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PICARDY (La Picardie)

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 576 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PICARDY (La Picardie) , one of the old provinces of See also:France, bounded on the N. by See also:Hainaut and See also:Artois, on the E. by See also:Champagne, on the S. by the Ile de France, and on the W. by See also:Normandy and the See also:English Channel. Its maritime frontier ran from the mouth of the Aa to the cliffs of Caux, and it included the whole of the See also:basin of the See also:Somme and See also:part of that of the See also:Oise. The See also:chief towns of Picardy were See also:Amiens, See also:Boulogne, See also:Abbeville, See also:Laon, See also:Soissons, See also:Montreuil, Peronne, See also:Beauvais, See also:Montdidier, St Quentin and See also:Noyon. Its See also:principal See also:rivers were the Somme and the Oise. Picardy formed part of the See also:arch-See also:diocese of See also:Reims, and its bishoprics were Amiens, Beauvais, Senlis, Soissons, Noyon and Laon. In 1789 the See also:province of Picardy was covered by the three bishoprics of Amiens, Noyon and Boulogne. It was one of the provinces of the five See also:great fermes, districts subject to the See also:tariff of 1664, and in judicial matters was under the authority of the See also:parlement of See also:Paris. Its See also:area now forms the See also:department of the Somme and parts of the departments of Pas de See also:Calais, See also:Aisne and Oise. The name of Picardy does not appear until the 13th See also:century, but was employed by See also:Matthew Paris and was in See also:general use in the 14th century. In the 13th century the province was divided into the two bailliages of Amiens and See also:Vermandois, but its See also:regular organization as part of the See also:kingdom of France only See also:dates from the beginning of the 16th century. At this See also:time it was divided into See also:north and See also:south Picardy. North Picardy, or Picardy proper, formed one of the great military governorships of the kingdom, while south Picardy was included in the Ile de France.

North Picardy was divided into upper and See also:

lower Picardy, the former being the interior part of the province and the latter the See also:district along the See also:coast. Upper Picardy comprised the districts of Amienois, See also:Santerre, Vermandois and Thierache, and lower Picardy those of Ponthieu, Vimeu, Boulonnais and Calaisis, or the Pays reconquis; south Picardy included the districts of Beauvaisis, Laonnais and Soissonais. Under the See also:Romans Picardy was part of Belgica secunda; it was inhabited by the Morini, the Ambiani, the Veromandui, the Bellovaci and the Suessiones, whose names still appear in Amiens, Vermandois, Beauvais and Soissons. The Romans intersected the district with roads and built several castra to defend the valley of the Somme. In the 3rd century See also:Christianity was preached here, and St Quentin and others were martyred. A little later abbeys were founded, among them See also:Corbie, St Valery and St Riquier. See also:Early in the 5th century Picardy became the centre of Merovingian France, for, as the historian See also:Michelet says, " 1'histoire de l'See also:antique France semble entassee magne had his at Noyon, and Laon was the See also:capital and the See also:refuge of the later and feebler Carolingian sovereigns. During the later feudal See also:period Picardy was the See also:home of the See also:counts of Vermandois, of Clermont and of Ponthieu, the sire of See also:Coucy and others. The neighbouring See also:dukes of See also:Burgundy See also:cast covetous eyes upon the province; in 1435, by the famous treaty of See also:Arras, the royal towns and lands in the valley of the Somme were ceded by See also:King See also:Charles VII. to Burgundy. However, after the See also:death of Charles the Bold in 1477 Picardy was finally'See also:united with the See also:crown of France. The province was early an See also:industrial district. Flemish immigrants brought with them the lucrative See also:trade of See also:weaving See also:cloth, and the Somme towns were soon competing with those of See also:Flanders.

The See also:

Picard towns were noted for their love of See also:independence, which often brought them into collision with the See also:kings of France during the 13th century. At a later time the province received a number of See also:Spanish immigrants. In the See also:middle ages the Picards formed one of the four " nations " at the university of Paris. Picardy has a high See also:place as a home of See also:Gothic See also:art, this being testified to by the superb cathedrals at Amiens and Noyon, while within its See also:borders is the famous See also:chateau of Coucy. Picardy has a literature of its own, which was See also:rich and popular in the 12th century. It suffered greatly from the ravages of the See also:Normans, and later during the See also:Hundred Years' See also:War and the See also:wars between France and See also:Spain. Within it are the famous See also:fields of See also:Crecy, See also:Agincourt and St Quentin, while it also includes places of See also:conference like Gullies, Amiens and Picquigny. The Picard had a high reputation as a soldier, being sometimes called the " Gascon of the North," and in 1558 See also:Henry II. created the See also:regiment de Picardie. Many anthropological remains have been found in the Somme valley. See Labourt, Essai sur l'origine See also:des villes de Picardie (Amiens, 1840) ; Grenier, Introduction a l'histoire generale de la province de Picardie (Amiens, 1856) ; and H. Carnoy, Litterature orale de la Picardie (1883).

End of Article: PICARDY (La Picardie)

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