1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/St Amand-les-Eaux

ST AMAND-LES-EAUX, a town of northern France, in the department of Nord, at the junction of the Elnon with the Scarpe, 22 m. S.E. of Lille by rail. Pop. (1906), town, 10,195; commune, 14,454. The town has a communal college and a school of drawing, and carries on iron-founding and the manufacture of porcelain, hosiery, chains and nails, but is better known for its mineral waters and mud baths. There are five springs; the water (67° to 77° F.) contains sulphate of lime and sulphur, and deposits white gelatinous threads without smell or taste. The mud baths are of benefit to patients suffering from rheumatism, gout and certain affections of liver and skin. Though from the discovery of statues and coins in the mud it is evident that these must have been frequented during the Roman period, it was only at the close of the 17th century that they again became of more than local celebrity. Of the abbey there remain an entrance pavilion serving as town hall and the richly decorated facade of the church, both dating from the 17th century.

St Amand owes its name to St Amand, bishop of Tongres, who founded a monastery here in the 7th century. The abbey was laid waste by the Normans in 882 and by the count of Hainaut in 1340. The town was captured by Mary of Burgundy in 1477, by the count of Ligne, Charles V.’s lieutenant, in 1521, and finally in 1667 by the French. In 1793 St Amand was the headquarters of General Dumouriez in revolt against the Republican government.