n. [ F., fr. dragon dragoon, because Louis XIV., in persecuting the Protestants of his kingdom, quartered dragoons upon them. ] The severe persecution of French Protestants under Louis XIV., by an armed force, usually of dragoons; hence, a rapid and devastating incursion; dragoonade. [ 1913 Webster ]

He learnt it as he watched the dragonnades, the tortures, the massacres of the Netherlands. C. Kingsley.