ARRAS (the Nemetacum of the Romans), a fortified city of France, chief town of the department of Pas de Calais, and formerly capital of the province of Artois. Its name, otherwise Atrecht, is like Artois, a corruption of the name of the Atrebates. It is situated on both sides of the Scarpc, where that river receives the Crinchon, 32 miles N.E. of Amiens, and 100 miles N.N.E. of Paris. The town is well built and adorned with many handsome edifices, such as the town-house, a beautiful building, dating from 1510; the cathedral (1833), on the site of the older Gothic, which was destroyed in the Revolution; the citadel, erected by Vauban, who first employed his lunettes in the defences of the town; an arsenal, barracks, a theatre, &c. It is the seat of a bishop, and of a court of assize; and has a royal society, a college, a diocesan seminary, an institution for the deaf and dumb, and schools of design and belles lettres, as well as a public library of upwards of 40,000 volumes, a picture gallery, museum, and botanical garden. Its chief manufacturers are lace, woollens, hosiery, beet-root sugar, salt, soap, and earthenware; and there is a large general trade in wine, oil, grain, &c. It was at one time so celebrated for its tapestry that in English its name became identified with the manufacture. The River Scarpe is navigable up to the town. Population in 1872, 27,329. Lat. 50° 17' 31" N., long. 2° 46' 49" E....
Arras was the chief town of the Atrebates as early as the time of Caesar, and some remains of the Roman town, such as a temple of Jupiter, have been found. In 407 it was destroyed by the Vandals, and by the Normans in 880. It gives name to a treaty concluded in 1414 between the Armagnacs and Burgundians, to another between Philip the Good of Burgundy and Charles VII. of France in 1435, and to a third, in 1482, between Maximilian of Austria and Louis XI. of France, by which Burgundy and Artois were given to the Dauphin as a marriage portion. In 1493 it came again into the possession of Maximilian; and in 1578 it was held by the prince of Orange. In 1640 troops of Louis XIII. took Arras; and by the peace of the Pyrenees, in 1659, France was confirmed in the possession of the town. It suffered severely during the Revolution, especially at the hands of the infamous Lebon, who, as well as the brothers Robespierre, was born in the town.
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