Laon

Laon is a city and commune of France, préfecture (capital) of the Aisne département. Population: 26,265.

History

The hilly district of Laon has always had some strategic importance. In the time of Julius Caesar there was a Gallic village where the Rend (inhabitants of the country round Reims) had to meet the onset of the confederated Belgae. Whatever may have been the precise locality of that battlefield, Laon was fortified by the Romans, and successively checked the invasions of the Franks, Burgundians, Vandals, Alani and Huns. At that time it was known as Alaudanum or Lugdunum Clavatum.

Related Topics:
Julius Caesar - Reims - Belgae - Franks - Burgundians - Vandals - Alani - Huns

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St Remigius, the archbishop of Reims who baptized Clovis, was born in the Laonnais, and it was he who, at the end of the 5th century, instituted the bishopric of the town. Thenceforward Laon was one of the principal towns of the kingdom of the Franks, and the possession of it was often disputed. Charles the Bald had enriched its church with the gift of very numerous domains. After the fall of the Carolingians Laon took the part of Charles of Lorraine, their heir, and Hugh Capet only succeeded in making himself master of the town by the connivance of the bishop, who, in return for this service, was made second ecclesiastical peer of the kingdom.

Related Topics:
St Remigius - Clovis - Bishopric - Charles the Bald - Carolingians - Hugh Capet

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Early in the 12th century the communes of France set about emancipating themselves, and the history of the commune of Laon is one of the richest and most varied. The citizens had profited by a temporary absence of Bishop Gaudry to secure from his representatives a communal charter, but he, on his return, purchased from the king of France the revocation of this document, and recommenced his oppressions. The consequence was a revolt, in which the episcopal palace was burnt and the bishop and several of his partisans were put to death. The fire spread to the cathedral, and reduced it to ashes. Uneasy at the result of their victory, the rioters went into hiding outside the town, which was anew pillaged by the people of the neighborhood, eager to avenge the death of their bishop.

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The king alternately interfered in favor of the bishop and of the inhabitants till 1239. After that date the liberties of Laon were no more contested till 1331, when the commune was abolished. During the Hundred Years War it was attacked and taken by the Burgundians, who gave it up to the English, to be retaken by the French after the consecration of Charles VII.

Related Topics:
1239 - 1331 - Hundred Years War - Charles VII

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Under the League Laon took the part of the Leaguers, and was taken by Henry IV. During the campaign of 1814 Napoleon tried in vain to dislodge Blucher from it. In 1870 an engineer blew up the powder magazine of the citadel at the moment when the German troops were entering the town. Many lives were lost; and the cathedral and the old episcopal palace were damaged. At the Revolution Laon permanently lost its rank as a bishopric.

Related Topics:
Henry IV - Napoleon - Blucher - Revolution

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