Picardy
Encyclopedia
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy (disambiguation)
.
Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France. The historical capital and largest city is Amiens
.
The area was occupied by the Franks
in the 5th century and in the feudal period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne
, Montreuil, Ponthieu
, Amiénois
, Vermandois
, and Laonnois.
During the Middle Ages
, the name applied to a much larger area than that thought of now as Picardy. This 'Picardy' referred to France north of Paris plus Dutch
-speaking Flanders
. This area corresponds to all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands
. 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.
In a narrower sense, Picardy refers to the area covered by the gouvernement (military region) of Picardy as created in the 16th century. This area is the Somme
département, the northern half of the Aisne
département, and a small fringe in the north of the Oise
département. This is what most people think of as Picardy today. The older definition survives in the name of the Picard language
, which applies not only to the dialects of Picardy proper, but also to the Romance
dialects spoken in the Nord-Pas de Calais
région
, north of Picardy proper.
Picardy proper now lies inside the administrative region of Picardy, making up half of this region. Before the French Revolution
, the coastal areas of Boulogne-sur-Mer
and Calais
were considered part of Picardy, but are now part of the Nord-Pas de Calais région. However, anciently these areas belonged to the province of Artois
, and had been detached from Artois in the 15th century.
The region of Picardy has a strong and proud cultural identity. The Picard (the local inhabitant and traditionally Picard language
speakers) 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.
Northern Picardy is a vast plain with open fields
, famed for the gruesome Battle of the Somme. The region 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 and down to the chateaux of Chantilly or Pierrefonds near the Paris Area and vineyards of the border with Champagne (Champagne picarde) to the south.
The main crops of Picardy are wheat, sugar beet
, and fodder
. Sugar beet was introduced by Napoleon I
during the Napoleonic Wars
in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the Caribbean
. The sugar industry made the fortune of Picardy in the 19th century.
Villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with their houses made of red bricks, often graced with a "lace" of white bricks. A minority of people still speak the Picard language
, one of the languages of France, 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).
In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of French regions
and cancel out additions of new regions in the near future. Picardy impacted by the reform would have disappeared and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have been incorporated in the Île-de-France
, 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").
Picardy (disambiguation)
Picardy may refer to:* Picardy - historical province of France* Picardy - modern region of France* Picardy - hymn tune* Picardy third - music: major key ending to a minor key piece...
.
Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France. The historical capital and largest city is Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
.
The area was occupied by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
in the 5th century and in the feudal period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne
Count of Boulogne
The county of Boulogne was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of a part of the present-day French département of the Pas-de-Calais , in parts of which there is still a Dutch-speaking minority....
, Montreuil, Ponthieu
Ponthieu
Ponthieu was one of six feudal counties that eventually merged together to become part of the Province of Picardy, in northern France. Its chief town is Abbeville.- History :...
, Amiénois
Communauté de communes du Sud-Ouest Amiénois
The Communauté de communes du Sud-Ouest Amiénois is a communauté de communes in the Somme département and in the Picardie région of France.-History:...
, Vermandois
Vermandois
Vermandois was a French county, that appears in the Merovingian period. In the tenth century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin and Péronne . Pepin I of Vermandois, the earliest of its hereditary counts, was descended in direct male line from the emperor Charlemagne...
, and Laonnois.
During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the name applied to a much larger area than that thought of now as Picardy. This 'Picardy' referred to France north of Paris plus Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
-speaking Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. This area corresponds to all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In the Latin Quarter
Latin Quarter
Latin Quarter is a part of the 5th arrondissement in Paris.Latin Quarter may also refer to:* Latin Quarter , a British pop/rock band* Latin Quarter , a 1945 British film*Latin Quarter, Aarhus, part of Midtbyen, Aarhus C, Denmark...
of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students at Sorbonne University, most of whom actually came from Flanders.
In a narrower sense, Picardy refers to the area covered by the gouvernement (military region) of Picardy as created in the 16th century. This area is the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
département, the northern half of the Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
département, and a small fringe in the north of the Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département. This is what most people think of as Picardy today. The older definition survives in the name of the Picard language
Picard language
Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...
, which applies not only to the dialects of Picardy proper, but also to the Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
dialects spoken in the Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais , Nord for short, is one of the 27 regions of France. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France...
région
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
, north of Picardy proper.
Picardy proper now lies inside the administrative region of Picardy, making up half of this region. Before the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the coastal areas of Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
were considered part of Picardy, but are now part of the Nord-Pas de Calais région. However, anciently these areas belonged to the province of Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
, and had been detached from Artois in the 15th century.
The region of Picardy has a strong and proud cultural identity. The Picard (the local inhabitant and traditionally Picard language
Picard language
Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...
speakers) 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.
Northern Picardy is a vast plain with open fields
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
, famed for the gruesome Battle of the Somme. The region 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 and down to the chateaux of Chantilly or Pierrefonds near the Paris Area and vineyards of the border with Champagne (Champagne picarde) to the south.
The main crops of Picardy are wheat, sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
, and fodder
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
. Sugar beet was introduced by Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. The sugar industry made the fortune of Picardy in the 19th century.
Villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with their houses made of red bricks, often graced with a "lace" of white bricks. A minority of people still speak the Picard language
Picard language
Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...
, one of the languages of France, which is also spoken in Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
(Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais , Nord for short, is one of the 27 regions of France. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France...
région). "P'tit quinquin
P'tit quinquin
"P'tit quinquin" is a song by Alexandre Desrousseaux which was written in 1853 in Picard language. Picard language is closely related to French, and is spoken in two regions in the north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and in parts of the Belgian region Wallonia.This simple lullaby marks the...
", a Picard song, is a symbol of the local culture (and of that of Artois).
In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of French regions
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
and cancel out additions of new regions in the near future. Picardy impacted by the reform would have disappeared and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have been incorporated in the Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
, 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").
In popular culture
- The song "Roses of PicardyRoses of PicardyRoses of Picardy is a wartime ballad written by lyricist Frederick Weatherly while he was an army officer in 1916. Set to music by Haydn Wood, it was one of the most famous songs from World War I....
' is a ballad written in 1916 during World War I