A military campaign or raid, especially one involving soldiers quartered on the civilian population; a harsh or violent coercive action by authorities.
From French 'dragonnade,' derived from 'dragon' (a cavalryman or soldier). The term specifically refers to the dragonnades—persecution campaigns by Louis XIV of France, particularly against Huguenots in the 1680s, where troops were billeted to terrorize religious minorities.
The 'dragonnades' were one of history's first uses of quartering soldiers as a deliberate persecution tactic—the term itself became synonymous with state-sponsored terror through billeting, making it a cautionary word.
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