Abbeville is located on the riverSomme, 20 km (12 mi) from its modern mouth in theEnglish Channel. The majority of the town is located on the east bank of the Somme, as well as on an island.[3] It is located at the head of the Abbeville Canal, and is 45 km (28 mi) northwest ofAmiens and approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) fromParis. It is also 10 kilometres (6.2 mi)as the crow flies from theBay of Somme [fr] and the English Channel. In themedieval period, it was the lowest crossing point on the Somme and it was nearby thatEdward III's army crossed shortly before theBattle of Crécy in 1346.
Émonville Park takes its name from one of its owners Arthur Foulc d'Émonville, an amateur botanist, who bought a part of thePriory of Saints Peter and Paul [fr] in order to accommodate a garden and to construct a mansion, which now houses the study and heritage section of the Robert Mallet municipal library. The remains of the priory include the entrance arch, current main entrance of the garden located onPlace Clemenceau, as well as some buildings which make up the Saint-Pierre School, including the remarkable Chapel of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul (now in a very poor state). This place is considered by some to be the origin of Abbeville, because it was the location of the first château of the Counts of Ponthieu, calledcastrum. It is assumed that this place could have been the location of the farm of Abbatisvilla, dependent upon the Abbey of Saint-Riquier.[4]
Rouvroy is to the west, and the origin of the name comes from Rouvray (fromLatinroborem,Middle Frenchrobre, meaning "oak") indicates the presence of an oak wood or a remarkable oak.
Mautort, beside Rouvroy, is a former stronghold located betweenCambron and Abbeville. It is at the origin of the noble name ofde Mautort, surviving in the name of the Tillette de Mautort family or, for example, ofGeorges-Victor Demautort [fr]. The nametort is attested inOld French with the sense ofdétour andMau (from the Latinmalus, meaning "bad"). TheChurch of Saint-Silvin de Mautort [fr], emblematic of the quarter, was initially a simple chapel of sailors founded in the 11th century and underwent many changes during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Menchecourt, in the north-west, is known for its sugar factory (closed in 2008 and demolished in 2010) and for its football club.
Abbeville has an oceanic climate due to its proximity to the ocean.[citation needed] The summers and winters are temperate and rainy, days of snow are fairly common (18 days of snow per year on average). There are 26 days of storm per year with a maximum in the months of July and August, the rains are frequent and distributed regularly in the year with precipitation totalling 781.3 millimetres (30.76 in) and 128 days with precipitation. The sunshine is average (1678 hours of sunshine) because of its position in the north and the oceanic influence also helps to prevent temperatures from being too high with only three days of intense heat (temperature > = 30 °C) and from being too cold with 6 days of heavy frost (temperature = −5 °C). The highest temperature was 37.8 °C (100.0 °F) on 1 July 1952 and the record low is −17.4 °C (0.7 °F), which occurred during a particularly cold spell on 17 January 1985.
Climate data for Abbeville (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1922–present)
Certificate of the 'Soc. Établie pour l'Exploitation de l'Ancienne Manufacture Royale de Draps Fins d'Abbeville' from January 2, 1855, a successor of the Manufacture Royal.
Abbeville manufactured textiles, and in particular, linens and tablecloths when the Van Robais family created la Manufacture Royale des Rames in 1665;[citation needed] however after the Edict of Nantes was revoked and the subsequent migration of Protestants away from the area, the cloth business succumbed.[14] Also affecting the economy of the town was the closure of the river port on theSomme River due to excessive silt.[14] It also has cordage factories, carpet factories, and spinning mills. Finally, it also fabricates locks, has breweries, and produces food and, until 2007, sugar,[3][15][better source needed][14]
Themunicipal theatre [fr], built in 1911, registered as a historic monument in 2003
The Municipal Conservatory of the Abbevillois (music and dance)
TheRobert Mallet municipal library: It preserves a Heritagefonds including being based on collections from the ancient monastic establishments in the vicinity, with 972 manuscripts. Among these, is aCarolingian Gospel book running to 790–800 at the Court ofCharlemagne.[16]
Abbeville was awarded three flowers in 2007 by theConseil des Villes et Villages Fleuris de France [Council of Floral Cities and Villages of France] in theContest of floral cities and villages [fr].[18]
Boxing Club – Bobo-Lorcy and Benjamin-Leberton rooms
Automotive Stadium of Abbeville
Fencing club, Abbevilloise Fencing Association (AAE)
Sporting club of swimming (SCA swimming)
Abbeville has featured as the departure point for Stage 4 of the2012 Tour de France and the departure point for Stage 1 of the2011 Tour de Picardie. The commune has also been on the route of theGrand Prix de la Somme one-day cycle race. Abbeville will feature as the departure point for Stage 6 of the2015 Tour de France, on 9 July.
When the Knight of La Barre, grandson of a lieutenant general of the armies, young man of great wit and great hope, but with the giddiness of unbridled youth, was convicted of having sung ungodly songs, and even to have passed before a procession of Capuchin without removing his hat, the judges of Abbeville, comparable to the Roman senators, ordered, not only that his tongue be torn out, his hand was cut off, and his body be burned slowly; but they still applied torture to find out how many songs he had sung, and how many processions he had seen pass the hat on the head. It wasn't in the 13th or 14th century that this adventure came, it was in the 18th.
Victor Hugo evoked the trips he made to Abbeville in his accounts of travel.
André Maurois, inLes Silences du Colonel Bramble (1918) amusingly described the intact commercial spirit of the inhabitants of Abbeville in the last months of the war. Maurois'Ni ange ni bete (Neither Angel, Nor Beast) is also set in Abbeville.
Christian Morel de Sarcus [fr], in his novelDéluges, Éditions Henry, November 2004 (2005 Prix Renaissance), evokes the bombing of 1940 and the floods of the Somme of 2001.
The Romans occupied it and named itAbbatis Villa.[3][19]
The name of the city is attested in various forms over the centuries:Brittania (in the 3rd century),Abacivo villa (6th century),Bacivum palatium,Cloie andCloye (in the 7th century),Abacivum villa,Basiu,Haymonis villa,Abbatis villa,Abbevilla (in the 11th century),Abbavilla,[20]Abedvilla,Abatis villa,Abbasvilla,Abbisvilla,Abbevile in 1209,Abbevilla in ponticio in 1213,Abisvil,Abeville in 1255,Abbeville in 1266,Abbisville,Abbeville en Pontiu (13th century),Albeville,Aubeville in 1358,Albeville in 1347,Aubbeville,Aubeville,Abevile (1383),Abbativilla and, finally,Abbeville, meaning the "Villa of the Abbé" because it once depended on theAbbey of Saint-Riquier.
There are alsoHableville in 1607 andAbleville in 1643, with transitional addition of an L.
Abbeville boasted of having never been taken and was calledAbbeville la pucelle ("the virgin"). It was also granted many privileges from the Capetian kings, to reward its loyalty.[22]
Arms of Abbeville
Charles V granted to Abbeville, byletters patent of 19 June 1369 dated toVincennes, to focus on its coat of arms the leader of France and the motto: "Fidelis".[23]
The Abbeville arms are blazonedAzure three bendlets or, a bordure gules, a chief azure semé of fleurs-de-lis or.[24]
Motto:Fidelis (I am faithful)
Supporters: A branch of laurel and an oak branch tied with a ribbon, inscribed with the motto:Fidelis
Decree of 2 June 1948: "Beautiful city, victim of the two World Wars, holder of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918, was the scene of violent fighting in 1940, during the Battle of the Somme. Suffered many bombardments from May 1940 toLiberation, which have caused the destruction of more than one-third of its houses and very painful human losses. Its severely affected population in its flesh and in possessions, did no less face the occupant businesses with a wonderful patriotism. Liberated on 2 September 1944, after severe fighting in streets, which was valiantly attended by its volunteer combatants inflicting severe losses on the enemy. In all circumstances proved worthy of a beautiful past of glory and loyalty to the motherland". (3 June 1948 Olympics)
Citation to the order of the army of 12 August 1920: "By its military situation has been the object of repeated attacks by enemy aviation; despite its suffering and its mourning it has kept its patriotic faith intact." (14 August 1920 Olympics)
Details: Charles V granted to Abbeville, by letters patent of 19 June 1369, Vincennes, to focus on its coat of arms the chief of France and the motto: "Fidelis".
The Mayor's office of Abbeville uses this form, which voluntarily reverse the arms of Ponthieu. The mistake is often made. Even Robert Louis erred in "The Armorial of the Somme", which earned an added erratum. Since then, the error is taken from copy to copy. Jacques Dulphy. Official
The subsoil contains many vestiges of thePleistocene. This discovery was a founding element ofprehistory as a science.
The name Abbeville has been adopted to name a category ofPaleolithic[3]stone tools. These stone tools are also known ashandaxes. Various handaxes were found near Abbeville byJacques Boucher de Perthes starting in 1838 and he was the first to describe the stones in detail, pointing out in the first publication of its kind, in 1846, that the stones were chipped deliberately byearly man, so as to form a tool.[26] These stone tools which are some of the earliest found in Europe, were chipped on both sides so as to form a sharp edge, were known asAbbevillian handaxes orbifaces,[27] but recently the term 'Abbevillian' is becoming obsolete as the earlier form of stone tool, not found in Europe, is known as theOldowan chopper. Some of these artifacts are displayed at theMusee Boucher-de-Perthes.[28]
A more refined and later version of handaxe production was found in the Abbeville/Somme River district. The more refined handaxe became known as theAcheulean industry, named afterSaint-Acheul, today a suburb of Amiens.
Although the research of Jacques Boucher de Perthes has highlighted an occupation of the site of Abbeville (Menchecourt-les-Abbeville quarter) from the Acheulean era, in Roman times it was a succession of marshes, similar to marsh ofSaint-Gilles which remains today. Further to the north, the entire plateau between theAuthie and theSomme was covered inprimary forest. The Romans had to break through this forest massif for the passage of the road from Amiens to the village ofPonches on the one hand, and on the other to the west by the road linking the Beauvaisis in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The couple Abbeville / Saint-Valery-sur-Somme is the key to the historical enigma of the landing ofMagnus Maximus and his Britto-Roman troops in the spring of 383 AD (St-Valery = Leuconos > Pors Liogan; Abbeville = Talence > Tolente). The road to Paris passes near the Vieux-Rouen-sur-Bresle, which has been identified with the character Himbaldus (Château-Hubault).[29]
The first historical mention of Abbeville, in the chronicle ofHariulf,[note 1] dates to 831 AD. It was a small island in the Somme, inhabited by fishermen who took refuge there with their boats and had fortified it againstbarbarian invasions from the north. The AbbotAngilbert built a castle to defend this island, which depended on theAbbey ofSaint-Riquier.[19][28] It was an important fort city responsible for the defense of the Somme.
In 992,Hugh Capet fortified the city and gave it to his daughter, Gisèle, on her marriage toHugh I,Count of Ponthieu who resided in Montreuil.
The Virgin and Child known asVirgin of Abbeville, from 1270, would come from the Ursuline convent of Abbeville, Paris,Louvre (1907).
From the 12th century, the Abbot opened a leprosy hospice, themaladrerie des Frères du Val, moved toGrand-Laviers in the following century, before urban sprawl. Then accessible to boats, Abbeville became a port of the English Channel[note 2] under the dependence of the Abbots of Saint-Riquier. Subsequently, the silting up of the Bay of Somme forced the sea to recede by 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), but the city continued to be a trading port. Abbeville became the capital of the Ponthieu and rapidly spread on both banks of the River Somme, right on the slope of the hillsides and left into the marshes.
In 1095,Guy I Count of Ponthieu founded the Abbey Saint-Pierre of Abbeville and on 24 May 1098, he wasdubbed as aKnight byLouis the Fat.
With the rapid development of the salt trade (fromRue),woad (waide in Picard) and industry of wool cloth, the bourgeois increased in number and political importance: They asked for acharter granted in the course of the 12th century and which was confirmed in 1184[3][28] by CountJohn I of Ponthieu who died in Palestine. To commemorate the event, they built abelfry in 1126. A century later, Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu (1220–1278), allowed the religious to convert an additional part of forests into cropland, allowing the development of the local economy. Afterwards it was governed by the Counts of Ponthieu. Together with that county, it came into the possession of theAlençon and other French families, and afterwards into that of theHouse of Castile.[30] In 1214, the Abbeville militia took part in theBattle of Bouvines.
In the middle of the 13th century, Abbeville was "one of the best cities of the Kings of France". Its port was one of the first of the Kingdom and its considerable trade.
In 1272, Ponthieu with Abbeville, passed by marriage to thekings of England, butPhilip V took over the city, claiming thatEdward II of England had not fulfilled its duty ofvassal. Edward II complied with the feudal law, and Abbeville fell under English rule. However many challenges rose between the bourgeois and their new masters.
Throughout theHundred Years' War, the town was alternately occupied by English and French forces, causing the inhabitants of the town enormous suffering. They were tested by excessive taxes and terrible epidemics. Over the decades, the region was devastated bylooting,epidemics andwolves. The city thus appealed to the King of France twice, in 1406 and in 1415.
In 1360, it was transferred, with the County of Ponthieu of which it was the capital, to the Crown of England by theTreaty of Brétigny. That same year,John II of France stayed there after returning from captivity.
In 1361, Abbeville, again English, poorly welcomed its new masters. Ringois, a bourgeois of the city, refusing to take the oath of obedience to Edward III of England, was taken to English soil and hurled from the top of the Tower ofDover Castle into the sea in 1368.[31] During this period, a revolt ofJacques was defeated by the Abbeville militia in the vicinity of Saint-Riquier. The soldiers ofCharles V captured the city by surprise, but the English recaptured it shortly after and it remained in their possession until 1385.
Louis XI bought Abbeville from Philip the Good in 1463 and visited the city on 27 September of the same year. In December, by letters patent, he confirmed the privileges of the city, attached by his predecessors,[32] but in 1465Charles the Bold revoked the grant by taking the lead of theLeague of the Public Weal.
In 1466, the municipality enacted safety regulations recommending to reduce or not use flammable materials (such as walls in timber or straw roofs) in construction, in order to reduce the risk of fire. However, it clashed with general hostility, and the regulations were finally just applied.[clarification needed][33]
Louis XI failed before Abbeville in 1471, but recovered Picardy on the death of the Duke of Burgundy in 1477.
In 1477 it was annexed by King Louis XI,[3] and was held by two illegitimate branches ofthe royal family in the 16th and 17th centuries, being in 1696 reunited to the crown.[30] In 1480, then 1483, a plague epidemic ravaged Abbeville.Charles VIII visited the town in 1493.
On 23 June 1517,Francis I came to Abbeville with theQueen and metCardinal Wolsey, representing theKing of England, toform a league againstCharles V. In 1523, the English finally fell alongside Charles V in the wars of Francis I and the city had to suffer many frequent requisitions. That same year, an outbreak ofplague ravaged Abbeville. A further epidemic of plague struck Abbeville in 1582.
In 1531, Francis I performed a new tour in the city. The most serious blows to Abbeville were the series of English raids by theDuke of Suffolk on the sides of the estuary in 1544, after thefall of Boulogne and Montreuil. KingHenry II was received in Abbeville in 1550.
During theWars of Religion, theProtestant governor was massacred with his family, by the people. In 1568, François Cocqueville, a Protestant leader of war, entered the Ponthieu with 3,000 soldiers.[34] He plundered and sacked theAbbey of Dommartin [fr], towns, churches and castles ofAuthie andSaint-Valery-sur-Somme region.[34] Chased by theMarshal de Brissac, Cocqueville was captured with several of his own and they were beheaded in the marketplace of Abbeville.[35]
TheSt. Bartholomew's Day massacre caused no casualties in Abbeville due to the moderation ofLéonor d'Orléans, theDuke of Longueville and governor of Picardy. However, Abbeville had embraced theCatholic League and suffered from the Wars of Religion0, and it was relieved when it was recognised, byHenry IV in April 1594, despite the clergy who persisted in its resistance. Following this, on 18 December 1594, the King of France Henry IV visited Abbeville.
At the beginning of the 17th century a plague epidemic wreaked havoc. More than 8,000 people perished, thus depopulating Abbeville.
On 21 December 1620, KingLouis XIII visited the town. His sisterHenrietta went there several times.
In 1635 and 1636 the town suffered from thewar against theHoly Roman Empire andSpain. They destroyed many villages located in the surrounding area. Richelieu stayed in the city in October. A plague epidemic raged again during the years 1635, 1636 and 1637.
In 1656, 6,000 soldiers, who had participated in theEnglish Civil War, landed in France and took their quarters in Abbeville from where they left to go and reinforce the army ofTurenne en route toValenciennes. Shortly after, Balthazar de Fargues[note 3] sold the place toJohn of Austria and after meeting the price, he refused to deliver it to him, raising troops for himself who were then spread throughout the Ponthieu to ransom the inhabitants. Finally stopped, he was tried and hanged atPlace Saint-Pierre on 17 March 1665.
In 1657, Louis XIV came twice to Abbeville with his mother,Anne of Austria.
By the mid-16th century, the woad trade shrank after the promotion of thepastel of the Pays du Midi, and it took to restructuring crafts.Colbert used it, and underLouis XIV, the city developed through the installation of Van Robais, manufacturers of sheets and tapestries from the Netherlands who, in 1665, created theManufacture royale des Rames [fr] (drapery workshops).
In 1685, it suffered a serious blow at theRevocation of the Edict of Nantes, the Protestant temple was destroyed and the persecuted workers who were the majority of skilled labour left the town, including those of Van Robais. The population decreased very strongly and never fully recovered from this exodus of talent.[3]
In 1693 Ponthieu became the refuge of a considerable number ofBretons andNormans who had left their country because offamine [fr], but they almost all perished of misery.
At the end of the reign of Louis XIV the country was covered with troops. The city crowded of sick and wounded. In 1708, after thecapture of Lille, the troops of theDuke of Marlborough andEugene of Savoy came forward frequently at the gates of Abbeville,ransoming [fr] the farms and villages. The winter of 1709 was terrible; people perished from cold, hunger and misery. At this time industry was quite dark and the State was required to help sheets manufacturers.
In 1717, Russian monarchPeter the Great passed through Abbeville.
In July 1766, theChevalier de La Barre, accused of having, a year earlier, failed to give a due salute to a religious procession forCorpus Christi by refusing to remove his hat and singing ungodly songs. However, the story is more complex and revolves around a mutilated cross.[citation needed] He was executed on thePlace du Grand-Marché for blasphemy. Subject to the issue, his legs were crushed. The right hand and the determined language, his decapitated corpse was finally delivered to the flames with theDictionnaire philosophique of Voltaire on the same place. Today, a paving stone, engraved with his name and the date of his execution, is visible on the place of execution (Place Max-Lejeune), near the town hall. The martyrdom of the Chevalier de La Barre served as Voltaire's banner in his fight against religious fanaticism.[36]
On 2 November 1773, the powder magazine exploded killing 150 people and damaging nearly 1,000 houses.
Administratively, the people of Abbeville formed asubdelegation [fr] whose competence has been confused with that of the delegation of the same name (located in theGeneralitat of Amiens). On the eve of theRevolution, Abbeville was the chef-lieu of a main electoralBailiwick (without secondary Bailiwick).
Abbeville was fairly important in the 18th century, when the Van Robais Royal Manufacture (one of the first major factories in France) brought great prosperity (but some class controversy) to the town. Voltaire, among others, wrote about it.
There were no significant excesses during periods ofRevolution and theTerror.
In 1793, onPlace Saint-Pierre the furniture of the churches was burned, along with images and the feudal titles. TheChurch of Saint-vulfran [fr] became theTemple of Reason.
On 8 June 1794, a festival was celebrated in honour of theSupreme Being. Abbeville suffered from famine in 1794 and 1795.
On 5 January 1795, the Hotel of Grutuze, built underCharles VII, attended by the directors of the district, was destroyed by a fire.
On 18 brumaire year X (9 November 1801), there was a terriblehurricane that caused more than 1,300,000francs worth of damage in thearrondissement.
On 29 prairial year XI (18 June 1803),Napoleon passed through the town for the first time. During the preparations of the expedition he was planning against the United Kingdom, the First Consul often spent time in Abbeville by going to thecamp of Boulogne.
In 1813, as part of the reorganisation of the cavalry which had beendecimated in Russia, the arrondissement offered the government 43 men mounted and equipped.
Early in 1814, withinvasion becoming more imminent every day, the urbanNational Guard was reorganised across the whole of theEmpire. 30 pieces of artillery were placed on the walls, and to complete the defense system, trees were felled in the vicinity to make 30,000 palisades and 14,000 shields. On 20 February, a column of cavalry forming the vanguard of the 3rd Corps of the Prussian army, commanded byBaron de Geismar, arrived inDoullens, before heading to Abbeville. Immediately, the Abbevillois ran to arms. 800 rifles were made available and a vigorous resistance began when the population learned that this supposed vanguard of the Prussian army had more than 1,500 to 2,000 men in its ranks, bothCossacks andSaxonLancers, who eventually made their way to Paris.
The railway station (on a postcard of 1905)ThePlace Saint-Pierre, before 1914
Victor Hugo came to Abbeville three times, as a tourist: In 1835, he stayed there successively from July 26 (after going down toL'Écu de Brabant), then on 4 and 5 August (staying atL'Hôtel d'Angleterre). In August and September 1837, he came to Amiens after having descended the Somme by Steamboat. Finally, in 1849, leaving the city in the rain on 11 September.
In 1847, there was the arrival of the railway in Abbeville with the opening of the Amiens-Abbeville section of the line of theLongueau–Boulogne railway. In 1856, theAbbeville railway station was inaugurated, which is still in service.
Abbeville was the birthplace ofRear AdmiralAmédée Courbet (1827–1885), whose victories on land and at sea made him anational hero during theSino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). Courbet died in June 1885, shortly after the end of the war, atMakung in thePescadores Islands, and his body was brought back to France and buried in Abbeville on 1 September 1885 after astate funeral atLes Invalides a few days earlier. Abbeville's old Haymarket Square (Place du Marché-au-Blé) was renamed Place de l'Amiral Courbet in July 1885, shortly after the news of Courbet's death reached France, and an extravagant baroque statue of Courbet was erected in the middle of the square at the end of the nineteenth century. The statue was damaged in a devastating Germanbombing raid duringWorld War II.[citation needed] It was an allied base duringWorld War I.[19]
On 13 August 1892, theOrtiz gang committed a burglary there.[38]
In 1896, the SocialistJules Guesde came to lecture in Abbeville. In the aftermath, a group of theFrench Workers' Party and a House of the people are created. 1899, the phone has already arrived in Abbeville but its operation does not any satisfaction.
In 1899, Abbeville industry had a mill, a table linen factory, a rope factory, a factory of weight scales, three smelters, a boiler works, a locksmith for buildings, a wood grinding mill, a distillery, etc.
On 7 July 1907 was the inauguration of theLa Barre Monument, gathering many Republicans, delegates from Socialist groups and free-thinkers.
During World War I, the town was never occupied by the German troops (as evidenced by the monument built on the Mont de Caubert).
In 1916, during theBattle of the Somme, it served as a military hospital (the 3rd Australian General Hospital). As with Amiens and Beauvais, the town was partially destroyed and theaftermath of war [fr] is significant nearby, particularly due tounexploded ordnance still found in the soil.
In 1918, it was the seat of two Anglo-French conferences (conferences of Abbeville): That of 25 March, between Field MarshalHaig and GeneralsWilson andFoch, who convened theDoullens conference. During the second conference on 2 May, Foch demanded authority on the Italian front but only obtained a power of coordination. It was at the Conference of Abbeville (1 and 2 May 1918) while the armies weakened that Foch oppositeClemenceau andLloyd George would have considered a fallback to the south to protect the capital. In the event that the French and British armies were separated and they could no longer defend both access to the ports of the English Channel and Paris, the British army would have then withdrawn and stood on the Somme.
On 3 May 1936, voters in the 1st District of Abbeville did not derogate from a broad popular movement. In the 2nd round, they choseMax Lejeune [fr] as the MP who, at 27 years old, was the youngest elected to the chamber.
On 12 September 1939 theAbbeville Conference took place in whichFrance and the United Kingdom decided to not continue theattack on Germany, which resulted in a tougher situation oneastern front.[40][41] On 9 May 1940, authorities inBelgium arrested a number of bothfar right andfar left activists and put them in custody of aFrench Army unit stationed near Abbeville. On 20 May, when the advancing German Army cut off the area (see following), a group of French soldiers carried out a massacre and killed a number of members of the right wingVerdinaso andRexist Party and of theBelgian Communist Party. Altogether, twenty two suspects of varying political stripe were selected and executed without trial.
In the development of the 1940Battle of France, the Germans had massed the bulk of their armoured force in Panzer Group von Kleist, which attacked through the comparatively unguarded sector of theArdennes and achieved a breakthrough at Sedan withair support. The group raced to the coast of the English Channel at Abbeville, thus isolating (20 May 1940)[3] theBritish Expeditionary Force,Belgian Army, and some divisions of the French Army in northern France.[citation needed]
Charles de Gaulle (17–18 May 1940), then a colonel, launched a counterattack in the region ofLaon (see the map) with 80 tanks to destroy the communication of the Germanarmoured troops. His newly formed4e Division cuirassée reachedMontcornet, resulting in theBattle of Montcornet. Without support, the 4th DCR was forced to retreat. TheAbbeville massacre took place on 20 May 1940.Abbeville was taken by the Germans from the2nd Panzer Division ofGeneralmajorRudolf Veiel, also on 20 May 1940. There was anothercounter-attack with theBattle of Abbeville. After Laon (24 May), de Gaulle was promoted to temporary general: "On 28 May (...) the 4th DCR attacked twice to destroy a pocket captured by the enemy south of the Somme near Abbeville. The operation was successful, with over 400 prisoners taken and the entire pocket mopped up except for Abbeville (...) but in the second attack the 4th DCR failed to gain control of the city in the face of superior enemy numbers."[42] The Germans were forced back about 50 kilometres (31 mi). The AlliedAerodrome Abbeville was used by the German Luftwaffe during most of the war.
After five years, in September 1944, Abbeville was liberated by the Polish1st Armoured Division (which was attached to the 1st Canadian Army) under GeneralStanisław Maczek, which entered Abbeville through the suburb of Rouvroy. World War II was not kind to the architecture of the town as the famous 17th-century GothicCathedral of St. Vulfran was nearly destroyed.[3] It, along with the town hall with its tower from the 13th century were saved, albeit damaged.[28]
In the spring of 2001, the city, like the Somme Valley, had to sufferfloods. These lasted several weeks, because of the saturation of thewater table, the result of a year of exceptional precipitation. The station was inaccessible, the tracks being covered by several centimetres of water.
The city was very picturesque until the early days of the Second World War when it was bombed mostly to rubble in one night by the German Army. The town overall is now mostly modern and rebuilt.
The Collegiate Church of Saint-Vulfran (Wulfram of Sens) was constructed from 1488 and into the 16th and 17th centuries, although the original design was not completed. Thenave has only two bays and thechoir is insignificant. However, the façade is a masterpiece offlamboyant Gothic architecture, which made the city famous, and is flanked by two Gothic towers.[30] Wulfram, its patron saint who is celebrated on 20 March, was bornc. 650 AD, inMilly (Gâtinais), and was Lord at the Court ofChlothar III, Abbot ofFontenelle, Archbishop ofSens in 682, and an evangeliser ofFrisia. He died at Saint-Wandrille (Fontenelle Abbey) in 720. The building was classified as ahistorical monument in 1840.[43]
Classified as aWorld Heritage Site in 2005 and registered as an historic monument in 1926, thebelfry [fr] is one of the oldest in France, built in 1209. On 20 May 1940, during a bombing, its roof was damaged and it was only in 1986 that it was rebuilt. The belfry is one of the fifty-sixbelfries of Belgium and France registered in 2005 by theWorld Heritage Committee ofUNESCO in recognition of its testimony to the rise of municipal power in the region and its architecture.[44] It has housed the museum of the city since 1954.
TheBoucher de Perthes Museum [fr] is partly situated in the now unusedbell tower of the 13th century which is inscribed on the World Heritage list.[44] It is a tribute toJacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes who also has a lycée named after him. The museum features artwork and artifacts from the 16th century onwards, along with other exhibitions that periodically change.
Southeast of the town is theChâteau de Bagatelle [fr] from the 18th century.[14] Thefolly was built in 1752 by Josse Van Robais. Inscribed as anhistorical monument in 1926, the regular garden and park were registered as historic monuments in 1946.
Classified as an historic monument in 1986,[45] the Manufacture des Rames specialised in the production of luxury linen. The building was partly constructed in 1710.
TheChurch of the Holy Sepulchre [fr], situated in the heart of the old town centre, is acollegiate Gothic church from the 11th century. The thirty-one stained glass windows were designed byAlfred Manessier (1911–1993) and were made inChartres. The church was classified as an historical monument in 1907.[46]
Church of our Lady of the Chapel [fr]: Steeple classified as anhistorical monument in 1910,[47] the 18th century pulpit classified as a historical monument in 1909.[48] Many objects inscribed as historical monuments in 1981, statues: Christ on the cross (15th century), God of mercy (16th century), Saint Nicolas (17th century), saint holding a sceptre (18th century), two bishops forming counterparts (Simon Pfaff de Pfaffenhoffen [fr], 18th century), Sainte Genevieve and Saint Louis (19th century); two stools of the church (17th century); buffet of organs (18th century); tableaus: the Holy Family (17th century), the Virgin (19th century), funerary stele (19th century).
TheChurch of Saint-Jacques, which was built in theGothic Revival style by architectVictor Delefortrie [fr]. Poorly maintained, the municipal council voted on 7 February 2013 for its demolition, despite a certain wave of protest.[49] The demolition was completed in May of the same year.
TheLa Barre Monument was erected in 1907 by public subscription, in commemoration of the martyrdom of theChevalier de La Barre. Located near the station, next to the bridge on the Somme canal, the La Barre Monument is an annual rallying point, on the first Sunday of July, for defenders of secularism and freethinkers.
War memorial of theGreat War,Les Patrouilleurs sculpture due toLouis-Henri Leclabart [fr]. Made of stone fromLavoux, the sculpture depicts a scene from the trenches. The monument was unveiled in 1923 byMarshal Foch.
TheRobert Mallet Municipal Library (former hôtel of Emonville) and gardens
Thegarden of Emonville [fr] in which is situated theRobert Mallet municipal library and the service of the municipal archives is named after one of its owners Arthur Foulques d'Emonville, an amateur botanist who had bought a part of thePriory of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul of Abbeville [fr], to accommodate a garden, and to construct a mansion. The main entrance to the garden is a remnant of the priory.
The Hotel Buigny inscribed as a historical monument in 1933.
Abbeville railway station, of "seaside regional" style, is built around a frame of wood with red brick cladding, inscribed as a historical monument in 1984.
Thebathhouse of Abbeville [fr], built in 1909–1910 byCaisse d'Épargne on the plans of the architects Greux and Marchand. The sculptures are ofLouis-Henri Leclabart [fr] (1876–1929), creator of the war memorial of Abbeville and the Delique Stadium. Registered as a historical monument in 2003.
In the town centre, a dozen old houses dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were classified as historical monuments or registered as historical monuments between 1924 and 1974.
Abbé Pierre Carpentier (1912–1943), priest and resistance figure, deported and beheaded atDortmund. He was vicar of the parish of Saint Gilles of Abbeville and had much invested in local Scouting. TheScouts et Guides de France of Abbeville Group bears his name.
Didier Drogba (born 1978), Franco-Ivorian footballer, lived in Abbeville during his childhood. He was also a player forSC Abbeville.[57]
Gaston Dufresne (1886–1963), figure of the Resistance (member ofRéseau Zéro [fr] France), President of the HLM office (1928–1963), Vice President of the Board of Directors of theNational Federation of HLM cooperative societies [fr], Councillor (1945–1953) and Deputy Mayor (1953–1963). In May 1965, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of cooperative housing society co-founded by Gaston Dufresne (he has launched the construction of housing in accession to the property and contributed to the establishment of 500 of these homes in Abbeville), Max Lejeune, Mayor of Abbeville, inaugurated the street which bears the name of this tireless activist:"we wanted his name to remain forever engraved in our city" to keep the memory of "a hard worker hard who always fulfils his task voluntarily".[58]
Hugo, Victor (1987).Œuvres Complètes –Voyages [Complete Works – Travel]. Bouquins (in French). Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont.
Lesueur, Charles.Abbeville pendant la Guerre de 1914–1918 [Abbeville during the War of 1914–1918] (in French).
Louandre, François-César.Recherches sur la topographie du Ponthieu, avant le siecle XIVe [Research on the topography of Ponthieu, before the fourteenth century] (in French).
Louandre, François-César (1837).Lettres et bulletins des armées de Louis XI, adressés aux officiers municipaux d'Abbeville [Letters and newsletters of the armies of Louis XI, addressed to municipal officers of Abbeville] (in French). with explanations and notes.
Maisse, Gérald (2005). Paillart, F. (ed.).Occupation et Résistance dans la Somme 1940–1944 [Occupation and Resistance in the Somme 1940–1944] (in French). Abbeville.ISBN978-2-85314-019-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Mallet, Robert.Les Riches heures d'Abbeville [The Rich hours of Abbeville] (in French).
Mallet, Robert.Mes souvenirs sur la vie abbevilloise [My memories of the Abbeville life] (in French).
Micberth, Michel-Georges; Louandre, François César (1998) [1883].Histoire d'Abbeville et du comté de Ponthieu jusqu'en 1789 [History Abbeville and Ponthieu County until 1789]. Monographies des villes et villages de France (in French).
Louandre, François-César (1998).Vol. I (in French). Vol. I. Le Livre d'Histoire.ISBN978-2-84435-013-8.
Louandre, François-César (1998).Vol. II (in French). Vol. II. Le Livre d'Histoire.ISBN978-2-84435-014-5.
Morel de Sarcus, Christian (2004).Déluges [Floods] (in French). Éditions Henry. (memory of the bombing of 1940 and the floods of the Somme in 2001).
Prarond, Ernest (1850).Notice sur les rues d'Abbeville [Instructions on the streets of Abbeville] (in French).
Prarond, Ernest (1886).Les Convivialités de l'échevinage, ou l'Histoire à table [The convivialities of the aldermen, or table history] (in French).
de Wailly, Henri (1980).Le Coup de faux: l'assassinat d'une ville (Abbeville 1940) [The false strike: The assassination of a city (Abbeville 1940)] (in French). Copernic.
de Wailly, Henri (1990).De Gaulle sous le casque, Abbeville 1940 [De Gaulle under the helmet, Abbeville 1940] (in French). Librairie académique Perrin.
de Wailly, Henri (1995).La Victoire évaporée: Abbeville 1940 [The Evaporated Victory: Abbeville 1940] (in French). Librairie académique Perrin.
de Wailly, Henri (2012).L'Offensive blindée d'Abbeville 27 mai – 4 juin 1940 [The Abbeville Armored Offensive 27 May 27 to 4 June 1940] (in French). Economica.
Anon (2014)."The "Phoney War" (1940)".Charles-de-gaulle.org. Foundation Charles De Gaulle. Archived fromthe original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved9 May 2015.
Asimov, Isaac (1964). "Boucher De Crèvecœur de Perthes".Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology: The Living Stpries of More than 1000 Great Scientists from the Age of Greece to the Space Age. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.LCCN64016199.
Cohen, Saul B., ed. (1998). "Abbeville".The Columbia Gazetteer of the World. Vol. 1: A to G. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.ISBN0-231-11040-5.LCCN98071262.
Darvill, Timothy, ed. (2008). "Abbeville, France".The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-953404-3.LCCN2008279152.
Van Valkenburg, Samuel (1997). "Abbeville". In Johnston, Bernard (ed.).Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. I: A to Ameland (1st ed.). New York, NY: P. F. Collier.LCCN96084127.
^In fact, sea vessels docked instead at that time inGrand-Laviers, but the goods can be brought by large boats into the heart of the city, as evidenced by the suburb "du Guindal".
^Balthazar de Méalet de Fargues, seigneur of Cincehours, Captain-major of the regiment of Bellebrune
^Hippolyte Cocheris, Conservateur de la Bibliothèque Mazarine, Conseiller général du département de Seine-et-Oise, DICTIONNAIRE DES ANCIENS NOMS DES COMMUNES DU DÉPARTEMENT DE SEINE-ET-OISE, 1874
^ab"Belfries of Belgium and France".UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved5 November 2021.
![The belfry, entrance to the Boucher-de-Perthes Museum [fr]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMus%25C3%25A9e_Boucher-de-Perthes.jpg)
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