Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1918 — GOES FAR BACK IN HISTORY [ARTICLE]

GOES FAR BACK IN HISTORY

’French City of Montdidler Was of Importance in First Millennium of the Christian Era. The National Geographic society Issues the following war geography bulletin on Montdidler, a few miles east of Amiens: “This little town, whose history dates back to the first millennium of the Christian era, had a population of less than 5,000 at the beginning of the war, but it was rich in historic associations. It is said to have derived its name from the fact that Didier or Jlesiderius, the last of the Lombard kings, was imprisoned here in 774 by Charlemagne. It will be remembered that Charlemagne, having put aside his first wife, Deslderius’ daughter, took up the quarrel of Pope Adrian I with the Lombard monarch, and after marching an army across the Alps, captured the erstwhile fa-ther-in-law’s capital city, Tlcinum, and took the vanquished ruler back to France, where he died in captivity. “Montdidler is attractively situated on an eminence on the banks of the river Don. It is the capital of an arrondissement in the department of the Somme, and Is 62 miles north of Paris by rail, and 23 mllds southeast of Amiens. Its chief industries before the war were tanneries and the manufacture of zinc-white. “When the tides of war finally recede it is probable that the three buildings in which the citizens of Montdidier took the greatest pride will be crumbling ruins. These are the church of St. Pierre, which was built before Qolumbus set sail on his voyage of discovery, and which contains a tomb and font of the eleventh century; the church of St. Sepulchre, a fifteenth century edifice, and the Palais de Justice, formerly the city castle. In the last named building visitors before the war were shown six unusually handsome Brussels tapestries of the seventeenth century. These were undoubtedly removed before the Germans entered the city. _ “Montdidler’s most famous son was Parmentler, the scientist, who gave Impetus to the culture of the potato in France. A statue erected here commemorates his gift to the nation. “For a number of years this little city was governed by its own lords, then passed under the dominion of the counts of Crepy and Valois. In the twelfth century it became a possession of the French crown and received a charter of liberties. In 1636 it offered a gallant and successful resistance to the Spanish invaders.”