Saint-Souplet () is a commune in the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

department in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Saint Souplet-Escaufourt is on the (departmental) route 115. It is part of the

Canton of Le Cateau-Cambrésis The canton of Le Cateau-Cambrésis is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Le Cateau-Cambrésis. It c ...

, 6 km from Cateau, 30 km south east of

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

and 86 km from

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. Located in the south of Cateau-Cambrésis and on the doorstep of

Avesnois The arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe is an arrondissement of France in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region. It has 150 communes. Its population is 225,391 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondissement ...

, Saint-Souplet is surrounded by the nature landscapes of Hainaut : grasslands bordered by 'bocage' hedges and vast expanses of cultivated fields. It extends along the

Selle Selle may refer to: *Selle (Scheldt tributary), the name of a river in Nord, France * Selle (Somme tributary), the name of a river in Picardy, France * Pic la Selle, a mountain in Haiti * La Selle-Guerchaise, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine depar ...

, a tributary river of the

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

, which arises in

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

and winds some 50 kilomètres through

History

Saint-Souplet owes its name to its patron saint,

Sulpitius the Pious Sulpicius II. the Pious (; died 17 January 646) was a 7th-century bishop of Bourges and saint. Life According to his ''Vita'', Sulpicius was born at Vatan ( Diocese of Bourges), of noble parents, before the end of the sixth century. From h ...

archbishop of Bourges In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

in the 7th century. In 1973, it absorbed Escaufourt, located previously in

Heraldry

Demography

Escaufourt

The name Escaufourt comes from ''fours à chaux'' (chalk oven). in the 12th century, Escaufourt was in the parish of

Honnechy Honnechy () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate ...

. Before the merger with Saint-Souplet in 1973, Escaufourt was an enclave of

within Nord.

Heraldry

References

Saintsouplet {{Cambrai-geo-stub