History History

The most important prehistoric site in the region was discovered in Biache-Saint-Vaast in the Pas-de-Calais. The famous remains of a woman's skull found there date back about 200,000 years, but it is estimated that humans have been present in these parts for more than 600,000 years.

The excavations of Biache-Saint-Vaast have allowed us to better understand the way of life of the men of the Middle Paleolithic. The recent phase of this period, from the beginning of the last ice age to 35,000 years ago, corresponding to that of the Neanderthals, is also known in the Pas-de-Calais thanks to a few sites such as those of Corbehem, Tortequenne, Hermies or Rinxent

In the Sensée valley, there are monoliths, burials and other tumuli, strangely preserved and dating from the pre-Gallic-Roman period. As for the former Picardy region, it has preserved numerous testimonies of the prehistoric era: in Abbeville with finds dating back to the Palaeolithic period, but also in the Oise (in Breteuil, Jonquières or Néry) and in the Aisne

The Somme can be considered as the cradle of archaeology since it was in Abbeville, in the middle of the 19th century, that Jacques Boucher de Perthes discovered carved flints and animal fossils in quarries on the outskirts of the town. For him, this was proof of the existence of man before the Flood: prehistoric man was born. A little later, on an extraction site in Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens, were brought to light flints which will be called Acheulean. The tools from Saint-Acheul have been dated to about 450,000 years ago. The oldest tools of this type were found in Africa and date back more than a million years.

About two centuries before our era, four large Gallic tribes from the east invaded the territory of present-day northern France and settled mainly in the present-day Pas-de-Calais, leaving the north covered with vast forests and swamps. Conquered by Julius Caesar in 57 BC, the region remained rebellious to Roman integration among the Morins and Nervians, who only gave in five centuries later to the invasions of the Franks. The Gallic tribes living in the Picardy region were either definitively defeated by Julius Caesar in 51 B.C. or resisted and were finally incorporated into Belgian Gaul

On the coast, Itius Portus (probably Wissant) was already one of the great naval stations of the Roman Empire, which left many traces of its establishment there, in particular the roads, nowadays called "Brunehaut's road". Seven of them radiated around Bagacum (Bavay, in the Avesnois, whose Roman forum is very interesting), allowing the city to trade with the entire Empire.

It was also at this time that the main cities developed, including Amiens, and the population explosion made the villages important cities. The Aisne in particular became, thanks to its strategic position, a highly coveted territory. After the incorporation of Belgian Gaul and the evangelization, the region passed into the hands of the Franks, with the arrival of Clovis. But we are already in the Middle Ages...

In 843, at the time of the Treaty of Verdun, which cut the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms, the Scheldt became the border between Neustria, the original core of the future France, and Austrasia, destined to be Germanic territory for a long time. Then the territories broke up in the feudal anarchy and were transformed into powerful counties. Thus, the history of the region around the year 1000 reflects the complexity of the feudal system

In the west, the county of Flanders benefited from a French royal power that was too far away and of which it was only a theoretical vassal. The first Flemish counts managed to fight the Normans effectively and took advantage of this to extend their jurisdiction from the Canche to the mouth of the Scheldt. On the Germanic side, the same trend can be observed with the appearance of political entities that owed only a theoretical obedience to the emperor.

In 1180, Isabelle of Hainaut married Philip Augustus, who thus received Artois as a dowry. Following a delicate succession concerning the county of Flanders (and involving the county of Hainaut), the King of France had to face a coalition bringing together the Emperor, the King of England and the Count of Flanders, Ferrand of Portugal. The confrontation ended in a decisive battle at Bouvines in 1214, which saw the victory of Philip Augustus. The latter succeeded in interfering in the affairs of Flanders and Hainaut through this brilliant coup. This prosperous period also benefited the religious emergence, with the flowering of the beguinages. However, it was short-lived. Tensions gradually rose between the kings of France and England, particularly over Flanders.

It was then that the Hundred Years' War broke out. The region, a stake of kingdoms and a permanent battlefield, lived it in its flesh. In 1430, Joan of Arc was arrested in Compiègne. In addition to the fighting, the region also had to deal with epidemics, particularly the Black Death. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy from 1419 to 1467, by incessant matrimonial manoeuvring, brought the counties of Flanders and Hainaut under his control to form what was then called the Netherlands. His son, Charles the Bold, then undertook to provide his lordships with common institutions

In 1506, Charles of Habsburg, great-grandson of Charles the Bold, inherited what was then called the Netherlands from his father. For 150 years, Artois and Flanders remained under Spanish control. Their wealth and strategic position made them valuable and they managed to obtain important privileges, which they kept after their return to the French Crown.

Inevitable territorial tensions broke out regularly with the kingdom of France, whose border still stops at the Aisne. The legendary confrontation between Charles V and Francis I was felt very strongly in the region: towns were taken and razed to the ground (such as Thérouanne, in the Pas-de-Calais). Only the Cambrai, positioned as a duchy, remained a neutral land that allowed discussions between the belligerents. But battles were also fought on other levels, notably religious.

After annexing Artois in 1659 and buying back Dunkirk from the English, Louis XIV took Douai and Lille in 1667, then Valenciennes and Cambrai in 1677. The king imposed his new administration while Vauban transformed the medieval defensive system by heavily fortifying several towns. The landscape was marked for centuries

The rise of the demands and the Revolution had a significant impact on the region. The Constituent Assembly of 1790 gave birth to the departments. The discussions were bitter about the divisions, but the departments of Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Aisne and Oise finally appeared.

Even before the French Revolution broke out, the Brabant Revolution, which refused the reforms of Joseph II of Austria, broke out on the borders of our regions.

The French lost Landrecies, Le Quesnoy, Condé and Valenciennes for a time, which were incorporated into Belgium. However, the French campaign finally resulted in the occupation of the Batavian provinces. Under the First Empire, Flanders ceased to be the theatre of war. In 1814, its cities were besieged by the enemy coalition and, after the Hundred Days, the region came under foreign occupation. This was followed by an era of prosperity due to its many riches and industrialization. The region benefited from the development of mines and the spread of railways. The cities became denser, the working class emerged and Lille, by hosting many schools and universities, took on an intellectual and scientific face. However, this development stopped when the war against Prussia broke out in 1870

The Great War was particularly trying in the region, especially during the great battles such as the Somme in 1916 (which claimed a million victims, dead, wounded or missing) and the Chemin des Dames in the Aisne in 1917... until its conclusion in the forest of Compiègne where the Armistice of 1918 was signed

The region then gradually rebuilt itself, but the Second World War quickly followed to strike the territory once again. At the beginning of the conflict, a giant from Lille stood up to leave his mark on the century: Charles de Gaulle. The Allied and enemy armies clashed in the Somme and on the coast and large sites were destroyed by successive bombardments. The blockhouses are still a gaping scar in the landscape of Hauts-de-France.

When the Second World War was over, it was time for a united front to revive the country. In 1946, the companies in the entire basin were nationalised to form the Houillères du Nord-Pas-de-Calais, while the steel industry experienced rapid development. However, this boom period was short-lived and around 300,000 jobs were gradually lost. The State tried to revive the activity by encouraging the establishment of automobile factories in the region.

From the 1980s onwards, society evolved from a world of large industries to another universe made up of services. Companies emerged, including mail order companies (La Redoute for example) and numerous hypermarket chains (Auchan to name but one)

The geographical position of the Hauts-de-France region remains an incomparable asset for facilitating the emergence of new economic networks and flows. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in May 1994 opened up an extraordinary range of possibilities, as did the operation of the TGV Nord-Europe, Eurostar and Thalys. Lille and the Haute-Picardie region are now closer to Paris, Brussels and London.

The opening up of borders has restored this central European region to its former role as a European crossroads. The former Nord-Pas-de-Calais is gradually becoming involved in large-scale European projects, notably cross-border projects such as the Seine-Nord Europe Canal (scheduled to open in mid-2027/early 2028). The European Capital of Culture label in 2004 has also breathed new life into the capital of Flanders.

If the region is reclaiming its past (ducasses, Braderie de Lille or Carnaval de Dunkerque), it is also playing a driving role in new creations. With Euratechnologies in Lille, Plaine Image in Tourcoing and Serre Numérique in Valenciennes, the region has brilliantly embraced new technologies and established itself as a pillar of French Tech. The challenge of cultural industries has been met, with several areas of activity taking shape: fashion, urban cultures, video and image, not forgetting the ambitious Louvre-Lens museum and the promotion of its identity and mining heritage.

The region is attracting new audiences, and tourists are no longer ashamed of the clichés long held about the Nord. The former Picardy region is also riding the tertiary wave, benefiting from these new economic windfalls. The emergence of Beauvais airport and its sixty or so destinations is a good illustration of this. Industry is suffering more, as illustrated by the high-profile closure of the Continental plant in Oise in 2009. To resist the crisis, the Picards are banking on their proximity to the Paris region, but also on innovation, technology and plant-based chemistry.