Corbie (; nl, Korbei) is a commune of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...

in northern France.

Geography

The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of

and is the main town of the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Corbie. It lies in the valley of the river

, at the confluence with the Ancre. The town is bisected by the

Canal de la Somme The Canal de la Somme is a canal in northern France. Its total length is 156.4 km with 25 locks, from the English Channel at Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme to the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Saint-Simon. History The Somme River was canalized begi ...

.
This satellite photograph
shows it in its context. The town is to the left and the fenny Somme valley winds down to it from the right. The chalk of the Upper Cretaceous plateau shows pale in the fields. The river Ancre flows down from the north-east. The

A29 road A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

is shown under construction snaking across the chalk in the southern part of the picture. The fainter, straight line just to its north is the road N29. It passes through Villers-Bretonneux, the village just south of Corbie.

History

Corbie Abbey

The town of Corbie grew up round Corbie Abbey, founded in 657 or 660 by the queen regent

Bathilde Bathilde is a Germanic given name, with variants as Bathilda, Balthild, Bathildis' or Böðvildr. It may refer to: Persons *Böðvildr, Germanic legendary character *Balthild of Chelles (626–680), Merovingian queen *Bathilde d'Orléans (1750– ...

, with a founding community of monks from Luxeuil Abbey in the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

. Its scriptorium came to be one of the centers of work of manuscript illumination when the art was still fairly new in western Europe. In this early Merovingian period the work of Corbie was innovative in that it portrayed images of people, such as Saint Jerome. It was also the place of creation, in about 780, of the influential Caroline minuscule script.see

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and Merovingian script The contents of its library are known from catalogues of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1638,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

ordered the transfer of the library's books to the library at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which was dispersed at the end of the eighteenth century.

Town

In 1234,

Floris IV, Count of Holland Floris IV (24 June 1210 – 19 July 1234) was the count of Holland from 1222 to 1234. He was born in The Hague, a son of William I of Holland and his first wife, Adelaide of Guelders. Floris succeeded his father in 1222. His regent was Baldwin o ...

died at a tournament held here. In 1475, the town was taken by Louis XI. The Spanish took it after a short siege on 15 August 1636 but were ousted in November by Richelieu and Louis XIII of France after a siege of three months. In 1918, Corbie was on the margin of the battlefield of Villers-Bretonneux at which the First Battle of the Somme (1918) of the German spring offensive came to a climax.

Population

Pictures

File:Bathilde Reine FRANCE.JPG, Queen Bathilde, Jardin du LUXEMBOURG, PARIS File:Blason corbie.svg, Coat of arms of the Royal Abbey of CORBIE File:Corbie-Carte de Cassini1.jpg, Map by CASSINI, circa 1780 File:Corbie mairie (façade ouest).jpg, Town hall File:Corbie monument aux morts (détail) 1.jpg, Monument by

Albert Roze Albert Auguste Roze (1861-1952) was a 19th century sculptor from Amiens, France. He was a prolific sculptor creating many notable works displayed in public spaces in France. Career One of his more important sculptures was entitled The Golden V ...

File:Corbie ancienne église Saint-Etienne et abbatiale.jpg, The Abbey church, 18th century File:Corbie 28-09-2008 12-20-19.JPG, The Abbey church, 18th century File:Corbie toegangspoort klooster 28-09-2008 11-34-59.JPG, Gate of Honor of the Abbey, 1750 File:La Neuville-sous-Corbie église 1.jpg, Notre-Dame de la Neuville church, 15th century File:La Neuville-lès-Corbie église (détail du tympan) 1.jpg, La Neuville church, 15th century, detail File:La Neuville-lès-Corbie église (détail du tympan) 2.jpg, La Neuville church, 15th century, detail

Sights

* Abbey of St. Peter (Saint Pierre) *

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

* Church of la Neuville; at the north-west end of the town

Personalities

* Adalard of Corbie, a German cousin of Charlemagne, was abbot of Corbie. In 822, he founded Corvey Abbey (''Corbeia nova'' or "new Corbie") on the territory of Höxter in Westphalia. *

Adela of France, Countess of Flanders Adela of France,Other forms of her name are Adèle, Adélaïde, Adelheid, Aelis and Alix. known also as Adela the Holy or Adela of Messines; (1009 – 8 January 1079, Messines), was, by marriage, Duchess of Normandy (January – August 1027), a ...

(1009–1079), countess of Corbie, married

Baldwin V, Count of Flanders Baldwin V ( 1012 – 1 September 1067) was Count of Flanders from 1035 until his death. He secured the personal union between the counties of Flanders and Hainaut and maintained close links to the Anglo-Saxon monarchy, which was overthrown by hi ...

(c. 1030-1070); their son, Baldwin of Mons became Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders. * Saint Gérard (born at Corbie in 1025): abbot and confessor. *

Saint Colette Colette of Corbie, PCC (13 January 1381 – 6 March 1447) was a French abbess and the foundress of the Colettine Poor Clares, a reform branch of the Order of Saint Clare, better known as the Poor Clares. She is honored as a saint in the Catholic ...

(born at Corbie in 1381): reformer of the

Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

* Eugène Lefebvre, aviation pioneer, born at Corbie 4 October 1878. He was the first pilot to be killed at the controls of his

aeroplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectr ...

, 7 September 1909

Twin towns

* Höxter, Germany *

Pickering Pickering may refer to: Places Antarctica * Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island Australia * Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay * Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia Canada * Pic ...

, Great Britain