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{{Short description|Region of northern France}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| native_name            = Gouvernment d'Artois
| common_name            = Artois
| capital                = [[Arras]]
| today                  = [[France]]
| government_type        = [[Historical Provinces of France|Province]]
| era                    = [[Early Modern France|Early Modern]]
| year_start             = 1764
| year_end               = 1790
| event_start            = County created
| p1                     = French Flanders
| flag_p1                = Arms of Flanders.svg
| s1                     = Pas-de-Calais
| flag_s1                = Blason département fr Pas-de-Calais.svg
| leader1                = [[Louis XV]]
| year_leader1           = 1764–1774
| title_leader           = [[King of France]]
| leader2                = [[Louis XVI]]
| year_leader2           = 1774–1790
| deputy1                = [[François Gaston de Lévis]]
| year_deputy1           = 1764–1787
| title_deputy           = Governor of Artois
| deputy2                = [[Adrien-Louis de Bonnières, duc de Guînes|Adrien-Louis de Bonnières]]
| year_deputy2           = 1788–1789
| conventional_long_name = Government of Artois
| image_flag             = Flag of Artois.svg
| image_map              = Artois in France (1789).svg
| image_map_caption      = Location of Artois in France (1789 borders)
| demonym                = [[Artesian (disambiguation)|Artesian]]s ({{langx |fr| Artésiens}})
}}

'''Artois''' ({{IPAc-en|ɑːr|ˈ|t|w|ɑː}} {{respell|ar|TWAH}}, {{IPA|fr|aʁtwɑ|lang}}; {{langx|nl|Artesië}}; [[Picard language|Picard]]: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of [[Hauts-de-France|northern France]]. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include [[Arras]] (Dutch: ''Atrecht''), [[Saint-Omer]], [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]], and [[Béthune]]. It is the [[eponym]] for the term [[Artesian (disambiguation)|''Artesian'']].

==Location==
Artois occupies the interior of the [[Pas-de-Calais]] ''département'',<ref name=Brit>"Artois" in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica|The New Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Chicago: [[Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.]], 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 607.</ref> the western part of which constitutes the former [[Boulonnais (land area)|Boulonnais]]. Artois roughly corresponds to the [[arrondissements of France|arrondissement]]s of [[Arrondissement of Arras|Arras]], [[Arrondissement of Béthune|Béthune]], [[Arrondissement of Saint-Omer|Saint Omer]], and [[Arrondissement of Lens|Lens]], and the eastern part of the [[arrondissement of Montreuil]]. It occupies the western end of the [[coalfield]] which stretches eastward through the neighbouring [[Nord (département)|Nord]] ''département'' and across central [[Belgium]].

==History==
{{main|History of Artois}}
[[File:VlaanderenArtesie1477.png|200px|thumb|Location of the County of Artois in the 15th century]]

Originally a feudal county itself, Artois was annexed by the [[county of Flanders]]. It came to France in 1180 as a dowry of a Flemish princess, [[Isabelle of Hainaut]], and was again made a [[county of Artois|separate county]] in 1237 for [[Robert I, Count of Artois|Robert]], a grandson of Isabelle. Through inheritance, Artois came under the rule of the dukes of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]] in 1384. At the death of the fourth duke, [[Charles the Bold]], Artois was inherited by the [[Habsburg]]s and passed to the dynasty's Spanish line. After the religious revolts of 1566 in the Netherlands, Artois briefly entered the [[Dutch Revolt]] in 1576, participating in the [[Pacification of Ghent]] until it formed the [[Union of Atrecht]] in 1579.

After the Union of Atrecht, Artois and [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]] (Dutch: ''Henegouwen'') reached a separate agreement with [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]]. Artois remained with the Spanish Netherlands until it was conquered by France during the [[Franco-Spanish War (1635-59)|Franco-Spanish War]]. The annexation was acknowledged during the [[Treaty of the Pyrenees]] in 1659, and it became a French province. Artois had already been largely French-speaking, but it was part of the [[Southern Netherlands]] until the French annexation.

Artois experienced rapid industrial development during the second half of the 19th century, fueled by its rich coal resources. During [[World War I]], the front line between the opposing [[Central Powers]] and [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] armies in France ran through the province, resulting in enormous physical damage. Since the second half of the 20th century, Artois has suffered along with nearby areas because of the decline of the coal industry.

==Notable residents==
* [[Pierre-Charles Le Sueur]] (c. 1657 – c. 1705), born in Artois, noted explorer and trader.<ref name="Marquis 1607-1896">{{cite book | title = Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896 | publisher=Marquis Who's Who | location=Chicago |  year = 1963}}</ref>
* [[Maximilien Robespierre]] (1758–1794), [[French Revolution|French revolutionary]] leader, born in Arras
* [[Carolus Clusius]] (1526–1609), early [[botanist]]
*[[Robert-François Damiens]] (1715–1757), failed regicide, born in La Thieuloye

==See also==
* [[Artesian well]]
* [[Battle of Artois (disambiguation)]]
* [[Communauté d'agglomération de l'Artois]]
* [[Countess of Artois]]
* [[Counts of Artois]]
* [[History of Artois|County of Artois]]
* [[List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Artois]]
* [[Weald-Artois Anticline]], a ridge that connected continental Europe and Britain until 225,000 years ago

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Artois}}

{{Historic Provinces of France}}
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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Former provinces of France]]
[[Category:History of the Pas-de-Calais]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of the Pas-de-Calais]]
[[Category:History of Nord (French department)]]
[[Category:Counts of Artois]]
[[Category:Artois| ]]