It lies on the Scheldt (French: Escaut) river. Although the city and region experienced a steady population decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded.
History
Before 1500
Valenciennes is first mentioned in 693 in a legal document written by Clovis II (Valentiana).[citation needed] In the 843 Treaty of Verdun, it was made a neutral city between Neustria and the Austrasia. Later in the 9th century the region was overrun by the Normans, and in 881 the town passed to them.[citation needed] In 923, it passed to the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia dependent on the Holy Roman Empire. Once the Empire of the Franks was established, the city began to develop, though the archaeological record has still not revealed all it has to reveal about this period.[citation needed]
In 1008, a terrible famine brought the Plague. According to the local tradition, the Virgin Mary held a cordon around the city which, miraculously, has since protected its people from the disease.[citation needed] Since then, every year at that time, the Valenciennois used to walk around the 14 km (9 mi) road round the town, in what is called the tour of the Holy Cordon.[citation needed]
In 1259, Valenciennes was the site of a General Chapter of the Dominican Order at which Thomas Aquinas together with masters Bonushomo Britto,[8] Florentius,[9]Albert, and Peter took part in establishing a ratio studiorum or program of studies for the Dominican Order[10] that featured the study of philosophy as an innovation for those not sufficiently trained to study theology. This innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's studium provinciale at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, out of which would develop the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.[11]
1500–1793
Valenciennes in the 17th century.
In 1524, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, arrived at Valenciennes, and – even when Henry II of France allied with him against the Protestants in 1552 – Valenciennes became (c. 1560) an early center of Calvinism and in 1562 was location of the first act of resistance against persecution of Protestants in the Spanish Netherlands. On the "Journée des Mals Brûlés" (Bad Burnings Day) in 1562, a mob freed some Protestants condemned to die at the stake. In the wave of iconoclastic attacks called the Beeldenstorm that swept the Habsburg Netherlands in the summer of 1566, the city was the furthest south to see such an attack on August 24, 1566. It was also one of the first to feel the hand of repression after the siege and fall of the city on March 23, 1567. One of the victims of that repression was Guido de Bres, the author of the Belgic Confession. Following the "révolte des gueux's victory at Brielle, the army of Louis of Nassau, one of the major commanders of the Dutch rebel forces and supported by the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, invaded the Spanish Netherlands with an army composed of German, English, Scottish and French soldiers, and took Valenciennes on 21 May 1572.[12][13] However, Louis went on to Mons, and the
Protestant garrison left behind offered only a feeble defence to the Duke of Alba, at the head of the bulk of the Spanish army, who recaptured Valenciennes in early June 1572, depriving Louis' French allies, of one of their main bases.[14]
The French army laid siege to the city in 1656 (Vauban participated in this siege without a command[15]). Defending the city, Albert de Merode, marquis de Trélon was injured during a sortie on horseback, died as a result of his injuries and was buried in the Church of St. Paul (his tomb was found during the archaeological campaign in 1990).[citation needed]
The city was besieged by the First Coalition against Revolutionary France in 1793.[17] Following a protracted Siege of Valenciennes the city was captured and occupied in July by Anglo-Austrian forces under the Duke of York and the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, and only retaken by the French Revolutionary armies in August 1794.[citation needed] In July 1795, one year after the execution of Robespierre put an end to the Reign of Terror, the Republicans of Valenciennes tortured, and guillotined five Ursuline nuns; by some accounts, the nuns were raped before being executed.[citation needed] After the Napoleonic era, Valenciennes gave itself up to the Bourbons in 1815 for 5 years.[citation needed]
First World War
During World War I the German army occupied the town in 1914. They were finally driven out by British forces at the Battle of Valenciennes in 1918, 'in which seven British divisions attacked eleven German divisions'. One dramatic first-hand experience of this battle is provided by A. S. Bullock who fought at a section of the front near Maresches.[18]
1945 to present
The town's first antenna was set up in Lille in 1964, then the Centre universitaire was set up in 1970, becoming independent in 1979 as the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis.[citation needed]
Valenciennes has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb). The average annual temperature in Valenciennes is 11.0 °C (51.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 694.1 mm (27.33 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 18.7 °C (65.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around 3.9 °C (39.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Valenciennes was 40.9 °C (105.6 °F) on 25 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −14.9 °C (5.2 °F) on 7 January 2009.
Climate data for Valenciennes (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1987−present)
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The Hôtel de Ville (City Hall)Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes.
The Hindenburg Line ran through Valenciennes during World War I, leading to extensive destruction. Valenciennes was again almost completely destroyed during World War II, and has since been rebuilt in concrete.
A few surviving monuments are: 1) The façade of the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), which managed to survive the bombardments of the war; 2) the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Saint-Cordon, to which there is an annual pilgrimage; 3) La Maison Espagnole, the remains of the Spanish occupation, which ended in 1678. The building is now used as the town's tourist information office; 4) The Dodenne Tower, the remaining part of the medieval fortifications after Charles V ordered them reduced; 5) Théâtre le Phenix, a theatre and performing arts venue constructed in 1998; 6) The "Beffroi", a large, pin-like monument 45 m (148 ft) in height, built in 2007 on the site of the former belfry.[22]
La Maison Espagnole, now home to the tourist information officeThéâtre Le Phénix
Valenciennes is historically renowned for its lace. Until the 1970s, the main industries were steel and textiles. Since their decline, reconversion attempts focus mainly on automobile production. In 2001, Toyota built its Western European assembly line for the Toyota Yaris in Onnaing near Valenciennes. Because of this and other changes, the average unemployment in the region is now below the national average.
On 15 July 2004, the Administrative Board of the European Union's Railway Agency held its first meeting in Phénix, with representatives of the 25 Member States and François Lamoureux, those days Director General for Energy and Transportation at the European Commission. Valenciennes was picked as the European Railway Agency headquarters in December 2003. International conferences are held in Lille.
Public transport
Valenciennes tramway line No. 1 – Université StationGare de Valenciennes
Line No. 1 of the Tramway de Valenciennes was put into service on 3 July 2006. 9.5 km (5.9 mi) long, this tramway crosses the five communes in the Valenciennois Metropolitan area, at a cost of 242.75 million Euros.
^Histoire littéraire de la France: XIIIe siècle (in French). Chez Osmont, à l'Olivier, Huart l'aîné, a la Justice, Clousier, à l'Ecu de France, Hourdel, David le jeune, à l'Esperance, Chaubert, à la Renommée & Gissey. 1838.
^Martin Barros, Nicole Salat et Thierry Sarmant. Vauban – L’intelligence du territoire. Éditions Nicolas Chaudun et Service historique de l'armée, Paris, 2006. Préface de Jean Nouvel. 175 p, ISBN2-35039-028-4, p 166
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