The siege of Cambrai was undertaken by an English army led by King Edward III of England during September and October 1339 in the early stage of the Hundred Years War. At the time Cambrai, located in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in France, was not part of France but a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1339, Cambrai became the centre of a struggle between supporters of the Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and William II, Count of Hainaut, on the one hand, and those of king Philip VI of France on the other. Among Philip VI's allies were counts John I of Bohemia, Philip III of Navarre, Aymon, Count of Savoy, Humbert II of Viennois and vassals of King Alfonso XI of Castile and León. Cambrai had allowed the French to garrison the city with 300 men-at-arms.
Meanwhile, Edward III left Flanders in August 1339, where he had been on the continent since July 1338. Edward had asserted his rights to the throne of France, openly defying the authority of Philip VI. Wanting to satisfy his Bavarian allies, he decided to seize Cambrai.
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