ancient Samarobriva later Ambianum
City (pop., 1999: 135,801), northern France.
Located on the Somme River , it became a Roman stronghold. The chief city of a medieval county, it passed to Burgundy in 1435 and was captured by the Spanish in 1597. Recovered by Henry IV , it served as the capital of Picardy until 1790. The Prussians captured the city in 1870, and the Germans held it briefly in 1914; it gave its name to a successful Allied counteroffensive against Germany in 1918. The Germans occupied it during World War II. It has been a major centre of the French textile industry since the 16th century and is the site of the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame, the largest church in France.