Its site probably corresponds to that of a 4th-century Roman fortress known as Duacum. From the 10th century, the town was aromance fiefdom of thecounts ofFlanders. The town became a flourishing textile market centre during theMiddle Ages, historically known as Douay or Doway in English. In 1384, thecounty of Flanders passed into the domains of theDukes of Burgundy and thence in 1477 into Habsburg possessions.
In 1667, Douai was taken by the troops ofLouis XIV of France, and by the 1668Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the town was ceded to France. During successive sieges from 1710 to 1712, Douai was almost completely destroyed by the British Army. By 1713, the town was fully integrated into France. Douai became the seat of theParliament of Flanders (fr).
The local airfield atLa Brayelle was very significant in the history of French aviation. It operated from 1907 to the mid-1950s. In 1909 it was the site of the world's first aeronautical meeting,[6]
Douai was again caught up in hostilities inWorld War I.[7] when for much of the war it was occupied by the Germans. La Brayelle airfield was a base ofManfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.[8] Later in 1918, the town was partly burned, and was liberated by the British Army after theBattle of Courtrai.
TheDouaihy family ofLebanon claims descent from inhabitants of the city who settled in Lebanon during theCrusades.[9]
Douai has anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb). The average annual temperature in Douai is 11.0 °C (51.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 729.2 mm (28.71 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 18.6 °C (65.5 °F), and lowest in January, at around 4.0 °C (39.2 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Douai was 40.8 °C (105.4 °F) on 25 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −20.5 °C (−4.9 °F) on 8 January 1985.
Climate data for Douai (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1962−present)
Douai's ornateGothic-style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressivecarillon, consisting of 62bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391, were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying German forces, who intended to melt them down for the metal. They were reinstalled after repairs in 1924, but 47 of them were replaced in 1954 to obtain a better sound. An additional larger bell in the summit, aLa called "Joyeuse", dates from 1471 and weighs 5.5 tonnes. Thechimes are rung by a mechanism every quarter-hour, but are also played via akeyboard on Saturday mornings and at certain other times. In 2005 the belfry was inscribed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage List as a part of theBelfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of its architecture and importance in the history of municipal power in France.[11] The belfry forms part of theHôtel de Ville (City Hall) complex.[12]
The substantialPorte de Valenciennes town gate, a reminder of the town's past military importance, was built in 1453. One face is built in Gothic style, while the other is of Classical design.
It was prominent, from the 1560s until theFrench Revolution, as a centre for the education ofEnglish Catholics escaping persecution in England. Connected with the University were not only theEnglish College, Douai, founded byWilliam Allen, but also theIrish andScots Colleges and theBenedictine,Franciscan andJesuit houses. Throughout Europe, there were around 800 such seminaries. They prepared Jesuits for missionary work in England, with 60 migrating in the 1570s, and around 500 by 1603. The first Jesuits wereEdmund Campion andRobert Persons.
The Benedictinepriory ofSt Gregory the Great was founded bySaint John Roberts at Douai in 1605, with a handful of exiled English Benedictines who had entered various monasteries in Spain, as the first house after the Reformation to begin conventual life. The community was established within theEnglish Benedictine Congregation and started a college for English Catholic boys unable to find a Catholic education at home, and pursued studies at the University of Douai. The community was expelled at the time of theFrench Revolution in 1793 and, after some years of wandering, finally settled atDownside Abbey, Somerset, in 1814.
Another English Benedictine community, the Priory ofSt. Edmund, which had been formed in Paris in 1615 by Dom Gabriel Gifford, later Archbishop ofRheims and primate of France, was expelled from Paris during the Revolution, and eventually took over the vacant buildings of the community of St Gregory's in 1818. Later, followingWaldeck-Rousseau's Law of Associations (1901), this community also returned to England in 1903, where it was established atDouai Abbey, near Reading.Douai School continued as an educational establishment for boys until 1999.
In 1609 the English College published a translation of the Old Testament, which, together with the New Testament published atRheims 27 years earlier, was theDouay–Rheims Bible used by Anglophone Roman Catholics almost exclusively for more than 300 years.
^"Belfries of Belgium and France".UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved5 November 2021.
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