REMIREMONT, a town of eastern France, in the depart ment of Vosges, 17 m. S.S.E. of Epinal by rail, on the Moselle, below its confluence with the Moselotte. Pop. (1931) 8,312. Remiremont (Romarici Mons) is named after St. Romaric, a companion of St. Columban of Luxeuil, who in the 7th century founded a monastery and a convent on the hills above the present town. In 910 an invasion of the Hungarians drove the nuns to Remiremont, which had grown round a villa of the Frankish kings, and in the 11th century they settled there. Enriched by dukes of Lorraine, kings of France and emperors of Germany, the ladies of Remiremont attained great power. The abbess was a princess of the empire, and received consecration at the hands of the pope. The fifty canonesses were selected from the nobility. On Whit-Monday the neighbouring parishes paid homage to the chapter in a ceremony called the "Kyrioles"; and on their acces sion the dukes of Lorraine, the immediate suzerains of the abbey, had to come to Remiremont to swear to continue their protection.
The "War of the Scutcheons" (Panonceaux) in 1566 between the duke and the abbess ended in favour of the duke, and terminated the abbess's power. The monastery and nunnery were both sup pressed in the Revolution. Remiremont is surrounded by forest clad mountains. The 13th cent. abbey church has a crypt of the nth century. The abbatial residence (which now contains the maitre, the court-house and the public library) has been twice rebuilt in the original plan in modern times. Some of the houses of the canonesses (17th and 18th centuries) remain. Remire mont has a board of trade-arbitrators and a chamber of arts and manufactures. Its industries include cotton-spinning and weaving, the manufacture of embroidery, iron and copper founding and the manufacture of brushes.