The name Calais derives from the Gaulish ethnonym Caletoi, which literally translates to 'the hard ones' or 'the stubborn.' This linguistic root, stemming from the Proto-Celtic stem *kaletos, hints at a resilience that would define the city's history for over a millennium. The first historical mention of the settlement appears in the late twelfth century AD, recorded in a charter by Count Gerard of Guelders regarding his father, Matthew of Alsace. Before this formal documentation, the area was an island in the North Sea, a Dutch-speaking fishing village nestled on a sandy beach backed by pebbles and a creek. The natural harbor at the west edge of the early medieval estuary of the river Aa provided a strategic advantage, allowing the settlement to thrive despite the encroaching silt and peat that would eventually turn the haven into fen. As the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward, the town evolved from a simple fishing outpost into a fortified stronghold, improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224. The town charter granted by Mathieu d'Alsace in 1181 to Gerard de Guelders marked the beginning of Calais as part of the county of Boulogne, setting the stage for its future as a pivotal gateway between France and England.
The Six Burghers
In 1347, the English King Edward III laid siege to Calais, and the town's obstinate defense enraged him to the point of ordering the mass execution of its citizens. He agreed to spare the population only on the condition that six of the principal citizens would come to him, bareheaded and barefooted, with ropes around their necks, and offer themselves for death. These six men, known as the Burghers of Calais, arrived to face their fate, but their lives were spared when Queen Philippa of Hainault begged her husband to show mercy. This dramatic event, immortalized in Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture The Burghers of Calais, became a defining moment in the city's identity. Following the siege, Edward III drove out most of the French inhabitants and settled the town with English colonists. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 formally assigned Calais to English rule in perpetuity, and the town became known as the 'brightest jewel in the English crown.' It grew into a thriving center for wool production, with customs revenues amounting to a third of the English government's revenue at times. The governorship of Calais became a lucrative and highly prized public office, held by figures such as Dick Whittington, who served as both Lord Mayor of London and Mayor of the Calais Staple in 1407.
The Last Jewel
The English hold on Calais lasted for over two centuries, but it was a costly endeavor that depended on expensively maintained fortifications. The town lacked natural defenses, and maintaining it was frequently tested by the forces of France and the Duchy of Burgundy. The stalemate was broken by the victory of the French crown over Burgundy following Joan of Arc's final battle in the siege of Compiègne in 1430, and the later incorporation of the duchy into France. On the 7th of January 1558, King Henry II of France sent forces led by Francis, Duke of Guise, who laid siege to Calais. The French were able to surprise the English at the critical strongpoint of Fort Nieulay, and the sluice gates, which could have flooded the attackers, remained unopened. The loss was regarded by Queen Mary I of England as a dreadful misfortune, and she reportedly said, 'When I am dead and opened, you shall find Philip and Calais lying in my heart.' The region around Calais was renamed the Pays Reconquis, or 'Reconquered Country,' in commemoration of its recovery by the French. The town was captured by the Spanish on the 24th of April 1596, but it was returned to France under the Treaty of Vervins in May 1598, marking the end of English rule and the beginning of a new chapter in Calais's history.
During World War II, Calais was virtually razed to the ground, becoming a key objective of the invading German forces in May 1940. The siege of Calais diverted a sizable amount of German forces for several days immediately prior to the Battle of Dunkirk, helping Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces. A total of 3,000 British and 800 French troops, assisted by Royal Navy warships, held out from 22 to the 27th of May 1940 against the 10th Panzer Division. The town was flattened by artillery and precision dive bombing, and only 30 of the 3,800-strong defending force were evacuated before the town fell. During the ensuing German occupation, Calais became the command post for German forces in the Pas-de-Calais/Flanders region and was very heavily fortified. It was used as a launch site for V1 flying bombs, and the Germans built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on the southeast of England. The town was liberated by General Daniel Spry's 3rd Canadian Infantry Division between the 25th of September and the 1st of October 1944, but the historic city saw little rebuilding after the war, with most buildings being modern ones.
The Jungle and the Border
Since 1999, an increasingly large number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers began to arrive in the vicinity of Calais, living in the Calais Jungle, a nickname given to a series of makeshift camps. The people lived there while attempting to enter the United Kingdom by stowing away on lorries, ferries, cars, or trains traveling through the Port of Calais or the Eurotunnel Calais Terminal. The Calais migrant crisis led to escalating tension between the UK and France in the summer of 2015, with the British government supplying fencing to be installed around the Eurotunnel complex to discourage migrants from jumping on train shuttles. On the 26th of October 2016, French authorities announced that the camp had been cleared, but by January 2017, 500 to 1,000 migrants, mostly unaccompanied minors, had returned and were living rough in Calais. The presence of these migrants has continued to shape the city's modern identity, creating a complex intersection of humanitarian crisis, political tension, and economic reality.
The Lace and the Light
Calais is renowned not only for its strategic location but also for its rich cultural and economic heritage, particularly in the production of lace. The town exports in the early 20th century included lace, chemicals, paper, wines, especially champagne, spirits, hay, straw, wool, potatoes, woven goods, fruit, glass-ware, lace, and metal-ware. There are still two major lace factories in Calais with around 700 looms and 3,000 employees, a testament to the town's enduring connection to this craft. The Cité internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode de Calais, a lace and fashion museum located in an old Boulart factory on the canalside, contains workshops, a library, and a restaurant, regularly putting on fashion shows. The city's landscape, known as the Côte d'Opale, has inspired many artists, including the composer Henri Dutilleux, the writers Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens, and the painters J. M. W. Turner, Carolus-Duran, Maurice Boitel, and Eugène Boudin. The painter who coined the name for this area in 1911 to describe the distinctive quality of its light, the Côte d'Opale, continues to attract visitors and artists alike, making Calais a cultural hub as well as a commercial one.
The Watchtower and the Church
The heart of Calais is the Place d'Armes, one of the largest squares in the city, which during medieval times was once the heart of the city. It adjoins the watchtower, the Tour du Guet, one of the few surviving pre-war buildings, dating from 1229 when Philip I, Count of Boulogne, built the fortifications of Calais. The tower has a height of 45 meters, and an earthquake in 1580 split the tower in two, threatening to collapse completely. The tower was repaired in 1606 and served as a hall to accommodate the merchants of Calais. It was damaged in 1658 when a young stable boy set fire to it, and it was not repaired for some 30 years. In 1770, a bell identical to the original bell of 1348 was cast. The tower served as a watchout post for the city for centuries until 1905, and the last keeper of the tower was forced to leave in 1926. Abraham Chappe installed a telegraph office in the tower in 1816, which announced the death of Napoleon I to the French public in 1821. The church of Notre-Dame, built during the English occupancy of Calais, is arguably the only church built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church, former French President Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux on the 6th of April 1921. The church sustained extensive damage during World War II and was partially rebuilt, although much of the old altar and furnishings were not replaced.