BETHUNE, the chief town of an arrondissement in the French d apartment of Pas de Calais, situated on a rock above the River Brette, 16 miles N.N.W. of Arras. It is strongly fortified, and its defences are partly the work of Vauban. It has a tribunal of primary jurisdiction, a communal college, a Gothic church, two hospitals, and manufactures of linen, cloth, and beer. The trade, chiefly in grain, cheese, linen, and oil, is facilitated by the canal, which unites the Lawe with the Lys. The town, which dates from the 11th century, was taken by the allied forces in 1710, aud restored to France by the treaty of Utrecht. Population in 1872, 4594.