FONTAINE-SOUS-MONTDIDIER, in ruins, _is next reached. 3 kms. further on, take the left-hand road to_ =Montdidier=. _Skirt the foot of the hill, as far as the Montdidier-Amiens road (N. 35), which take on the right. On entering Montdidier, turn into Rue du Collège which leads to the Esplanade du Prieuré_ (_See p. 98_). [Illustration] MONTDIDIER _Valiant City, martyrised by the War. After sustaining the fire of the enemy's guns for more than two years, experienced in turn the joys of deliverance and the horrors of a brutal occupation. An important position, bitterly disputed, it suffered total destruction, paying with its ruins the Victory of the Mother-land._ (Croix de Guerre.) The town stands at the extremity of the Plateau of Santerre, halfway between Amiens and Compiègne, in the valleys of the Somme and Oise. Rising in tiers, from south to north, on the limestone cliffs, its highest point is occupied by the Palais-de-Justice. The town probably first grew up around a farm in which, according to tradition, the monks of the Abbey of Corbie kept Didier, King of the Lombards, whose name was given to the town. The first houses sprang up in the fertile valley, whilst a _castrum_ was built on the hill. Owing to its situation on an oft-disputed frontier, Montdidier was destined to have a stirring history. Of the fortifications which Philippe-Auguste caused to be erected there, and which were terminated in 1210, nothing remains but a few fragments of walls covered by the gardens. At various periods the town was besieged, pillaged and burnt. Under Charles VIII and Louis XII the walls were rebuilt and the city's life began anew, only to be disturbed again by war under François I. After repulsing a band of adventurers in 1522, it was besieged in 1523 by 30,000 English and Germans, led by the Duke of Norfolk and Count de Bure. Although a breach was opened in the city's walls, the burghers refused to capitulate. The place had therefore to be carried by storm, and the enemy burnt it on October 29. [Illustration: MONTDIDIER.--THE ST. MÉDARD QUARTER.] [Illustration: MONTDIDIER, SEEN FROM THE MOREUIL ROAD.] After the town had been rebuilt, the Reform quickly gained ground, in spite of persecutions and the burning of Pastor Michel de la Grange. In 1636, a powerful Spanish army, under the command of Jean de Werth and Piccolomini, captured Roye and summoned Montdidier to surrender. The burghers refused and, almost unsupported, kept the enemy at bay and made a number of successful sorties. A narrow valley on the road to Breteuil has retained the name of "cut-throat", in remembrance of one of these sorties, during which 200 Spaniards were slain. After a siege lasting 34 days, the approach of the Royal Army compelled the Spaniards to retreat, and Louis XIII thanked the burghers in person for their courage and loyalty. From that time forward the town lived in peace. Louis XIV often stayed there on his way to Flanders.