gateway and the partially dismantled citadel, nicknamed la Belle Inutile, are See also:left. The most interesting See also:quarter lies in the east of the town, where the lofty houses which border the spacious squares known as the Grande and the Petite See also:Place are in the Flemish See also:style. They are built with their upper storeys projecting over the See also:foot-way and supported on columns so as to See also:form arcades; beneath these are deep cellars extending under the squares themselves. The celebrated hotel de ville of the 16th century overlooks the Petite Place; its See also:belfry, which contains a See also:fine peal of bells, rises to a height of 240 ft. The decoration is in the richest See also:Gothic style, and is especially admirable in the See also:case of the windows. Of the numerous ecclesiastical buildings the See also:cathedral, a See also:church of the 18th century possessing some See also:good pictures, is the most important. It occupies the site of the church of the See also:abbey of St Vaast, the buildings of which adjoin it and contain the See also:bishop's See also:palace, the ecclesiastical See also:seminary, a museum of antiquities, paintings and sculptures, and a See also:rich library.

Arras is the seat of a See also:

prefect and of a bishop. It has tribunals of first instance and of See also:commerce, a chamber of commerce, a See also:branch of the Bank of France, a communal See also:college, training colleges, and a school of military See also:engineering. Its See also:industrial establishments include oil-See also:works, dye-works and breweries, and manufactories of See also:hosiery, railings and other See also:iron-See also:work, and of oil-cake. For the See also:tapestry manufacture formerly flourishing at Arras see TAPESTRY. It has a very important See also:market for cereals and oleaginous grains. The See also:trade of the town is facilitated by the canalization of the Scarpe, the See also:basin of which forms the See also:port. Before the opening of the See also:Christian era Arras was known as Nemetacum, or Nemetocenna, and was the chief town of the Atrebates, from which the word Arras is derived. Passing under the See also:rule of the See also:Romans, it became a place of some importance, and traces of the See also:Roman occupation have been found. In 407 it was destroyed by the See also:Vandals, and having been partially rebuilt, came into the hands of the See also:Franks. See also:Christianity was introduced by St Vedast (Vaast), who founded a bishopric at Arras about 500. This was soon transferred to See also:Cambrai, but brought back to its See also:original seat about 1 Poo. As the chief town of the See also:province of See also:Artois, Arras passed to See also:Baldwin I., See also:count of See also:Flanders, in 863, and about 88o was ravaged by the See also:Normans.

During this troubled See also:

period it retained some vestiges of its former trade, and the woollen manufacture was established here at an See also:early date. Early in the 12th century a See also:commune was established here, but the earliest known See also:charter only See also:dates from about 118o; owing to the importance of Arras, this soon became a See also:model for many neighbouring communes. At this See also:time the city appears to have been divided into two parts, one dependent upon the bishop, and the other upon the count. When See also:Philip See also:Augustus, See also:king of France, married See also:Isabella, niece of Philip, count of Flanders, Arras came under the rule of the See also:French king, who confirmed its privileges in 1194. As See also:part of Artois it came in 1237 to See also:Robert, son of See also:Louis VIII., king of France, and in 1384 to Philip the Bold, See also:duke of See also:Burgundy, who promised to respect its privileges. Anxious to recover the city for France, Louis XI. placed a See also:garrison therein after the See also:death of See also:Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, in 1477. This was driven out by the inhabitants, and Louis then stormed Arras, razed the walls, deported the citizens, whose places were taken by Frenchmen, and changed the name to See also:Franchise. The successor of Louis, Charles VIII., restored the city to its former name and position, and as part of the See also:inheritance of See also:Mary, daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold, it was contended for by the French king, and his See also:rival, the See also:German king, See also:Maximilian I. The See also:peace of Senlis in 1493 gave Arras to Maximilian, and in spite of attacks by the French, it remained.under the rule of the Habsburgs until 1640. Taken in this See also:year by the French, this See also:capture was ratified by the peace of the See also:Pyrenees in 1659, and henceforward it remained part of France. It suffered severely during the French Revolution, especially from See also:Joseph Lebon, who, like the See also:brothers Maximilien and Augustin See also:Robespierre, was a native of the town. Owing to its position and importance, Arras has been the See also:scene of various See also:treaties.

In 1414 the peace between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians was made here, and in 1435 a See also:

congress met here to make peace between the See also:English and their Burgundian See also:allies on the one See also:side, and the French on the other, and after the English representatives had withdrawn, a treaty was signed on the loth of See also:September between France and Burgundy. In 1482 Louis XI. made a treaty here with the estates and towns of Flanders about the inheritance of Mary of Burgundy, wife of the German king Maximilian I. See E. Lecesne, Histoire d'Arras jusqu'en 1789 (Arras, 1880); Arras sous la Revolution (Arras, 1882-1883).

End of Article: ARRAS

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