The history of this picturesque little town, which was the capital of
the old Comté of Clermont, has been a troubled one. In 719,
Charles-Martel gave it and its dependencies to the Bishop of Verdun. In
1094 it was taken by an adventurer named Odon, and recaptured from him
by the Bishop of Verdun. In 1110, Dudon, Count of Clermont, having
insulted the Bishop of Verdun, the town was besieged by the Emperor. In
the subsequent struggles between the Bishops of Verdun and the Counts of
Bar for the possession of the town, it was several times besieged and
burnt. The Counts of Bar, who finally gained the upper hand, on the
condition that they would pay homage to the Bishops of Verdun, strongly
fortified it. A fortress, added by Henri II., Count of Bar, in the 13th
century, was built on the St. Anne Plateau. Letters of enfranchisement
were given to the inhabitants of the fortress by Count Tiébault II. in
1246, and to the people of the town by the Duke Henri IV. in 1339. In
1354, Yolande of Flanders, Countess of Longueville, Bar, and Cassel, had
a mint at Clermont. In 1539, Clermont became a feudatory state of the
Empire. Ceded to France in 1634 by the Treaty of Liverdun (confirmed by
the Treaty of the Pyrénees in 1659) it was definitely incorporated in
France by the Treaty of Paris on March 29, 1641. In 1648, Louis XIII.
settled it on the Great Condé, whose family held it until the
Revolution. During the _Fronde_, Clermont took part in the war of the
rebel princes; in 1654, the town was besieged by the royal troops, the
siege being conducted by Vauban, who had himself fortified the place in
1652. On November 8, 1654, the Marquis de Riberpray took the fortress
and church by assault, and on the 22nd, after a siege lasting one month,
the town surrendered. The upper town and the fortress were entirely
destroyed, while the peasants of the surrounding district were made to
pull down the fortress. Clermont and its dependencies were added to the
national domain in 1790. In 1792, Clermont was occupied by the Austrian
and Hessian troops under Hohenlohe. On September 11, enemy hussars
surprised and captured some French troops near Clermont, who, while
foraging, had lost their way in the fog; they also surrounded a company
of infantry in the gardens of the town. On September 20, the French, who
were holding the pass of Les Islettes, took their revenge on the
Hessians. The latter, held up by the fire of the French artillery, were
forced to retreat, and the sharpshooters, under Marceau, drove them back
to the gardens of Clermont.
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. GENERAL VIEW OF RUINS, SEEN FROM THE
TERRACE OF THE CHURCH]
In 1914, Clermont was occupied by German troops of the Crown Prince’s
Army. The town was almost deserted, with the exception of the old men’s
asylum, in which the pensioners remained under the care of Sister
Gabrielle. During the night of September 4, the 121st and 122nd
Wurtemberg Regiments broke in the doors of the houses with the butt-ends
of their rifles and pillaged the town. At the asylum, after smashing the
doors, officers entered with revolvers in their hands, but Sister
Gabrielle, surrounded by her nuns and the inmates, received the
invaders, and by her firm demeanour won their respect. In the rest of
the town the pillaging went on throughout the day. About noon 3 German
soldier started an incendiary fire; everything was burned or destroyed,
with the exception of the asylum, which owed its escape to Sister
Gabrielle.
_At the Place de la Mairie turn to the right into the Grand Rue._
To visit the interesting church of St. Didier (_hist. mon._) _climb the
rather steep Rue Casimar-Bonjour (accessible to motor-cars), to the
terrace on which stands the church_. Very fine view.
The Church of St. Didier dates from the 16th century. The date of the
choir (1530) is carved on the keystone of the vaulting. The three naves
and main portal were added in 1596. However, the building as a whole is
pointed-flamboyant in style, the ogive being preserved in the arches,
vaultings and transept. The Renaissance style appears only in the
decoration of the capitals, the consoles in the interior, and the doors.
The western façade is late Renaissance, and must have been completed
about the beginning of the 17th century. Its two arched portals retain
their old wooden folding-doors ornamented with rose-headed nails. Above,
in a niche surmounted by a fine rose-window is a modern statue. On the
south an ancient corner turret was rebuilt in 1728. The façade bears the
escutcheon and crowned monogram of Henri de Lorraine, Duke of Bar.
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. OLD WOMAN CONTEMPLATING THE RUINS OF
HER HOUSE, RUE CASIMIR-BONJOUR, NEAR CHURCH]
The interior of the choir is imposing. The apse is six-sided--rather an
uncommon arrangement.
In the “Chapelle des Morts,” which opens off the northern nave, near the
transept, there is a Renaissance tomb with a remarkable bas-relief;
below is depicted a nude body lying in a grave, being devoured by worms;
above, three successive panels represent the Weighing of Souls, the
Mirror of Death, and Purgatory. Each subject is accompanied by an
inscription in French verse carved in fine black Gothic characters.
There are few sculptural representations of Purgatory earlier than the
16th century, and this is one of the earliest examples to be found.
=The Presbytery.=--The Presbytery, standing in a narrow street which runs
along the south side of the church, is an old wooden building, the
interior of which is in a perfect state of preservation. In it is kept
an earthenware model dating from 1530, which was brought from the Chapel
of St. Anne. This model, attributed to Ligier Richier, represents the
Virgin receiving the body of Christ after it had been taken down from
the Cross. It has been imperfectly restored and painted.
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. SOUTH-EAST FRONT OF CHURCH]
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. 15TH CENTURY CHURCH. RENAISSANCE
PORTAL]
=Chapel of St. Anne.=--Above the church, on the top of the St. Anne
Plateau, where the fortress used to stand, there now remains only an
unpretending chapel, much frequented by pilgrims. The building has a
wooden front, surmounted by a small steeple, and a stone choir with
pointed vaulting, the flamboyant ornament being in the same style as
that of the St. Didier Church. Four ancient elms give shade to the
parvis and rise high above the steeple. Inside is a sepulchre with six
almost life-size statues, acquired in 1829 when the Church of the
Minimes of Verdun was pulled down. Three only of these statues, the
three Maries, all painted, are late 16th century. The finest, which is
in the centre, is attributed by some to Ligier Richier, but this
appreciation is open to question. Near by there is a hermitage, which at
the beginning of the 17th century belonged to the Benedictines, and
later to the Franciscans. In 1845, the town of Clermont acquired the
whole plateau, the promenade, hermitage, and the chapel. From the
plateau--the highest point in the Argonne--there is a fine and very
extensive view over the Forest of Argonne on the left, and the Forest of
Hesse on the right, while the Vauquois-Montfaucon ridge appears in the
distance.
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. CHURCH NAVE, SEEN FROM NORTH AISLES]
[Illustration: CLERMONT-EN-ARGONNE. THE ENTOMBMENT IN THE CHAPEL OF ST.
ANNE, ON THE PLATEAU OVERLOOKING ST. MENEHOULD]
_Return to and follow the Grand Rue which, outside the town, becomes N.
3 and runs alongside the railway to_ =Les Islettes= (_5 km. 800_).
This large market town marks the centre of the valley. In 1789, Arthur
Young, in his “Travels in France,” described it as a “heap of mud and
manure.” Since then it has been drained and embellished. Thatched roofs
are still common there. Its glass-making industry, which formerly
flourished, has greatly declined.
On September 17-20, 1792, while the Prussian Army was advancing towards
the Châlons road and fighting at Valmy, the Austro-Hessians of the
Landgrave of Hesse and of Hohenlohe Kirchberg made two demonstrations
against Les Islettes, but were promptly checked by the French. During
the action of September 20, a bullet killed a gunner near the Landgrave,
who was himself unhorsed.
In 1914, the tunnel of Les Islettes, though mined, was intact on
September 3 when the Germans took the village. A fortnight later the
Germans, driven northwards by the French, evacuated the village. The
Crown Prince, unable to resign himself to the loss of this capital
position on the Châlons-Verdun road and railway, for a whole year (until
the French offensive of September, 1915, in Champagne) made strenuous
efforts to retake Les Islettes, in order to cut this important railway
and turn Verdun. However, his numerous attempts to crush in the French
line all failed. Only once (June 29, 1915) did his troops seriously
threaten the position. On that occasion they got within 8 km. of the
station, but a formidable barrage by the 75’s held them, and French
reserves hurriedly brought up soon drove them back beyond the
Four-de-Paris. Throughout the war the town was an important military
centre, General Headquarters, and food, clothing, and munitions depôts
being established there.
[Illustration: LES ISLETTES, AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT]
The town, which was somewhat damaged by the bombardments, contains a
very large French military cemetery.
_Outside the town, the road climbs a steep slope and enters the forest._
Pretty view of Les Islettes and the Forest of Argonne (_on the left_).
_N. 3 next reaches_ =Grange-aux-Bois= (_5 km. beyond Les Islettes_), which
takes its name from a house and grange, formerly the den of a gang of
cutthroats who were wiped out in 1514.
The church is of no particular architectural interest, although it
contains some curious statues, notably that of St. Nicolas (18th
century) over the altar in the right aisle.
=St. Menehould= _is next reached_ (_3-1/2 km._), after a pleasant run down
the shady Avenue Victor Hugo, _which crosses the Aisne_.