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Origin and history

The collegiate Saint-Étienne de Corbie was born in the 7th century when Saint-Pierre de Corbie abbey was founded, one of three shrines with the abbey and the church of Saint-Jean-l-Evergelist (now disappeared). Rebuilt between 1170 and 1174, it escaped subsequent changes to the abbey. As early as 1072, it was entrusted to the "charitables", who were responsible for educating orphans free of charge and managing the abbey-dependent cures. Its social and religious role was central to local life, thanks in particular to this educational and charitable mission.

In the 15th century, the college became the place of confinement of Colette de Corbie (1402–1406), who lived there for four years in an adjoining reclusory dedicated to prayer and charity. Beatified in 1604, a chapel was erected at the location of its reclusor. The monument underwent major modifications in the 18th century: destruction of the collaterals and transept, modification of the windows, and shortening of the choir. These transformations profoundly altered its medieval structure, leaving only three ancient spans of the nave.

At the Revolution, the college was declared national and sold to individuals, who converted it into a barn. In the 19th century, it will successively house an orphanage and a housewife's school, before architect Charles Joseph Pinsard's attention to the remarkable architectural elements. Its western portal, classified as a historical monument in 1907, illustrates the transition between Romanesque and Gothic styles (circa 1200–1210), with sculptures dedicated to Marian worship, such as the Virgin in Assumption and her crowning to the tympanum.

The building, originally dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint Stephen, lost part of its original structure (narthex, lower side, transept) in the 18th century. The traces of ogival archatures visible on the south wall testify to the missing arrangements. Today, the college maintains a small nave and a reconstructed choir, grafted on the old cross of the transept. Its history reflects the religious, social and architectural upheavals of Picardia, from the medieval period to the Revolution.

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