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Origin and history

Picquigny Castle is an ancient castle today in ruins, located on the left bank of the Somme, on the side of the hillside. This strategic site served as a lock on the river, controlling both the movement of goods and people through a toll. Its location offered a dominant point of view between Amiens and Abbeville, in a swampy valley difficult to cross.

The seigneury of Picquigny, one of the most powerful in the kingdom of France, dates back at least to the seventh century, when King Dagobert took over in 632. In the 10th century, it became a franc-alleu, endowed with singular rights, and was passed on to lords such as Guermond (1013) or Eustache de Picquigny, the first vidame of Amiens in 1040. This title, not hereditary but linked to the possession of the castle, gave him prerogatives such as the monetary strike and the protection of the bishop's interests. The seigneury had up to 1,800 vassals and 700 fiefs in the 17th century.

The castle was the scene of significant events, such as the assassination of William I of Normandy in 942 on the order of Arnoul of Flanders, or the imprisonment of the Templars of the Bailiwick of Amiens in 1307, on the order of Philip IV the Bel. During the Hundred Years' War, Edward III of England failed to cross the Somme at Picquigny in 1346. Fired by Charles the Temerary in 1470, the castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance before declining: abandoned in the 18th century, it served as a stone quarry after the Revolution.

In the 19th century, the ruins were rediscovered by artists and historians. Ranked a historic monument in 1906, the site was bequeathed in 1912 to the Société des Antiquaires de Picardie, which preserved it until 2013, when it was bought by Baron Michel Morange. Today, the remains include ramparts, the gate of the Gard, the corner towers, and the Pavillon Sévigné, a monumental 17th century staircase. Medieval festivals and restorations (such as the North Wall in 2005) are now animating the site.

Architecturally, the castle blended medieval elements (heavy murals, ditches, circular towers) and Renaissance additions (pilastral facades, cross-shoes). The south facade, facing towards the plateau, retained its defensive appearance, while the north facade, extinct, housed a three-storey seigneurial house. The site also included a collegiate, underground, and gardens. The coats of arms of the seigneurial families (d的Ailly, de Melun) still adorn the doors and the pavilion Sévigné.

Among the personalities related to the castle, Madame de Sévigné stayed there in 1689 and described it in her letters. Henry IV, Charles VIII, and Richelieu also spent one night there. Victor Hugo and the Duthoit brothers, engravers, were also interested in his ruins. The castle thus illustrates almost a thousand years of history, from the Merovingians to the Revolution, to Franco-English conflicts and Renaissance fascists.

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