1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/St Riquier

ST RIQUIER, a town of northern France, in the department of Somme, 8 m. N.E. of Abbeville by rail. Pop. (1906) 1158. St Riquier (originally Centula) was famous for its abbey, founded about 625 by Riquier (Richarnis), son of the governor of the town. It was enriched by King Dagobert and prospered under the abbacy of Angilbert, son-in-law of Charlemagne. The buildings (18th century) are occupied by an ecclesiastical seminary. The church, a magnificent example of flamboyant Gothic architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries, has a richly sculptured west front surmounted by a square tower. In the interior the fine vaulting, the Renaissance font and carved stalls, and the frescoes in the treasury are especially noteworthy. The treasury, among other valuable relics, possesses a copper cross said to be the work of St Eloi (Eligius). The town has a municipal belfry of the 13th or 14th centuries. In 1536 St Riquier repulsed an attack by the Germans, the women especially distinguishing themselves. In 1544 it was burnt by the English, an event which marks the beginning of its decline.

See Hénocque, “Hist. de l’abbaye et de la ville de St Riquier,” in Mém. soc. antiq. Picardie. Documents inédits, ix.-xi. (Paris, 1880–1888).