Picardy

Picardy, historical region and former région of France. As a région, it encompassed the northern départements of Oise, Somme, and Aisne. In 2016 Picardy was joined with the région of Nord–Pas-de-Calais to form the new administrative entity of Hauts-de-France.

Geography

The region belongs to the Paris Basin and is essentially flat, with elevations below 1,000 feet (300 metres). The calcareous plateaus of Laon, Soissons, and Valois rise to the east. The Somme River flows from the east to the northwest across much of the area. The estuary of the Somme River and the bay of the Somme occupy a large part of the low-lying coast. The Aisne River flows from east to west to join the Oise River, which flows southwestward across the region. An oceanic climate prevails.

The population declined by almost one-fifth between 1861 and 1946, as did that of most of rural France during this period. It has subsequently grown at a rate above the national average. Demographic recovery has favoured the département of Oise over Aisne and Somme. Oise has benefited from its proximity to Paris, which has led to an influx of population and commerce. Much of the population lives in towns with fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, and the countryside is relatively densely populated.

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Agriculture is highly mechanized and productive. The average farm is large for France, approaching 200 acres (80 hectares). Crops include sugar beets, wheat, barley, and potatoes. Animal husbandry is of less importance. Traditional industries, such as weaving at Saint-Quentin and the production of mirrors at Saint-Gobain, which dates from the 17th century, are in decline.

Major industries, located predominately at Amiens and along the Oise valley, include metalworking and the manufacturing of automotive parts, chemicals, plastics, and rubber. Food-processing industries, which have diversified into frozen foods and ready-to-eat meals, are also widely present, reflecting the importance of the region’s agricultural activities.

The region is not a major tourist destination, but it has a number of noteworthy historical sites, including two of the finest Romanesque churches in northern France, located at Saint-Leu-d’Esserent and Morienval; the medieval churches of Laon, Braine, and Urcel; the Gothic church at Saint-Quentin; and Amiens Cathedral. The resort town of Chantilly, with its château and the annual horse races of the French Jockey Club, draws many visitors each year. The region also has a number of small resorts along the coast.

History

Because Picardy was never unified in the feudal period, its boundaries are disputable. Linguistically, Picardy extended beyond its geographic boundaries to Artois, Cambrésis, Tournésis, and parts of Flanders and Hainaut. Ecclesiastically, it embraced not only the medieval dioceses of Amiens, Noyon, and Laon but also the northern parts of those of Beauvais and of Soissons. The province of Picardy from the 16th century to the end of the ancien régime in 1789 comprised the Somme River basin from Saint-Quentin to the English Channel, the basins of the Serre and of the upper Oise, and Montreuil on the Canche beyond the Authie.

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Occupied by the Salian Franks in the 5th century, Picardy was divided in the feudal period and encompassed six countships: Boulogne, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois, and Laonnois. King Philip II Augustus gradually united Amiénois and Vermandois to his domain (from 1185), but Ponthieu was held by the English as a fief almost continuously from 1279 to 1360 and then as an outright possession until 1369. The dukes of Burgundy acquired Ponthieu, the Somme towns, and Montdidier under the Treaty of Arras in 1435. Reconquered for France by Louis XI in 1477, Picardy was thereafter a frontier area invaded frequently from the Habsburg Netherlands until the French acquisition of Artois and southern Hainaut in 1659.

Some of the bloodiest fighting in World War I occurred in Picardy, reflected in the melancholy English popular song “Roses of Picardy” (1916) and also in the large number of cemeteries that mark former battlefields in the Somme valley. Picardy was also the scene of bitter fighting in World War II—in May 1940 and August and September 1944.

In 2016 the région of Picardy was merged with the neighbouring région of Nord–Pas-de-Calais as part of a plan to increase bureaucratic efficiency.