rnā`), Du. Doornik, commune (1991 pop. 67,732), Hainaut prov., SW Belgium, on the Scheldt River. Tournay and Doornijk are alternate spellings for the commune's French and Dutch names. It is a commercial and industrial center. Manufactures include steel, hose, and leather goods.
One of Belgium's oldest cities, Tournai was the fortified capital of a Roman province and in the 5th cent. became a seat of the Merovingian kings of Austrasia. The city was destroyed by the Normans in 881. It belonged to France from 1187 to 1521, when Emperor Charles V captured it and attached it to the Spanish (from 1714, Austrian) Netherlands. Tournai joined in the rebellion of the Spanish Netherlands and was a Calvinist stronghold until its capture (1581) by Alessandro Farnese Farnese, Alessandro (älĕs-sän`drō färnā`zā)
..... Click the link for more information. . It was taken several times by the French in the wars of the 17th–18th cent.
Tournai has been a cultural center since the 12th cent. Of note are the Cathedral of Notre Dame (11th–12th cent.), with many art treasures; a 15th-century tower named for Henry VIII of England (who took the city in 1513 and made Cardinal Wolsey bishop of Tournai); the clothworkers hall (17th cent.); and a well-known art museum.
Tournai
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