Douai, France
Douai, France
Town, department of Nord, France , on the Scarpe River. It was strongly fortified in the Middle Ages and was the seat of Douai University. To the English college founded there by Cardinal Allen, 1568 , is largely due the religious training of the English clergy in penal times, and the preservation of the Catholic Faith in England . It was part of the Netherlands captured by Louis XIV, 1667 , and was ceded to France , 1713 , by the Treaty of Utrecht. During the French Revolution the English fled to England . The Anglo-Benedictines maintained a school until 1903 .