Abbeville during the ninth century was part of the diocese of Saint-Riquier. It was also an important fortress responsible for the defense of the Somme. Abbeville had a charter granted to it in 1184. Afterwards it was governed by the Counts of Ponthieu. Together with that county, it came into the possession of the Alençon and other French families. Afterwards it came into the possession of the House of Castile. By marriage it passed in 1272 to King Edward I of England. In 1435, by the treaty of Arras, it was to the Duke of Burgundy. In 1477 it was taken control of by King Louis XI of France. Later it was held by two illegitimate branches of the royal family in the 16th and 17th centuries, being in 1696 returned to the crown. In 1514, the town was the place where the marriage of Louis XII of France to Mary Tudor took place. She was the daughter of Henry VII of England. In 1685, it suffered a serious economic when the Edict of Nantes was repealed. The Protestants who were the majority of the skilled labor, left town. The town never fully recovered from the loss of their talents.