Corbie (; ;

Picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...

:''Corbin'') is a commune of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

department in

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

The small town is situated up river from

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, in the département of

and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies in the valley of the river

, at the confluence with the

Ancre The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the department of Somme. For a short stretch near Pu ...

. The town is bisected by the

Canal de la Somme The Canal de la Somme () is a canal in northern France. Its total length is 156.4 km with 25 locks, from the English Channel at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme to the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Saint-Simon, Aisne, Saint-Simon. ...

.
This satellite photograph
shows it in its context. The town is to the left and the

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

ny Somme valley winds down to it from the right. The

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

of the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

shows pale in the fields. The river Ancre flows down from the north-east. The A29 road is shown under construction snaking across the chalk in the southern part of the picture. The fainter, straight line just to its north is the road N29. It passes through Villers-Bretonneux, the village just south of Corbie.

History

Corbie Abbey

The town of Corbie grew up round

Corbie Abbey Corbie Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Corbie, Picardy, France, dedicated to Saint Peter. It was founded by Balthild, the widow of Clovis II, who had monks sent from Luxeuil. The Abbey of Corbie became celebrated both for its librar ...

, founded in 657 or 660 by the queen regent Bathilde, with a founding community of monks from

Luxeuil Abbey Luxeuil Abbey (), the ''Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul'', was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Franche-Comté, located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté, France. History Columbanus The abbey was f ...

in the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

. Its

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

came to be one of the centers of work of manuscript illumination when the art was still fairly new in western Europe. In this early

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

period the work of Corbie was innovative in that it portrayed images of people, such as

Saint Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...

. It was also the place of creation, in about 780, of the influential

Caroline minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one ...

script.see

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and

Merovingian script Merovingian script or Gallo-Roman script () was a medieval variant of the Latin script so called because it was developed in Gaul during the Merovingian dynasty. It was used in the 7th and 8th centuries before the Carolingian dynasty and the dev ...

The contents of its library are known from catalogues of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1638,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

ordered the transfer of the library's books to the library at

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the nor ...

, which was dispersed at the end of the eighteenth century.

Town

In 1234, Floris IV, Count of Holland died at a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

held here. In 1475, the town was taken by

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

. The Spanish took it after a short siege on 15 August 1636 but were ousted in November by Richelieu and

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

after a siege of three months. In 1918, Corbie was on the margin of the battlefield of Villers-Bretonneux at which the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael () was a major German military offensive during World War I that began the German spring offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to bre ...

of the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

came to a climax.

Population

Pictures

File:Bathilde Reine FRANCE.JPG, Queen Bathilde, Jardin du LUXEMBOURG, PARIS File:Blason de l'ancienne abbaye de Corbie.svg, Coat of arms of the Royal Abbey of CORBIE File:Corbie-Carte de Cassini1.jpg, Map by CASSINI, circa 1780 File:Corbie mairie (façade ouest).jpg, Town hall File:Corbie monument aux morts (détail) 1.jpg, Monument by Albert Roze File:Corbie ancienne église Saint-Etienne et abbatiale.jpg, The Abbey church, 18th century File:Corbie 28-09-2008 12-20-19.JPG, The Abbey church, 18th century File:Corbie toegangspoort klooster 28-09-2008 11-34-59.JPG, Gate of Honor of the Abbey, 1750 File:La Neuville-sous-Corbie église 1.jpg, Notre-Dame de la Neuville church, 15th century File:La Neuville-lès-Corbie église (détail du tympan) 1.jpg, La Neuville church, 15th century, detail File:La Neuville-lès-Corbie église (détail du tympan) 2.jpg, La Neuville church, 15th century, detail

Sights

* Abbey of St. Peter (Saint Pierre) *

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

of la Neuville; at the north-west end of the town

Personalities

Adalard of Corbie Adalard of Corbie (; c. 751, Huise – 2 January 827) was the son of Bernard who was the son of Charles Martel and half-brother of Pepin; Charlemagne was his cousin. He is recognised as a saint within the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Ch ...

, a German cousin of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, was abbot of Corbie. In 822, he founded Corvey Abbey (''Corbeia nova'' or "new Corbie") on the territory of Höxter in

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. * Adela of France, Countess of Flanders (1009–1079), countess of Corbie, married

Baldwin V, Count of Flanders Baldwin V ( 1012 – 1 September 1067) was Count of Flanders from 1035 until his death. He secured the personal union between the counties of Flanders and Hainaut and maintained close links to the Anglo-Saxon monarchy, which was overthrown by ...

(c. 1030-1070); their son, Baldwin of Mons became

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders Baldwin VI ( 1030 – 17 July 1070), also known as Baldwin the Good, was the count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070 (as Baldwin I) and count of Flanders from 1067 to 1070. Baldwin was the eldest son of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela of France, Ade ...

. * Saint Gérard (born at Corbie in 1025): abbot and confessor. *

Saint Colette Colette of Corbie, PCC (13 January 1381 – 6 March 1447) was a French abbess and the foundress of the Colettine Poor Clares, a reform branch of the Order of Saint Clare, better known as the Poor Clares. She is honored as a saint in the Cathol ...

(born at Corbie in 1381): reformer of the

Franciscan Order The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Eugène Lefebvre Eugène Lefebvre (4 October 1878 – 7 September 1909) was a French aviation pioneer. He was reportedly the first stunt pilot, Villard, Henry Serrano, ''Contact! The Story of the Early Birds,'' 1968, Thomas Y. Crowell, , retrieved April 9, 2 ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneer, born at Corbie 4 October 1878. He was the first

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

to be killed at the controls of his

aeroplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

, 7 September 1909

Twin towns

* Höxter,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* Pickering,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...