Arras is known today for its network of connecting Late Gothic city squares and the
medieval and Renaissance houses that line them. The main squares were commercial
centers lined by shops. Their recessed lower story permitted the arcaded gallery that
protected shoppers and goods from the rain.
Prior to the French Revolution, Arras possessed one of the largest and most famous
Gothic cathedrals in northern France. This extraordinary structure was begun ca. 1160 at
the east end. Shortly after the construction of the crypt, which had an ambulatory with a
single polygonal chapel, the plan was enlarged and expanded. The original scheme called
for broad bays of four stories (vaulted aisles and galleries topped by a continuous wall
passage and clerestory windows). The change in the design is clearly visible in the
contrast between the single, large, round-headed windows of the ambulatory and the
elaborate triplet pattern of the gallery and clerestory. The result was an elegant and
elaborate design matched in height by the broadly projecting transept arms, which, like
those at Laon, had terminal towers. Some of the capitals from this lavishly appointed
building are preserved in the municipal museum.
John Bell Henneman, Jr./William W.Clark
[See also: ARTOIS; TAPESTRY; WOOL TRADE]
Berger, Roger. Littérature et société arrageoises au XIIIe siècle. Arras: Commission
Départementale des Monuments Historiques du Pas-de-Calais, 1981.
Bigwood, Georges. “Les financiers d’Arras.” Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 3(1924):465–
519, 769–814; 4 (1925):109–19, 379–421.
Dickinson, Jocelyne G. The Congress of Arras: A Study in Medieval Diplomacy. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1955.
Héliot, Pierre. “La cathédrale d’Arras.” Archéologie 39(1971): 56–59.
——“Les anciennes cathédrales d’Arras.” Bulletin de la Commission Royale des Monuments et des
Sites 4(1953): 9–109.
Huignard. “Arras: les places; l’ancienne abbaye de St-Waast; cathédrale.” Congrès archéologique
(Amiens) 99(1936): 173–86.
Lestocquoy, Jean. “Étapes du développement urbain d’Arras.” Revue belge de philologie et
d’histoire 23(1944):163–86.
——. Patriciens du moyen âge: les dynasties bourgeoises d’Arras du XIe au XVe siècle. Arras:
Commission Départe-mentale des Monuments Historiques du Pas-de-Calais, 1945.
Reynolds, Robert L. “Merchants of Arras and the Overland Trade with Genoa, XIIth Century.”
Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 9(1930):495–533.
Serbat, Louis. “Quelques églises anciennement détruites du nord de la France.” Bulletin
monumental 88(1929):365–435.
ARRAS, JEAN D’
(fl. late 14th c.). Author of the prose romance Mélusine (1393). Written at the behest of
Marie, duchesse of Bar, for her brother, Jean, duke of Berry, Mélusine recounts the
marvelous origins of the powerful noble family of Lusignan. There are ten 15th-century
manuscripts, a 1478 Geneva printed edition, and numerous reprints, as well as an English
translation from 1500. Coudrette’s verse romance Mélusine was possibly inspired by Jean
d’Arras.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 132