Montdidier (; pcd, Montdidji or ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Somme department in the

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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 ...

(historically

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

), northern France.

Geography

Montdidier is on the D935 road, some 30 km southeast of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, in the region known as the 'Santerre'.

Montdidier station Montdidier is a railway station located in the commune of Montdidier, Somme, Montdidier in the Somme (department), Somme department, France. The station The station is located at kilometre point 100.155 on the partly abandoned single-track metre ...

has rail connections to Amiens and Compiègne.

Population

History

The commune has existed since before

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times, possibly corresponding to the site of ''Bratuspance''. Under

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

, a

donjon A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

was built in the north-west of the town, on a chalk promontory, (nowadays the site of the ''Prieuré''). It was here, in 774, that

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Des ...

, king of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

, was held prisoner by Charlemagne, giving the town its name (in French, ''Didier''). Around the year 948, the first church was built near the castle by Heldwide, the wife of Hilduin, first of the house of the Counts of Montdidier In 1184, King

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...

had the outlying buildings of the town burnt down, during the war for the possession of the

Amiénois The County of Amiens (also: ''Amiénois'') was a feudal state centred on the city of Amiens, northern France, that existed from the 9th century until 1077 when the last count became a monk and the county reverted to the French crown. In 1185 the cou ...

and the

Vermandois Vermandois was a French county that appeared in the Merovingian period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the Viromandui. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin ( Aisne) and Péronne ( Som ...

. In 1195, the town was granted its communal charter. In 1472, Montdidier was set alight by the Burgundians.

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

is reported to have said "Such are the fruits of war". Under the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

, Montdidier was in the province of the Santerre (one of eight ''provinces'' of

) and the seat of a

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

(established in 1516)
By edict of 1575,

Henry III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of ...

created the ''élection'' of Montdidier, granting tax-raising powers to elected representatives. The year 1590 saw the commune threatened and eventually invaded by the troops of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. As with many towns of the region, Montdidier bore the brunt of the fighting of World War I. Many of the town's more ancient and valuable monuments were destroyed in that occasion.

Main sights

* Church of ''Saint-Sépulcre'' in

flamboyant gothic Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...

, with six 17th century Reydams tapestries on show in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

* Church of St Peter (flamboyant gothic) * Ruins of Saint-Martin's church * Statue of

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (, , ; 12 August 1737 – 13 December 1813) was a French pharmacist and agronomist, best remembered as a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source for humans in France and throughout Europe. His many other contrib ...

on Parmentier Place * The town hall, in the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

style and decorated in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style * The priory (once known as the ''Salle du Roy''). Rebuilt in 1930, after being damaged during World War I. It has functioned as the ''Palais de Justice'' and became the ''Centre des Impôts'' in 1965.Page 9 : ''« Terres de Parmentier » - Guide d'accueil et de tourisme'', éd. "Office de Tourisme de Montdidier, ses environs" - 28 pages (diffusé gracieusement en janvier 2008) * The war memorial * Monument to the 212 French pilots who lost their lives in Picardy in May and June 1940

Personalities

Fredegund Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: ''Fredegundis''; French: ''Frédégonde''; died 8 December 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlo ...

(c.545–597), Queen of

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It later ...

Felicia of Roucy Felicia of Roucy ( – 3 May 1123) was a queen consort of Aragon and Navarre. She was a daughter of Hilduin IV of Montdidier, and his wife Alice of Roucy. They were Picards. Felicia was married in 1076 to Sancho Ramírez, then king of Aragon aft ...

(c.1060–1123), Queen of Aragon * Gilles de Roye (died 1478),

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk *

Jean Fernel Jean François Fernel ( Latinized as Ioannes Fernelius; 1497 – 26 April 1558) was a French physician who introduced the term "physiology" to describe the study of the body's function. He was the first person to describe the spinal canal. The l ...

(1497–1558), physician * Claude Capperonnier (1671–1744), philosopher * Jean Capperonnier (1716–1775), philosopher and librarian *

(1737–1813), agriculturist *

Jean-Jacques-Antoine Caussin de Perceval Jean-Jacques-Antoine Caussin de Perceval (24 June 1759 – 29 July 1835) was an 18th–19th-century French orientalist. Biography The son of a cloth merchant of Montdidier, Somme, Montdidier, he moved to Paris to reunite with his uncle Franço ...

(1759–1835), linguist * Cléon Galoppe d'Onquaire (1805–1867), writer and playwright *

Louis-Lucien Klotz Louis-Lucien Klotz (11 January 1868 – 15 June 1930) was a French journalist and politician. He was the French Minister of Finance during World War I. Early life Klotz was born in Paris to Alsatian Jewish parents. He was the nephew of Vic ...

(1868–1930), journalist and politician * Maurice Blanchard (1890–1960), aeronautic engineer and poet * Jimmy Casper (born 1978), cyclist

References

Bibliography

* Paul Roger, pages 259 à 266 in Tome II de « ''Histoire des Cathédrales, Abbayes, Châteaux-forts et Villes de la Picardie et de l'Artois'' », éd. Duval et Herment, Amiens, 1842 (Réimpression Editions La Découvrance, 2003), 352 p. -

External links

Municipal website

A history of Montdidier

Website of Hervé Grosjean

Old postcards of Montdidier

Tourist Office website
{{authority control Communes of Somme (department) Subprefectures in France