History of 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 Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie. The city had a population of 136,105 according to the 2006 census.
The first known settlement was Samarobriva, the central settlement of the Ambiani, one of the principal tribes of Gaul. The town was given the name Ambianum by the Romans, meaning settlement of the Ambiani people. The town has been much fought over, being attacked by barbarian tribes, and later by the Normans. In 1113 the city was recognized by King Louis VI of France, and joined to the Crown of France in 1185. In 1597, Spanish soldiers held the city during the six-month Siege of Amiens, before Henry IV regained control. During the 18th and 19th century, the textile tradition of Amiens became famous for its velours. In 1789 the provinces of France were dismantled and the territory was organised into departments. Much of Picardy became the newly created department of Somme, with Amiens as the departmental capital. During the Industrial Revolution the city walls were demolished, opening up space for large boulevards around the town centre. The Henriville neighbourhood in the south of the city was developed around this time. In 1848, the first railway arrived in Amiens, linking the city to Boulogne-sur-Mer. During the 1870 Battle of Amiens, when the Somme was invaded by Prussian forces, Amiens was occupied.
The town was fought over during both the First and Second World Wars, suffering much damage, and being occupied several times by both sides. The 1918 Battle of Amiens, was the opening phase of the Hundred Days Offensive, which led directly to the Armistice with Germany that ended the war. It was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The city was rebuilt according to Pierre Dufau's plans, with a focus on widening the streets to ease traffic congestion. These newer structures were primarily built of brick, concrete and white stone with slate roofs. The architect Auguste Perret designed the Gare d'Amiens train station and nearby Tour Perret.
Prehistory
Paleolithic
The discovery of important prehistoric sites in Amiens contributed to the birth and growth of prehistory, a young science which established itself in the second half of the 19th century. The region of Amiens has enormous potential for Quaternary geology and, more generally, for knowledge of the history of the first settlements in Europe.The wealth and importance of the deposits in the suburbs of Saint-Acheul and Montieres, as well as the quality of the work of and Jacques Boucher de Perthes, considered the founder of prehistory, brought an international scientific reputation to the territory. As the and the Dordogne, the Somme Valley made reference to prehistory and to the study of the Paleolithic.
It was at Amiens that, for the first time, was defined one of the most ancient civilisations of humanity: The Acheulean. In 1853, haches taillées , according to the term of the time, were collected in the old alluvium of the Somme at the level of the suburb of Saint-Acheul, east of the city. This discovery fascinated the greatest international experts of the time, Joseph Prestwich, Hugh Falconer, Charles Lyell and John Evans, who flocked to the site. In August 1859, Albert Gaudry discovered nine "carved axes" attesting, according to him, of the great antiquity of mankind. These discoveries marked the beginning of the great period of Saint-Acheul which lasted more than three-quarters of a century.
Between 1860 and 1880, 20,000 axeheads were thus collected. Saint-Acheul, whose fame became international, attracted many French and foreign specialists and collectors. This success gave rise to a lucrative trade of fake flints.
In 1872, Gabriel de Mortillet, who named the great periods of prehistory in France, decided to name the stone tools gathered in large numbers at Saint-Acheul as Acheulean. The Amiens site then became the reference for the main features of the lower Palaeolithic.
Today, the Saint-Acheul archaeological garden is open to the public and presents a landscape of the former quarries which were classified as Historic Monuments in 1947.
In 2007, archaeological excavations, at the Rue du Manège, uncovered the earliest traces of human occupation in Amiens, in an alluvial aquifer perched at above the bottom of the current valley. The age of the remains collected during this intervention is dated to approximately 500,000 to 550,000 years ago.
Mesolithic
In 2006, when housing was under construction, excavations revealed Mesolithic sites on positions of ancient banks of the Somme and the Selle.Neolithic
The Neolithic period the territory of Amiens has not been the subject of intensive research as the Paleolithic. However, a large deposit in the Montieres-Etouvie sector has delivered an extensive Neolithic industry with yellow flint of excellent craftsmanship.Renancourt brickworks also updated important remains attributable to the Neolithic or Chalcolithic, evidenced by the boat-shaped double axe exhibited at the Musée de Picardie.
Antiquity
The first known settlement is Samarobriva, mentioned for the first time in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico of Julius Caesar. Some forty years later, it was the central settlement of the Ambiani, one of the principal tribes of Gaul, who were issuing coinage, probably from Amiens, in the 1st century BC. It was a large town which controlled the passage of the Via Agrippa connecting Lyon to Boulogne-sur-Mer. The Ambiani derived their name from the Gaulish word ambe, meaning river – a reference to the Somme that flows through Amiens. The town was given the name Ambianum by the Romans, meaning settlement of the Ambiani people.Excavations near the city hall and the Palace of Justice revealed the foundations of the forum, the thermal baths and amphitheatre built for a population greater than that of either Londinium or Lutetia. After Nero's death, it was a centre of equipment of Britannia and saw a flow of legionaries and merchants. The enclosure of the late Empire protected an area of. During the development of the ZAC de Renancourt in 2012, archaeologists excavated a Gallo-Roman rural area of, from after the conquest. The occupation of the 1st century discovered.
Late antiquity
Samarobriu appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana.In 367, Valentinian I moved to Amiens to organise a maritime defence system, known as the. Valentinian I proclaimed his son Gratian his co-augustus at Amiens the same year, after recovering from an illness. In 367, it was from Amiens that Count Theodosius defeated the Franks, Scots, and Saxons to restore order in Roman Britain following the Great Conspiracy. In 383, in contrast, Amiens, like all towns in the area, was taken by Magnus Maximus, proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain.
In 2006, during the construction of buildings in the Cathedral, excavations were used to study a portion of the wall erected at the end of the 3rd century in Samarobriva. During the late Roman Empire, the walled city was one of the main rear Roman bases facing the Barbarian Invasions. The prosperity of the city made it a target for barbarian tribes such as the Alans, the Burgundians or the Vandals, who attacked the city several times.
By tradition, it was at the gates of Amiens that Saint Martin of Tours, at the time still a Roman soldier, shared his cloak with a naked beggar.
During the 5th century, Chlodio rose to power among the Franks, and Merovech was elected in Amiens by his comrades in arms. The saint Honoratus of Amiens was the seventh bishop of the city and died in 600.
Middle Ages
sacked the city 859 and again in 882. During the second sacking, the city's cathedral was burned. During the early part of the 10th century, Count Herbert de Vermandois united the regions of Amiens, Vexin, Laon, and Reims. In 1095, the people of Amiens began to form a rough municipal organization. In 1113, the municipality was sworn with the agreement of the Bishop and subsequently recognised by the King of France. Other cities in the region moved up in the field of municipal liberties. On Palm Sunday 1115, King Louis VI was present in Amiens, to support Bishop Geoffroi and the residents against the Count Enguerrand de Coucy who refused to recognise the communal institution. The city was joined to the Crown of France in 1185.In 1218, lightning destroyed the archives of the bishopric and chapter, and destroyed the cathedral which had been rebuilt after the invasion of the Normans. In 1264, Amiens was chosen as the seat of arbitrations when King Louis IX of France settled the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons, led by Simon de Montfort. The arbitrations led to Louis deciding on the Mise of Amiens – a one-sided settlement in favour of Henry. This decision almost immediately led to the outbreak of the Barons' War.
The blue of Amiens produced from woad known as the Pastel des teinturiers et de waide in Picard, a dye plant, made the fortune of merchant woad producers, and the city, in the 12th and 13th centuries. The wealth generated by the proceeds from the sale of this dye contributed to the financing of the reconstruction of the cathedral. Today, the heritage, cultural and economic exploitation of woad is still topical. Amiens is indeed the leader of the European cooperation project "beyond the blue - Woad: heritage and creation".
In 1435 the city was among the possessions granted to Philip the Good of Burgundy by the Congress of Arras. It was re-acquired again by King Louis XI in 1477 after the death of Charles the Bold. Louis XI authorised two annual fairs in Amiens, by its letters patent, so that not only the city gains but that it does not now encourage the flight of currency from the kingdom, due to the powerful fairs of Antwerp and Bruges.