CATEAU CAMBRÉSIS, or LeCateau, a town of France, in the department of Nord, on the Selle, 15 miles E.S.E, of Cambray. It is well built, and was formerly fortified. Its importance has been greatly increased by the opening of coal-fields in the neighbourhood; and it manufactures shawls, merinos, calicoes, lace, leather, starch, sugar, and tobacco. Formed originally by the union of the two villages of Peronne and Vendelgies, under the protection of a castle built by the bishop of Cambray, Cateau became the seat of an abbey in the 11th century. In the 15th it was frequently taken and retaken; and in 1554 it was burned by the French, who in 1559 signed a celebrated treaty with Spain in the town. It was finally ceded to France by the peace of Nimeguen in 1678. In 1793 it was occupied for some time by the Austrians. Population in 1872. 9332.