HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former
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 ...
of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of
Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...
. It is located in the northern part of France.


History

The historical
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
via the whole 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 and the north of the
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Artois (
Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
area) separated Picardy from
French Flanders French Flanders (french: La Flandre française) is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France where a dialect of Dutch was or still is traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day region of Hauts-de-France an ...
.


Middle Ages

From the 5th century, the area formed part of the
Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
and, in the feudal period, it encompassed the six countships of
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois and
Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
nois.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888–987 In accordance with the provisions of the 843
Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...
, the region became part of
West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from ab ...
, the later
Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...
. The name "Picardy" derives from the Old French ''pic,'' meaning " pike", the characteristic weapon used by people from this region in ancient times. The term "Picardy" was first used in the early 13th century, during which time the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken including territories from Paris to the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" (''Nation Picarde'') of students at Sorbonne University, most of whom actually came from
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. History of Picardy. During the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...
, Picardy was the centre of the Jacquerie peasant revolt in 1358. Beginning in 1419, the Picardy counties (
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
, Ponthieu,
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 ...
, Vermandois) were gradually acquired by the Burgundian duke
Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...
, acquisitions confirmed by King
Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...
at the 1435
Congress of Arras The Congress of Arras was a diplomatic congregation established at Arras in the summer of 1435 during the Hundred Years' War, between representatives of England, France, and Burgundy. It was the first negotiation since the Treaty of Troyes and r ...
. In 1477, King Louis XI of France led an army and occupied key towns in Picardy. By the end of 1477, Louis would control all of Picardy and most of Artois.


Modern era

In the 16th century, the ''government'' (military region) of Picardy was created. This became a new administrative region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included 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 ...
''
département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
'', the northern half of the
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Oise ''département''. In 1557, Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy.''A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East'', Vol. II, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 518 After a seventeen-day siege,
St. Quentin Saint Quentin ( la, Quintinus; died 287 AD) also known as Quentin of Amiens, was an early Christian saint. Hagiography Martyrdom The legend of his life has him as a Roman citizen who was martyred in Gaul. He is said to have been the son of ...
would be ransacked, while Noyon would be burned by the Habsburg army. In the early 18th century, an infectious disease similar to English sweat originated from the region and spread across France. It was called ''Suette des picards'' or Picardy sweat.
Sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...
was introduced by
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
in the 19th century in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
. The
sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cl ...
has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region. One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along 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 ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...
, were fought by British, Commonwealth, French and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy.


Picardy today

In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of
French regions France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...
and cancel additions of new regions in the near future. Picardy would have disappeared and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have been incorporated in the
Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
, the Somme would have been incorporated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Aisne would have been incorporated in the Champagne-Ardenne. The vast majority of Picards were opposed to this proposal and it was scrapped in 2010 (see newspaper: "Courrier Picard"). Today, the modern region of Picardy no longer includes the coastline from Berck to Calais, via Boulogne (Boulonais), that is now in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region but does incorporate the ''pays'' of Beauvaisis, Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois among other
departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
. The older definition of Picardy survives in the name of the
Picard language Picard (, also , ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' of the Romance language family spoken in the northernmost part of France and Hainaut province in Belgium. Administratively, this area is divided between the French Hauts-de-France region and the Belgi ...
which applies not only to the dialects of Picardy proper but also to the Romance dialects spoken in the Nord-Pas de Calais ''
région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collec ...
'', north of Picardy proper, and parts of the Belgian
province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (cloc ...
.


Geography

Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the population of Oise increased 0.61% per year, almost twice as fast as France as a whole. Meanwhile the
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.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 ...
barely grew with a 0.16% growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the population of Picardy live inside the Oise department. Picardy stretches from the long sand beaches of the Somme estuary in the west to the vast forests and pastures of the Thiérache in the east to Chantilly and Pierrefonds near the Paris Area and vineyards of the border with Champagne to the south.


Administration

The president of the regional council prior to its abolition in 2015 was Claude Gewerc, a
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
who had been in office since 2004. That year he defeated longtime UDF incumbent Gilles de Robien. Since 2008, the mayor of the city 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 ...
, the regional capital, has been
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
Gilles Demailly The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They go out on Shrove Tuesday from 4 am until late hours and dance to traditional songs. Other cities, such as La Louvière and Nivelles, have a traditi ...
. He defeated longtime mayor Gilles de Robien of the New Centre party.


Language and culture

Historically, the region of Picardy has a strong and proud cultural identity. The Picard (local inhabitants and traditionally speakers of the
Picard language Picard (, also , ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' of the Romance language family spoken in the northernmost part of France and Hainaut province in Belgium. Administratively, this area is divided between the French Hauts-de-France region and the Belgi ...
) cultural heritage includes some of the most extraordinary Gothic churches (Amiens and Beauvais cathedrals or Saint-Quentin basilica), distinctive local cuisine (including ''ficelle picarde'', ''flamiche aux poireaux'', ''tarte au maroilles''), beer (including from Péronne's de Clercq brewery) and traditional games and sports, such as the ''longue paume'' (ancestor of tennis), as well as ''danses picardes'' and its own bagpipes, called the ''pipasso''. The villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with their houses made of red bricks, often accented with a "lace" of white bricks. A minority of people still speak the
Picard language Picard (, also , ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' of the Romance language family spoken in the northernmost part of France and Hainaut province in Belgium. Administratively, this area is divided between the French Hauts-de-France region and the Belgi ...
, one of the
languages of France Of the languages of France, French is the sole official language according to the second article of the French Constitution. French, a Gallo-Romance language, is spoken by nearly the entire population of France. In addition to French, several ...
, which is also spoken in Artois ( Nord-Pas de Calais ''région''). " P'tit quinquin", a Picard song, is a symbol of the local culture (and of that of Artois). Picardy is arguably the birthplace of Gothic architecture, housing six of the world's greatest examples of Gothic cathedrals, which span the history of Gothic architecture in its entirety.
Amiens Cathedral , image = 0 Amiens - Cathédrale Notre-Dame (1).JPG , imagesize = 200px , img capt = Amiens Cathedral , pushpin map = France , pushpin label position = below , coordinates = , country ...
, standing as the largest cathedral in Europe, which according to
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...
is the "Pantheon of Gothic architecture", could house
Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Middle Ages#Art and architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris ...
twice over. It was built in as little as 50 years. Picardy also holds the tallest
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...
in the history of the Gothic period; this transept is located in Saint-Pierre cathedral in Beauvais, Oise. The Museum of Picardy in Amiens, built between 1855 and 1867, houses a vast array of great works, spanning the centuries and ranging from archaeology from ancient Greece and Egypt to modern works of
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
. The museum was closed until the end of 2019 for building work. Although Picardy is one of the least-known regions in France, its influence from art and most certainly architecture is vivid throughout the world.


Major cities

* Abbeville *
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 ...
*
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...
*
Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with ...
* Péronne * Creil *
Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
* Saint-Quentin * Soissons * Senlis


In popular culture

* The song " Roses of Picardy" is a ballad written in 1916 during World War I. In 1927, the song title was used as the title of the silent British film of the same name. * Picardy is one of the minor characters in the Japanese manga series '' Hetalia: Axis Powers''.


See also

* War memorials in the Aisne region of Picardy * War memorials in the Oise region of Picardy * War memorials in the Eastern Somme * War memorials in the Western Somme


Notes


References

*


External links


Picardy: the other north of France
- Official French website *
Official regional council website



photos from Southern Picardy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picardy (Region) Former regions of France Hauts-de-France NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Former provinces of France