Cambrai, a city and first-class fortress of the French department of the Nord, on the Scheldt, 128 miles NNE. of Paris by rail. It is well built, with tolerably wide but irregular streets, and many picturesque old houses. Among the principal public buildings are the town-house, archiepiscopal palace, and cathedral, the last rebuilt after the fire of 1859. Its predecessor had been partially destroyed in 1793 by the revolutionists. They also disinterred the remains of Fénélon, who was archbishop here, and melted his lead coffin into bullets; a monument to him, however, by David d'Angers, erected in 1826, fortunately survived the fire, and has been placed in the new cathedral. The town also contains a college, theological seminary, and library, with 40,000 vols. and 1200 MSS. The manufactures are important, consisting of cambric—so called from its manufacture here—linen thread, lace, sugar, soap, leather, &c.; and there is a large trade in agricultural produce. Pop. (1872) 22,897; (1891) 17,359.
Camaracum, the ancient Cambrai, was one of the chief cities of the Nervii. It was fortified by Charlemagne, and was long governed by its own bishops, to whom the emperor Henry I. ceded it; taken by the Spaniards in 1595, it was delivered to France by the treaty of Nimeguen (1678). The celebrated League of Cambrai against the republic of Venice, which comprised the pope, the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, was entered into here in 1508; here also in 1529 the aunt of Charles V. of Spain and the mother of Francis I. signed the Paix des Dames, by which Burgundy was restored to France, who in return renounced her claims to Artois and Flanders. During 1815-18 Cambrai was the headquarters of the British army of occupation. See Histoire de Cambrai, by Bouly (2 vols. 1843), and Lécluselle (2 vols. 1874-75).