Picardy (/ˈpɪkərdi/;Picard and French:Picardie,French:[pikaʁdi]ⓘ,Picard:[piˈkaʀdi]) is a historical and cultural territory and a formeradministrative region located in northernFrance. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained its first official recognition in the 13th century through the nation of Picardy at the University of Paris and entered French administration in the 14th century.[2] Unlike regions such asNormandy,Brittany, orChampagne, Picardy was never established as a duchy, county, or principality, and its boundaries fluctuated over the centuries due to the political instability in the area it covered. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region ofHauts-de-France.[3]
The first geographic description of Picardy appeared in the late central Middle Ages, including the bishoprics of Amiens, Beauvais, Arras, Tournai, and Thérouanne. In the late Middle Ages, it also encompassed Saint-Quentin, Douai, Abbeville, Béthune, Clermont, and other towns like Noyon, Valenciennes, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Hesdin, and Laon. At that time, Picardy was divided into Upper and Lower Picardy: Upper Picardy was closer to Île-de-France, while Lower Picardy, which Barthélemy the Englishman referred to as Hainaut, was closer to Flanders and Brabant.
During theancien régime, Picardy was generally defined by thirteen traditional regions, still divided into Upper and Lower Picardy: the former grouping inland areas and the latter, coastal areas. It was divided between the governments of Picardy and Île-de-France. The government of Picardy covered the northern half of Upper Picardy, while the government of Île-de-France held the southern half, including towns such as Beauvais, Noyon, and Laon. This description of Picardy, seen in 19th and 20th-century records from the Society of Antiquaries of Picardy and the Historical Society of Upper Picardy, extended from Senlis to Calais, from Soissons and Laon to Abbeville and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Historians and geographers likeRobert Fossier,Albert Demangeon, andPhilippe Pinchemel replaced the idea of theancien régime Picardy with the notion of an ethnic Picardy, identified particularly by thePicard language. This ethnic Picardy would include places like Senlis and Soissons, which popular tradition historically associated with Picardy due to their dialect, with the northern boundary marked by the linguistic border withFlemish, thus extending to Calais and Tournai. In the 20th century, geographer Albert Demangeon demonstrated the existence of a geographic Picardy through what he called the "Picard plain," a vast chalk plain stretching from Beauvais to Arras, from Cambrai and Laon to Abbeville and the Boulogne region.
From 1972 to 2015, a region of the same name was created, bringing together the three departments ofSomme,Oise, andAisne, thus encompassing most of Picardy as defined in the Ancien Régime.
Today, Picardy, in its various definitions, is largely contained within the Hauts-de-France region and spread across its five departments. Part of the linguistic Picardy is in theWallonia region ofBelgium, in theHainaut Province, and a small portion of the historic Beauvaisis is in the northern part of the Val-d'Oise department, around Beaumont-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam.
The name "Picardy" derives from the Old Frenchpic, meaning "pike", the characteristic weapon used by people from this region in ancient times.[5] The term "Picardy" was first used in the early 13th century,[6] during which time the name applied to all lands where thePicard language was spoken including territories from Paris to theNetherlands.[7] In theLatin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picard Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students atSorbonne University, most of whom actually came fromFlanders.[8]During theHundred Years' War, Picardy was the centre of theJacquerie peasant revolt in 1358.
In the 15th century, thegovernment (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 theSommedépartement, the northern half of theAisnedépartement and a small fringe in the north of theOisedépartement.
In the early 18th century, an infectious disease similar toEnglish sweat originated from the region and spread across France. It was calledSuette des picards orPicardy sweat.[13]
Sugar beet was introduced byNapoleon I during theNapoleonic Wars in the 19th century in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in theCaribbean. Thesugar industry has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region.[14]
One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along theSomme duringWorld War I. From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including theBattle of the Somme, were fought by British, Commonwealth, French and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy.[15]
This painting byPierre Puvis de Chavannes recalls the "Golden Age" in the history of the province of Picardy.[16] The Walters Art Museum.
In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number ofFrench regions 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 theÎle-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").
Today, the modern region of Picardy no longer includes the coastline from Berck to Calais, via Boulogne (Boulonais), that is now in theNord-Pas-de-Calais region but does incorporate thepays ofBeauvaisis, Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois among otherdepartments of France. The older definition of Picardy survives in the name of thePicard language which applies not only to the dialects of Picardy proper but also to theRomance dialects spoken in theNord-Pas de Calaisregion, north of Picardy proper, and parts of theBelgianprovince of Hainaut.
Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the population ofOise increased 0.61% per year, almost twice as fast as France as a whole. Meanwhile theAisne department lost inhabitants, and theSomme barely grew with a 0.16% growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the population of Picardy live inside theOise department.
Picardy stretches from the long sand beaches of the Somme estuary in the west to the vast forests and pastures of theThiérache in the east toChantilly andPierrefonds near the Paris Area and vineyards of the border withChampagne to the south.
The president of the regional council prior to its abolition in 2015 wasClaude Gewerc, aSocialist who had been in office since 2004. That year he defeated longtimeUDF incumbentGilles de Robien.
Distinctive brick building style demonstrated on a monument in theSomme, Picardy
Historically, the region of Picardy has a strong and proud cultural identity. The Picard (local inhabitants and traditionally speakers of thePicard language) cultural heritage includes some of the most extraordinary Gothic churches (Amiens and Beauvais cathedrals orSaint-Quentin basilica), distinctivelocal cuisine (includingficelle picarde,flamiche aux poireaux,tarte au maroilles), beer (including from Péronne's de Clercq brewery) and traditional games and sports, such as thelongue paume (ancestor of tennis), as well asdanses picardes and its own bagpipes, called thepipasso.
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 thePicard language, one of thelanguages of France, which is also spoken inArtois (Nord-Pas de Calaisrégion). "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, standing as the largest cathedral in Europe, which according toJohn Ruskin is the "Pantheon of Gothic architecture", could houseNotre-Dame de Paris twice over. It was built in as little as 50 years. Picardy also holds the tallesttransept in the history of the Gothic period; this transept is located inSaint-Pierre cathedral in Beauvais, Oise.
TheMuseum 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 ofPablo Picasso. 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.[17]
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 thesilent British film of the same name.
Picardy is one of the minor characters in the Japanese manga seriesHetalia: Axis Powers.
The French army song "Reveillez-vous picards" ( "picards awaken") was originally a rally song used byCharles the Bold's picard mercenaries.
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