Siege of Valenciennes (1793)

The Battle of Valenciennes was fought on 16 July 1656 between the Spanish troops commanded by John Joseph of Austria and the French troops under Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, in the outskirts of the city of Valenciennes in the Spanish Netherlands during the Franco-Spanish War. After a period of Spanish recovery following the Peace of Münster in 1648, France went again on the offensive in 1654, having succeeded in suppressing internal rebellions, and took several towns in the province of Hainaut over the course of two years. On early 1656, Turenne was instructed by the French court to continue the offensive. He intended at first to besiege Tournai, but realising that it had been strongly reinforced by the Army of Flanders under the newly appointed John Joseph of Austria, illegitimate son of Philip IV of Spain, he went instead to besiege Valenciennes, in the course of the Scheldt River. The defenders of the city opened locks and breached dikes to flood the surroundings and hamper the siege. Their strong resistance gave time the Spanish army to prepare a relief which took place one month after the beginning of the siege. The early hours of 16 July, the forces led by John Joseph of Austria and the Prince of Condé, the victor of the Battle of Rocroi, now in Spanish service, stormed the French circumvallation lines west of Valenciennes, defended by the forces of Field Marshal Henri de La Ferté-Senneterre. The Spanish were victorious and destroyed Le Ferté's army, whom Turenne was unable to help because of the floods that separated their respective armies. The Battle of Valenciennes was the worst of only a few defeats that Turenne suffered in his long career campaigning, and is regarded as Spain's last great victory of the 17th century, as well as one of France's worst defeats of the century. Coupled with another Spanish victory over the French at Pavia in 1655, that of Valenciennes seriously damaged France's military capabilities and fueled the hopes in the Spanish court for a favourable peace with France after more than twenty years of conflict. Peace talks took place at Madrid during the summer of that year, but ultimately failed to produce any result, and the war continued for three more years, until the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659.

The siege of Valenciennes took place from 28 February to 17 March 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War, when Valenciennes, then in the English Netherlands, was attacked by a French army under the duc de Luxembourg. Over the winter of 1676 to 1677, Valenciennes and Cambrai were subjected to a tight blockade, which prevented reinforcements or supplies reaching them from the outside. French armies also benefitted from superior logistics, which allowed them to begin campaigns far earlier than their opponents. Siege operations began on 28 February, supervised by French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, and the town surrendered on 17 March; Spain formally ceded it to France under the August 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen.

The Battle of Valenciennes was part of the Hundred Days Offensive at the end of World War I. The battle took place during the final phase of the Great War, from 28 October to 2 November 1918 and saw the Canadian Corps re-capture the northern French city of Valenciennes and surrounding areas from the German Army.

Valenciennes (, also UK: , US: , French: [valɑ̃sjɛn] ; also Dutch: Valencijn; Picard: Valincyinnes or Valinciennes; Latin: Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.It lies on the Scheldt (French: Escaut) river. Although the city and region experienced a steady population decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. The 1999 census recorded that the population of the commune of Valenciennes was 41,278, and that of the metropolitan area was 399,677.

The canton of Valenciennes is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Valenciennes.It consists of the following communes: Saint-Saulve Valenciennes

The musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes is a municipal museum in the French town of Valenciennes. Its collections originated as the collection of the Académie valenciennoise de peinture et de sculpture. It opened to the public for the first time in 1801 and was moved into the town hall in 1834. A competition to design a new building was held at the end of the 19th century, won by Paul Dusart. The new building was opened on 27 June 1909 and in 1995 was totally renovated and the display space expanded, with the addition of a basement displaying archaeological remains and artefacts. As well as paintings, it includes several sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875), born in the town, as well as a prints and drawings department and

Valenciennes station (French: Gare de Valenciennes) is a French railway station serving the town of Valenciennes, Nord, France.

The Rhonelle is a river of northern France. It is 32 km (20 mi) long. It is a right tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is near Locquignol. It flows generally northwest along Le Quesnoy, Villers-Pol and Famars. It flows into the Scheldt in Valenciennes.

Stade Nungesser was a multi-use stadium in Valenciennes, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of Valenciennes FC through the 2010–11 season. The stadium is able to hold 16,457 people and was built in 1930. It was replaced as VAFC's main ground by the Stade du Hainaut in July 2011. The stadium is named after the ace pilot Charles Nungesser, who was born in Valenciennes.

The arrondissement of Valenciennes is an arrondissement of France in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region. It has 82 communes. Its population is 351,260 (2016), and its area is 634.8 km2 (245.1 sq mi).

Communauté d'agglomération Valenciennes Métropole is the communauté d'agglomération, an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Valenciennes. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. It was created in December 2000. Its area is 263.5 km2. Its population was 192,787 in 2018, of which 43,405 in Valenciennes proper.

Stade du Hainaut is a multi-use stadium in Valenciennes, France. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of Valenciennes FC. It has replaced the Stade Nungesser as VAFC's home stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 25,172 spectators for football matches, but its capacity can be extended to 35,000 for concerts. The stadium is one of the venues for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. It hosted 4 group games, a Round of 16 match, and a quarter-final match. The stadium was constructed at a total cost of 75 million euros. It contains 2,600 club seats and 16 luxury boxes. It has two giant video screens, each 48 square meters in size. Its roof contains 1,800 tons of steel.