Editing Picardy (section)

=== Modern era ===
In the 15th century, the ''government'' (military region) of Picardy was created. This became a new administrative region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included the [[Somme (department)|Somme]] ''[[département]]'', the northern half of the [[Aisne]] ''département'' and a small fringe in the north of the [[Oise]] ''département''.

In 1557, Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of [[Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy]].<ref name="Tucker518">''A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East'', Vol. II, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 518</ref> After a [[Battle of St. Quentin (1557)|seventeen-day siege]],<ref name="Tucker518" /> [[Saint-Quentin, Aisne|St. Quentin]] would be ransacked,<ref name="Tucker518" /> while [[Noyon]] would be burned by the Habsburg army.<ref>George A. Rothrock, The Huguenots: A Biography of a Minority, (Nelson-Hall, Inc., 1979), 48.</ref>

In the early 18th century, an infectious disease similar to [[English sweat]] originated from the region and spread across France. It was called ''Suette des picards'' or [[Picardy sweat]].<ref name="Hecher1844">{{cite book |author=T. F. C. Hecher |title=The epidemics of the Middle ages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vMfGlF2oOdQC&pg=PA315 |access-date=25 March 2012 |year=1844 |publisher=G. Woodfall and Von |pages=315–318}}</ref>

[[Sugar beet]] was introduced by [[Napoleon I]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in the 19th century in order to counter the United Kingdom which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the [[Caribbean]]. The [[sugar industry]] has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.french.co.uk/france/regions/picardy/ |work=French.co.uk |title=Picardie}}</ref>

One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along the [[Somme (river)|Somme]] during [[World War I]]. From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including the [[Battle of the Somme]], were fought by British, Commonwealth, French and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy.<ref name="Philpott2010">{{cite book |author=William Philpott |title=Three Armies on the Somme: The First Battle of the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MXGNxVINkAC |access-date=25 March 2012 |date=5 October 2010 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-0-307-26585-2 |pages=3–4}}</ref>