Péronne () 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), ...

department in

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as 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. ...

in northern France. It is the former site of the Péronne monastery, founded by the Anglo-Saxon Eorcenwald. Its site became the resting place for St. Fursa, celebrated by the famous English historian

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

. The monastery was popular with Irish monks, among them Cellanus, whose letters to

Aldhelm Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex ...

the Bishop of Sherborne survive. So renowned was Péronne for Irish monks that the monastery became known as ''Perrona Scottorum'' . The monastery was destroyed in a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raid in 880. It is close to where the

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

, first 1918 and second 1918 Battles of the Somme took place during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Museum of the Great War (known in French as the ''Historial de la Grande Guerre'') is located in the château.

Geography

Péronne is situated in the old region of Santerre, home of the early French kings. It is located in the Somme valley. The autoroutes A1 and A16 pass close by. The national road, the N17, traverses the town.

Demography

History

On a hill, dominating the

Somme river The Somme ( , ; ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geologica ...

and its lakes, Péronne was a well-fortified place during the early Middle Ages. The ramparts were built in the 9th century. All that remains today of the ancient fortress is the ''Porte de Bretagne''. Few towns have been as involved in the history of France, few towns so often devastated, as Péronne. Burned and pillaged in the time of the Normans; gravely damaged during the time of the Spanish occupation; devastated by the Germans in

1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...

; totally destroyed in 1917; bombarded and burned in May 1940 by the German airforce. Péronne was awarded two

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

and the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

: * King

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...

, prisoner of Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy died here, a captive in the dungeons, in 929. He was buried in the abbey. * In the 12th century, Philippe II built the towers of the château, surrounded by ditches, with a portcullis to defend the main gate. * In 1468,

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

, Duke of Burgundy forced a treaty from

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

, who was held prisoner in the castle. Much land was ceded, but eventually won back by Louis. * In 1536, Charles Quint unsuccessfully besieged the town. Catherine of Poix, also known as “Marie Fouré" led the defence of the town, throwing a Spaniard off the top of the wall. * On 14 September 1641,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

and

Honoré II, Prince of Monaco Honoré II (24 December 1597 – 10 January 1662) was Prince of Monaco from 1604 to 1662. He was the first to be called Prince (in 1612), but started his reign as Lord of Monaco. Early life Honoré II was born on 24 December 1597. He was the so ...

signed a treaty at Péronne, placing the principality of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

under the protection of France. * On 26June 1815 following the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, a garrison of 1,500

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

in the town surrendered to the advancing Allied Army. * There was a motor-racing circuit southeast of the town in the 1920s and 1930s which held the Grand Prix de Picardie organised by the Automobile Club de Picardie et de l'Aisne.

Places and monuments

* Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Péronne: Destroyed between 1914 and 1918, then slightly damaged in 1944, the west front, is built in "gothique flamboyant" style. * In front of the church stands the statue of Marie Fouré, a local heroine. * Danicourt Museum (named for former mayor Charles Alfred Danicourt), founded in the Hôtel-de-ville in 1877, is the only museum of the Somme to have been pillaged and destroyed by the Germans between 1916 and 1918. It lost 98% of its collection. A few archeological treasures were saved by the museum curator, who hid them from the Germans when they took the town in 1914. These treasures were again subject to German interest in 1941. Overlooked by the first reconstruction in 1955, it was not until the second reconstruction of the building that the museum was back in use. Its founder, the former mayor Charles Alfred Danicourt, created the museum as a cultural beacon of the Somme ca. 1900. Nowadays, one can find one of the finest collections of early Gallic coins, antique gold jewelry,

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

funeral artefacts, a panorama of sand production during prehistoric times and some local examples of 19th- and 20th-century paintings. * The city of Péronne is equally known for its "Monument to the Dead", the work of the architect Louis Faille, representing a Picardy woman with clenched fist raised above the body of her son or husband killed by the war. * Monument of the Sailor Delpas, recalling the defence of the city and its fall at the time of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in the winter 1870–1871. * The Australian Monument recalls the heroic actions in a neighbourhood of the town by Australian soldiers in 1918. * The Brittany Gate, with its strengthened stonework, is reminiscent of the defensive aspect of Péronne * The Château de Péronne is a largely ruined castle, classified as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

. * Within the walls of the ancient château, nowadays run by the Somme département, the "Historial de la Grande Guerre" museum is a ‘must visit’ for those interested in the Great War. Created in 1992, by architect Henri Ciriani, it illustrates the development of the conflict. The building is characterised by the stark whiteness of the cement, inset with small cylinders, symbolic of military graves. * Mont Saint-Quentin

Notable people

Pierre-Jean de Béranger Pierre-Jean de Béranger (; 19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific France, French poet and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity ...

* Jean-Pierre Demailly *

Saint Fursey Saint Fursey (also known as Fursa, Fursy, Forseus, and Furseus: died 650) was an Irish monk who did much to establish Christianity throughout the British Isles and particularly in East Anglia. He reportedly experienced angelic visions of the a ...

, patron saint of the town *

Louis-Mathieu Langlès Louis-Mathieu Langlès (23 August 1763 – 28 January 1824) was a French academic, philologist, linguist, translator, author, librarian and oriental studies, orientalist. He was the conservator of the oriental manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nat ...

* Pierre Mac Orlan * Francis Tattegrain

Twin towns — sister cities

Péronne is twinned with: *

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...