- Varennes-en-Argonne
:"For other uses of the term Varennes, see
Varennes (disambiguation) ".Varennes-en-Argonne or simply Varennes is a city and commune in the French "département" ofMeuse . Population (1999): 691.Geography
Varennes-en-Argonne lies on the river Aire to the northeast of
Sainte-Menehould , near Verdun.History
It was the scene of the
Flight to Varennes : In June1791 Louis XVI, with his immediate family, made a dash for the nearest friendly border, that of Austrian Belgium (Queen Marie-Antoinette being a sister to the Austrian emperor, Leopold II). But in Varennes Louis and his family were arrested, by Citizen Drouet, the local postmaster, who had been alerted by a message received from nearbySainte-Menehould . It is said that atSainte-Menehould , where the escaping party had spent the previous night, a merchant alerted the town authorities of their presence after recognizing the King's face on a coin, as Louis tried to buy something from a shop. Once more France's king, queen, and dauphin (crown prince) returned to theTuileries in humiliating captivity, and Louis and Marie-Antoinette were subsequently executed on the guillotine. The dauphin probably died in prison in 1795.
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