Clermont-en-Argonne

Clermont-en-Argonne stood on a fortified height in the wooded Argonne, where the counts of Bar built a castle and keep. The stronghold passed with their lands to the dukes of Lorraine, but French kings also asserted claims to it. Its defences guarded a district repeatedly exposed to armies crossing the frontier.

In 1632 Duke Charles IV of Lorraine ceded Clermont to Louis XIII, an arrangement confirmed in 1641. The Clermontois was granted to the Prince of Condé in 1648, but he later rebelled during the Fronde. Royal forces besieged Clermont in 1654, facing a small garrison short of food and water; after its surrender Mazarin ordered the fortifications demolished. The siege left much of the town damaged and many inhabitants forced to leave their homes.