MAUBEUGE

town, Nord dpartement, Nord-Pas-de-Calais rgion, northern France, on the Sambre River, near the Belgian frontier, south of Mons. Maubeuge (Latin: Malbodium, signifying bad place or dwelling) grew up around the monastery of Sainte-Aldegonde (7th century). Part of the medieval county of Hainaut, and later of the Spanish Netherlands, the town was ceded to France by the Peace of Nijmegen (1678). It has 17th-century fortifications and a monument commemorating the Battle of Wattignies (1793), fought nearby. Blast furnaces, breweries, and chemical and glass works support the town's economy. The Flemish painter Jan Gossaert (c. 1478c. 1532) was a native of Maubeuge, from which he derived the name by which he is best knownJan Mabuse. There is a zoological garden; and the Porte de Mons still stands, a vestige of 17th-century fortifications built by Sbastien Le Prestre de Vauban. Pop. (1990) 35,225.