The Yale expositor., 1917-08-16
AON has never become a large
town, but it has always been
q place of strength. In 1913 II


place of strength. In 1913 1t
had little less than $4,000 in
habitants, but in Gaulish times it was
already that Bibrax which julius
Caesar took in the year 81 b. c., and
where no doubt the Romans estab-
lished themselves and maintained the
authority of Rome among the con-
quered. Many curious Gallo Romantic
antiquities have been collected in the
neighborhood and are now in the mu-
scum. Up to the fifth century the col
lection was known as Laudunum.
During the Merovingian, the Cape
tian, and, in fact, in all periods of
French history, says Henry p. Davray
In Country Life, Laon has played an
important role. It's geographical posi-
ton caused it to be frequently be-
sieged. Situated on the road from
Paris and from the valley Of the Seine
to the middle valley of the Mouse, ii
Is built on an isolated mount quantity
carved out in the form of a promon-
tory which can be seen from a great
distance. This mount forms a kind
of V of which the point is turned to-
ward the northwest. To the northeast
the cathedral rises, and to the south
the Abbey of st. Vincent. From a
height of $50 feet above the valley Of
the Ardon 1t dominates a view which
extends far in all directions, and
there is not within a large radius a
better post OF observation. Moreover,
the steep TANKS Of the hill made the
entry easily defensible against the
weapons of former times, though twice
it has known the humiliation of capitu-
lation to German forces, in 1914 and
again on September 9. 1S70-a date
that many older inhabitants carry in
their hearts today. In this fortified
vantage point the early kings of
France made their residence. Here,
too. the church founded q bishopric
about 500 A. D., which was steadily
maintained until the Revolution.
OF Strategic Importance.
Laon was a place that all armies
fought for with bitterness. The Eng
lish during the Hundred Years war,
later the Burgundians and Charles the
Bold, in the wars of the Reformation,
the invaders OF 1914. of 1915 and 1870
all regarded the town as one Of their
great strategic points. 1t was taken,
ravaged, pillaged, burned a great num-
Der of times after long and difficult
sieges. The garrison easily opposed a
resistance, which often enough beat
the besiegers.
For example, when Henry ~ recon-
quered his kingdom from the duke of
Mayenne and the Ligue, the town Of
Laon held him at bay for long time
in 1894. He took it less by force of
arms than by a diplomacy suggested
TO him by his astuteness and cunning.
In 1914, during that immortal cam
paign OF France, when more than ever
the resources of his genius were dis
played, Napoleon tried to drive out
Butcher and the Prussians. For sew
eral days he redoubled his efforts and
finally abandoned the place. These
details, which could easily be multi
piled, prove the strategic importance
of Laon.
Apart from its geographic position,
which gives IL military value, it has
been the meeting place and crossing
point of the means of communication
and transportation which existed at
all these epochs. The great highways
of the district intersect at the foot Of
the mount. and when the railways
were built In the nineteenth century
the station Of Laon became the juno
ton of the liues from Paris, from Terg-
aler, from Guise, from Hirson, from
Rheims and from Liart.
Where Railway Lines Meet.
The importance of possessing Laon
for the Germans can easily be seen.
There meet the railway lines coming
from Germany by Luxembourg, Mont
medy, Sedan, Mezleres, Charleville and
Hirson; the lines coming from Cologne
and from -Chapelle, by the val
ley of tho Meuse, Liege, Namur and
Charleroi, and from Brussels, Mons