LAON, a town of northern France, capital of the department of Aisne, 87 m. N.E. of Paris on the Northern railway. Pop. 0931) 14,428• The hilly district of Laon (Laudunum) has always had some strategic importance. Laon was fortified by the Romans, and successively checked the invasions of the Franks, Burgundians, Vandals, Alani and Huns. St. Remigius, the archbishop of Reims who baptized Clovis, was born in the Laonnais, and at the end of the 5th century, he instituted the bishopric of' the town. Thenceforward Laon was one of the principal towns of the king dom 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 con nivance of the bishop, who, in return for this service, was made second ecclesiastical peer of the kingdom. In the early 12th cen tury the citizens 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 ; 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 cathe dral, and reduced it to ashes. After 1239 the liberties of Laon were no more contested till 1331, when the commune was abol ished. During the Hundred Years' War it was taken by the Burgundians, who gave it up to the English, and it was retaken by the French after the consecration of Charles VII. Under the League Laon took the part of the Leaguers, and was taken by Henry IV. During the campaign of 1814 Blucher successfully defended it against Napoleon. In 187o 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. Laon could not resist Von Kluck's attack in August 1914, and was held by the Germans until Gen. Mangin took it in Oct. 1918, when he succeeded in breaking the German salient south of the Aisne.
The town is situated on an isolated ridge some 33o ft. above the surrounding plain and the little river of Ardon. The suburbs
of St. Marcel and Vaux extend along the foot of the ridge to the north. From the railway station, situated in the plain to the north, a straight staircase of several hundred steps leads to the gate of the town, and all the roads connecting Laon with the sur rounding district are cut in zigzags on the steep slopes, crowned by promenades on the site of the old ramparts. The 13th cen tury gates of Ardon, Chenizelles and Soissons, the latter in a state of ruin, have been preserved. At the eastern extremity of the ridge rises the citadel; at its apex is the parade-ground of St. Martin, and at the southern end stands the ancient abbey of St. Vincent. The cathedral of Laon, which was very little dam aged during the World War, is very important artistically. It took the place of the old cathedral, burned in tilt at the begin ning of the communal struggles. The building is cruciform, and the choir terminates in a straight wall instead of in an apse. Of the six cowers flanking the façades, only four are complete to the height of the base of the spires, two at the west front with huge figures of oxen beneath the arcades of their upper portion, and one at each end of the transept. A square central tower forms a lantern within the church. The west front, with three porches, the centre one surmounted by a fine rose window, ranks next to that of Notre-Dame at Paris in purity. The cathedral has stained glass of the 13th century and a choir grille of the 18th century. The chapter-house and the cloister are of the 13th century. The old episcopal palace is now used as a court-house. The front, flanked by turrets, is pierced by great pointed windows. There is also a Gothic cloister and an old chapel of two storeys, of a date anterior to the cathedral. The church of St. Martin dates from the middle of the 12th century. The old abbey buildings of the same foundation are now used as the hospital. The museum of Laon has collections of sculpture and painting. In its garden there is a chapel of the Templars belonging to the 12th century. The church of the suburb of Vaux near the railway station dates from the nth and 12th centuries. Laon is the seat of a prefect and a court of assizes, and possesses a tribunal of first instance. Sugar-making and metal-founding are carried on, but neither industry nor trade, which is in grain and wine, is of much importance.