The city was founded by the Romans, in theAugustean period, to replace theoppidum ofVermand (11 km away) as the capital ofViromandui (Celtic Belgian people who occupied the region). It received the name "Augusta Viromanduorum",Augusta of theViromandui, in honor of the emperor Augustus. The site is that of aford across theRiver Somme. During the late Roman period, it is possible that thecivitas capital was transferred back toVermand (whose name comes fromVeromandis); almost nothing relating to the fourth century has been found in Saint-Quentin.[citation needed]
During the early Middle Ages, a major monastery, now theBasilica of Saint-Quentin, developed, based on pilgrimage to the tomb ofQuentin, a Roman Christian who came to evangelize the region and was martyred in Augusta, giving rise to a new town which was named after him.
From the 9th century, Saint-Quentin was the capital ofVermandois County. From the 10th century, the counts of Vermandois (descendants of theCarolingian, thenCapetian families) were very powerful. The city grew rapidly: the"bourgeois" organized themselves and obtained, in the second half of the 12th century (a very early date), amunicipal charter, which guaranteed theircommune a large degree of autonomy.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Saint-Quentin entered theroyal domain. At that time, it was a thriving city, based on its wool textile industry (city "drapante"). It was also a centre of commerce boosted by its position on the border of the kingdom of France, between theChampagne fairs and the cities ofFlanders (wine exportation, etc.): it had an important annual fair. It also benefited from its location in the heart of a rich agricultural region (trade of grain and "guède" (woad), a high-value blue dye).
From the 14th century, Saint-Quentin suffered from this strategic position: it endured the French-English wars (Hundred Years' War). In the 15th century, the city was disputed between the king of France and thedukes of Burgundy (it is one of the "cities of the Somme"). Ravaged by theplague on several occasions, its population decreased, while its economy was in crisis: its fair was increasingly irrelevant, and agricultural production diminished. The declining textile industry turned to the production oflinen canvas. Meanwhile, the city faced major expenses to maintain its fortifications and armed troops.
Between the end of the 15th century and the mid-17th century, this strategic position was the cause of frequent misfortune. In 1557, a siege by the Spanish army (as part of thebattle of Saint-Quentin) ended with the looting of the city and its desertion for two years. Given back to France in 1559, it underwent intense fortification work: the medieval wall, redesigned several times, was protected by many new advanced fortifications. Two districts were razed to make way for them. In the mid-17th century, the city escaped the sieges, but suffered the horrors of wars ravaging thePicardy region, accompanied by the plague (in 1636, 3,000 people died, out of perhaps 10,000 inhabitants) and famine.
In the second half of the 17th century, the conquests ofLouis XIV moved the border away from Saint-Quentin, and it lost much of its strategic role. At the end of the 16th century, its textile production specialized in fine flax canvas (batiste andlawn). This brought prosperity, particularly in the 18th century, when these textiles were exported across Europe and the Americas.
The market
During theFirst French Empire, difficulties in the export market brought economic decline. At the request of the municipality,Napoleon ordered the razing of the fortifications, to allow the city to grow beyond its old boundaries. In 1814–1815, Saint-Quentin was occupied by theRussian army, but without any damage.
In the 19th century, Saint-Quentin developed into a thriving industrial city, thanks to entrepreneurs constantly on the lookout for new technologies. Textiles and mechanical devices were foremost among a wide variety of products.
In 1870, during theFranco-Prussian War, the population repelled the Prussians on 8 October, but the city fell during the second offensive. The hopeless but heroic action had national repercussions: Saint-Quentin was decorated with theLegion of Honour. On 19 January 1871 the French army wasdefeated near the town.
TheFirst World War hit Saint-Quentin very hard. In September 1914, the city was overrun; it endured a harsh occupation. From 1916, it lay at the heart of the war zone, because the Germans had integrated it into theHindenburg Line. After the evacuation of the population in March, the town was systematically looted and industrial equipment removed or destroyed. Thefighting destroyed it: 80% of buildings (including theBasilica of Saint-Quentin) were damaged.
Despite national support, the reconstruction process was long, and the city struggled to regain its pre-1914 dynamism. The 1911 population of 55,000 was achieved again only in the mid-1950s, in the context of general economic expansion. This prosperity continued until the mid-1970s, when the French textile industry began to suffer through competition fromdeveloping countries.
Basilica of Saint-Quentin, built in the 12th–15th century. Heavily damaged in World War I, the vaults, windows and roofs have been restored.[12]
Hôtel de Ville (town hall), built between 1331 and 1509 in a gothic style. L'hôtel de ville of Saint-Quentin is famous for its peal of 37 bells. It was modified in the 19th century and heavily restored in 1926 in Art Déco style.[13]
The municipal theatre Jean-Vilar, built in 1844.[14]
The city has severalbeguinages, dating from the middle ages.
The Fervaques Palace: built between 1897 and 1911, it is the home of the High Court.
The Porte des Canonniers, a 17th-century city gate
TheGare de Saint-Quentin is the railway station, offering connections to Paris, Reims, Amiens, Lille and several regional destinations. TheA26 motorway connects Saint-Quentin with Reims and Calais, theA29 with Amiens.
Édouard Lucien Briquet (1854–1905) (engineer, left Paris under siege, going to work on the construction of the Trans-Saharan Railroad, in the 1870s. He moved to Brazil in 1883, working on several railroads in the interior of the country.
Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788), pastellist, official portrait painter toLouis XV, benefactor of the city (founder of the Maurice Quentin de La Tour School of Design)
On 30 March 2013 five children between the ages of two and ten, were killed in a house fire in the city.
Their parents had recently separated and their father was hosting the children at his new home for the first time for the weekend, as they had been spending most of their time with their mother. At 10:30pm local time on 30 March the fire started via an unknown cause. The children's father, alongside neighbours, made desperate attempts to save the children, but by the time the emergency services arrived, it was too late. The building was considered "too dangerous to enter" and the bodies of the five children were discovered once the fire was extinguished.
The children's father was seriously burned in a failed attempt to save his children's lives and jumped through a window to safety. He was hospitalised and wasn't informed until later on Sunday that his children had died.[1][2]
.JPG)
