Arras
Arras () is a town and
commune in northern
France,
préfecture (capital) of the
Pas-de-Calais département.
Originally settled by the
Celtic tribe of the
Atrebates, it later became a
Roman garrison town known as
Atrebatum.
It is located in the former Dutch and French
province of
Artois. For many centuries, Arras was on the border between France and the
Netherlands and it frequently changed hands before firmly becoming French in the late
17th century, the fortifications upgraded by
Vauban helping keep it in French hands. The town was closely linked to the trade of
Flanders and later became an important centre for
sugar beet farming and processing as well as a prosperous market centre.
The
Union of Atrecht was signed here in January
1579 by the states of the
Low Countries that were loyal to
king Philip II of
Habsburg; it provoked the declaration of the
Union of Utrecht later the same month.
 |
The Town Square, Arras. February, 1919 |
During the
First World War, Arras was near the front and a long series of battles fought nearby are known as the
Battle of Arras in which a series of medieval tunnels beneath the city, unknown to the Germans, became a decisive factor in the French holding the city. The city, however, was heaviliy damaged and had to be rebuilt after the war. In the
Second World War the town was occupied by the Germans and 240 suspected
French Resistance members were executed in the Arras citadel.
Bishopric of Arras (Atrebatum)
The diocese comprises the Department of
Pas-de-Calais. On the occasion of the
Napoleonic Concordat, the three Dioceses of Arras,
Saint-Omer and
Boulogne were united to make the one Diocese of Arras. It was a
suffragan of the
Archbishopric of Paris from 1802 to 1841, in which year
Cambrai again became an archdiocese and Arras returned to it as suffragan.
At the beginning of the sixth century St. Remi (Remigius), Archbishop of Reims, placed in the See of Arras
St. Vedastus (St. Vaast) (d. c. 540), who had been the teacher of the Merovingian king
Clovis after the victory of
Tolbiac. His successors, Dominicus and Vedulphus, are also both venerated as saints. After the death of the latter, the See of Arras was transferred to Cambrai, and it was not until 1093 that Arras again became a diocese.
Among the bishops of Arras are Cardinal
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Councillor of the
emperor Charles V, Bishop of Arras from 1545 to 1562, later
Archbishop of Malines and
Viceroy of Naples;
François Richardot, a celebrated preacher, Bishop of Arras from 1562 to 1575; Monseigneur Parisis (d. 1866), who figured prominently in the political assemblies of 1848.
Two famous relics were long greatly venerated at Arras: the "sacred
manna", said to have fallen from heaven in 371 during a severe famine, and the "holy candle", a wax taper said to have been given to Bishop Lambert in 1105 by the Blessed Virgin, to stop an epidemic. Not far from Arras, the city of Saint-Omer, a diocese till the Revolution, perpetuates the memory of St.
Audomare, or Omer, Bishop of
Thérouanne, the apostle of the
Morini in the sixth century. Its cathedral, a Gothic monument of the fourteenth century, was built over the saint's tomb. The ruins of St. Vaast at Arras, and of St. Bertin at Saint-Omer, keep alive the memory of two celebrated abbeys of the same name; the Abbey of St. Bertin (founded in the seventh century) gave twenty-two saints to the Church.
The Diocese of Arras at the end of 1905 contained 955,391 inhabitants, 52 parishes, 690 churches of the second class, and 53 vicariates formerly with state subventions.
Councils of Arras
In 1025 a council was held at Arras against certain
Manichaean (dualistic) heretics who rejected the sacraments of the Church. The Catholic Faith in the Blessed Eucharist was proclaimed with special insistence.
In 1097, two councils, presided over by Lambert of Arras, dealt with questions concerning monasteries and persons consecrated to God.
The centre of the town is marked by two large squares. The
Grande Place and the
Place des Heros. These are surrounded by buildings restored to the pre-war conditions. Most notable are the
gothic town hall and the
cathedral.The old cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, and dedicated to St. Vaast, was one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in northern France. It was destroyed during the
French Revolution.
Vimy Memorial is a memorial just north of the town honouring a major WW I Canadian battle.
Arras is served by the
LGV Nord high speed railway.
In literature
Arras is a setting in several famous works of French literature:
* In
Edmond Rostand's play
Cyrano de Bergerac, the fourth act takes place during the French siege of Arras in
1640 during the
Thirty Years' War* In
Victor Hugo's novel
Les Misérables, Arras is the scene of Champmathieu's trial
*
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote a story called
Pilote de Guerre (English title:
Flight to Arras)
Births
Arras was the birthplace of:
*
Audefroi le Bâtard,
trouvère who flourished at the end of the
12th century*
Adam de la Halle (
1237?-
1288)
trouvère,
poet and
musician, was probably born in Arras
*
Matthias of Arras (
1290?-
1352), architect, famed for his work on
St. Vitus Cathedral in
Prague*
Antoine de Févin (c.
1470-
1511 or
1512), composer of the
Renaissance.
*
Charles de l'Écluse (
1526-
1609), doctor and pioneering
botanist*
Maximilien Robespierre (
1758-
1794),
French revolutionary leader
*
Joseph le Bon (
1765-
1795), was a
politician*
Eugène François Vidocq (
1775-
1857), one of the first modern
private investigators
*
Gabriel Hanot (
1889-
1968),
journalist (the editor of
L'Équipe)
*
Violette Leduc (
1907â€"
1972), author
*
Jean-Christophe Novelli (born
1961), chef and restaurateur
*
Battle of Arras, for a list of battles so named.
*
St. Vaast's Abbey* [] & [ Council]
*
A lot of information and pictures about Arras*
Arras city council website*
Visiting Arras*
Demographic statistics of Arras
