Coat of arms of Picardy

Picardy (French: Picardie) is an historical province of France, in the north of France. The historical capital and largest city is Amiens. Image File history File links Blason_région_fr_Picardie. ... Image File history File links Blason_région_fr_Picardie. ... The kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. ... Amiens is a city and commune in the north of France, 120 km north of Paris. ...

According to Edward Gibbon, Edward Gibbon (1737–1794). ...

Whimsical enough is the origin of the name of Picards, and from thence of Picardie, which does not date earlier than AD 1200. It was an academical joke, an epithet first applied to the quarrelsome humour of those students, in the University of Paris, who came from the frontier of France and Flanders. (Chapter LVIII - Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Amiens Regional President Claude Gewerc (PS) (since 2004) Departments Aisne Oise Somme Arrondissements 13 Cantons 129 Communes 2,292 Statistics Land area1 19,399 km² Population (Ranked 12th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The historic University of Paris (French: ) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ... The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a major literary achievement of Eighteenth Century, was written by the British historian, Edward Gibbon. ...

During the Middle Ages, Picardy referred to that part of France north of Paris, and it even included the Dutch speaking Flanders. Thus, the name applied to an area much larger than what we now think of as Picardy. This area corresponds to all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a "Picardy Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students, most of whom actually came from Flanders, who studied in the prestigious Sorbonne University. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... For other uses, see Flanders (disambiguation). ... The Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) is an area in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France, around the Sorbonne University. ... ...

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. Somme is a French département, named after the Somme River, located in the north of France. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties. ... Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River. ... Oise is a département in the north of France named after the Oise River. ... Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. ... The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Nord Pas-de-Calais Arrondissements 13 Cantons 156 Communes 1,546 Statistics Land area1 12,414 km² Population (Ranked 4th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... France is divided into 26 régions: 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a région, but is referred to as a région in common...

Picardy proper now lies inside the Picardie région, making up half of this région. 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. (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Amiens Regional President Claude Gewerc (PS) (since 2004) Departments Aisne Oise Somme Arrondissements 13 Cantons 129 Communes 2,292 Statistics Land area1 19,399 km² Population (Ranked 12th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Boulogne-sur-Mer is a city and commune in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Calais (Kales in Dutch) is a town in northern France, located at 50°57N 1°52E. It is in the département of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Artois is a former province of northern France. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

Most of Picardy is a vast plain with open fields, famed for the gruesome Battle of the Somme. The main crops of Picardy are wheat, sugar beets, 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 and contributed to the ruin of the sugar economy in the Caribbean. For other uses, see Open-field (disambiguation) The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in places. ... For other battles known as Battle of the Somme, see Battle of the Somme (disambiguation). ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat Wheat For the indie rock group, see Wheat (band). ... Two sugar beets - the one on the left has been cultivated to be smoother than the traditional beet, so that it traps less soil. ... Fodder growing from barley In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, including cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... West Indies redirects here. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with their houses made of dark red bricks, in contrast with the neighboring provinces.

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 song in the Picard dialect, is a symbol of the local culture (and of that of Artois). It is also home to a bunch of eggs. Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. ... There are a number of languages of France. ... Artois is a former province of northern France. ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Nord Pas-de-Calais Arrondissements 13 Cantons 156 Communes 1,546 Statistics Land area1 12,414 km² Population (Ranked 4th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... Ptit quinquin is a song by Alexandre Desrousseaux which was written in 1853 in Picard. ...