French Hainaut
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Carte_du_comt%C3%A9_de_Hainaut.jpg/300px-Carte_du_comt%C3%A9_de_Hainaut.jpg)
French Hainaut (French: Hainaut français [ɛno fʁɑ̃sɛ]) is one of two areas in France that form the département du Nord, its eastern part. It corresponds roughly with the Arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe (east), Arrondissement of Cambrai (south-west) and Arrondissement of Valenciennes (north-west).[1]
Until the 17th century it was an integral part of the County of Hainaut, ruled by the Burgundians and later the Habsburgs. In a series of wars between France and Spain, this southern part of Hainaut was conquered by France, together with the adjacent smaller Cambrésis or the Bishopric of Cambrai to the south-west, loosely associated with it, and the similar area to these two combined in the west, southern Flanders, which borders on the English Channel (French: la Manche). Together these formed the French province of Flandre immediately before the French Revolution, which became the current Nord département[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Hauts-de-France.svg/330px-Hauts-de-France.svg.png)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Gilbert, of Mons (2005). Chronicle of Hainaut. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84615-381-5.
- Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut, Boydell Press, 2005.
- County of Hainaut
- Former provinces of France