SOISSONS, an ancient, large, and considerable town, in the isle of France, and capital of the Soissonnois, with a bishop's see. The cathedral has one of the most considerable chapters in the kingdom; and the bishop, when the archbishop of Rheims is absent, has a right to consecrate the king. It has 12 parishes, 6 abbeys, and a French academy, founded in 1694; is seated in a very pleasant and fertile valley, on the river Aisne, 30 miles west of Rheims, and 60 north-east of Paris. E. Long. 3. 24. N. Lat. 49. 23. The Soissonnois is bounded on the north by Laonnois; on the east by Champagne; on the south by La Brie; and on the west by Valois. It bounds in corn, wood, and pastures.