Picardy, an ancient province of N. France, bounded N. by the straits of Dover and Artois, E. by Champagne, S. by lie de France, and W. by the English channel and Normandy. It was divided into Upper Picardy, in its widest sense including the districts of Amienois, San-terre, Vermandois, Thierache, Laonnais, Sois-sonnais, Noyonnais, Valois, and Beauvaisis, and Lower Picardy, comprising the pays re-conquis, Boulonnais, Ponthieu, and Vimeux. It was conquered by the Franks in the 5th century, formed part of the kingdoms of Sois-sons and Neustria, and afterward passed into the possession of the counts of Flanders, and was divided among several vassal counts. The province was subdued by the English under the reigns in France of Philip VI. and Charles VI., reconquered by Charles VII., who mortgaged it to the duke of Burgundy, and restored to the crown in 1463, under Louis XL Its capital as a province was Amiens. It forms now the department of Somme and parts of Pas-de-Calais, Aisne, and Oise.