Soissons

Soissons stands on the Aisne, a royal and episcopal city whose cathedral and abbeys testified to its long importance. On a hill above the town rose Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, a wealthy abbey of regular canons, distinguished by the towers of its church. The river crossing also gave the fortified city military value on the road towards Paris.

During the Revolution the canons were expelled in 1790 and the abbey became a military store. Its church was dismantled from 1805, and the proceeds from its materials were assigned to repairs of the cathedral; the façade was spared. In 1814 allied troops besieged Soissons during Napoleon's campaign in France. The town's capitulation gave the allies a crossing of the Aisne, allowing Blücher to regroup before the battle of Laon.