Cambrai

Cambrai lies on the Scheldt, called the Escaut locally, in the flat country of northern France. Toward the end of the Roman Empire it replaced Bavay as the principal town of the Nervian district. Roads connecting Cologne, inland settlements and Boulogne increased its strategic value as Frankish pressure changed the frontier. Its position on a river crossing made the growing town a focus for movement across the surrounding plains. At the beginning of the Merovingian era, Cambrai became the seat of an immense archdiocese covering the right bank of the Scheldt. The bishopric also governed a small ecclesiastical principality and retained secular power. It depended on the Holy Roman Empire until France annexed the town in 1678. Fertile farmland and the textile industry contributed to the town's prosperity. Cambrai was the Duke of Wellington's headquarters for the British Army of Occupation from 1815 to 1818.