County of Artois

Common card · No. 436550

The County of Artois (French: comté d'Artois, Dutch: graafschap Artesië, Picard: Comté d'Artoé) was a historic province of the Kingdom of France, held by the Dukes of Burgundy from 1384 until 1477/82, and a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1493 until 1659. Present-day Artois lies in northern France, near the border with Belgium. Its territory has an area of around 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) and a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: Atrecht), Calais (Dutch: Kales), Boulogne-sur-Mer (Dutch: Bonen), Saint-Omer (West Flemish: Sint-Omaars, Lens and Béthune. It forms the interior of the French département of Pas-de-Calais. In northern Gaul the Belgic tribe of the Atrebates lived in the future area of Artois, the name of which (Latin: Atrebatia) reflects theirs. A Carolingian feudal county in its own right from the late 8th century, Artois was annexed by the County of Flanders (898 onwards). It came to France in 1180 as the dowry of a 10...

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