Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Commercy

COMMERCY, a town of France in the department of Meuse, at the head of an arrondissement, on the left bank of the Meuse, twenty miles east of Bar-le Due. It possesses n castle built in 1708 and now used as cavalry barracks, a Benedictine convent occupied by the prefecture, a hospital rebuilt in the 18th century, and a cloth-market. Its public walks are very fine, and lead out in various directions to pleasant suburban villages. The industrial establish ments include foundries, lime-kilns, and a cotton factory ; and the trade runs mainly on cattle, grain, wood, and basket-work. Population, 4191.

Commercy dates "back to the 9th century, and at that time its lords were dependent on the bishop of Metz. In 1544 it was besieged by Charles V. in person. For some time the lordship was in the hands of Cardinal de Retz, who lived in the town for a number of years, and there composed his memoirs. From him it was purchased by Charles IV., duke of Lorraine, who bestowed it on his daughter Anne on her marriage with the prince of Ile-Boune. In the beginning of the 18th century it formed a principality under the prince of Vaudemont, and in-1744 it became the residence ot Stanislas, king of Poland, who spent a great deal of care on the embellishment of the town and neighbourhood. A description of his improvements is given in the Journal dcs Savants for 1752.