Editing Cambrai (section)

===Economic history===
[[File:Sucrerie escaudoeuvres.jpg|thumb|right|An example of the development of the food industry in the nineteenth century, the [[Escaudœuvres]] sugar factory, deemed the largest in Europe]]

As early as the [[Middle Ages]], Cambrai was both an agricultural market for its region, which produces mainly cereals and wool, and a centre of weaving (sheets, [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]], cloth, linen, chiffon). This dual role would persist for a long time. The drapery declined at the end of the 13th century but it was replaced by [[batiste]], a speciality of the city, which experienced its greatest trend in the 17th century.<ref group=b>p.137</ref> Production declined, in turn, in the following century, but in 1775 there were still 58,000 pieces of batiste marked to Cambrai.<ref group=b>p.161</ref>

Economic activity declined under the [[First French Empire|First Empire]] due to the wars and the British [[blockade]]. In the 19th century, the textile industry remained as the dominant activity of the city, with 2,546 workers, men, women and children, in 1848.<ref group=b name="HC222">p.222</ref> Batiste made the bulk of Cambrai's trade with other productions such as soap and refined sea salt. The [[food industry]] grew: Brasserie, chicory; the [[Bêtise de Cambrai]] was invented in 1850.<ref group=b name="HC222"/>

In the 19th century, the city was industrialised, especially when compared to its neighbours. Municipal officials often refused the installation of new factories, on behalf of sanitation or lack of space. The [[Sucrerie centrale de Cambrai]] was created in 1872, by Jules Linard<ref>William Marlière, ''Croissance et mutations d'une entreprise agro-alimentaire : La Sucrerie Centrale de Cambrai'', mémoire de maîtrise.</ref> on the territory of the town of [[Escaudœuvres]]. However, according to the census of 1886, industry was supporting more than 9,000 people, while agriculture used only 2,000 at most. The city mainly developed its commercial function: At the beginning of the 20th century the branch of the [[Banque de France|Bank of France]] from Cambrai ranked 12th in France, before Nice and Toulouse.<ref group=b>p.244</ref>