Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban (May 15, 1633 - March 30, 1707), commonly referred to as Vauban was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for both his ability to design fortifications and to break through them.

Table of contents

1 Biography 2 Fortifications 3 Works 4 External link

Biography

Vauban was born in Saint-Léger-de-Foucheret (renamed Saint Léger Vauban in his honor), in the département of Yonne, in Burgundy, France, into a family of minor nobility.

Although indispensable to Louis XIV, Vauban boldly stretched his goodwill on several occasions. In 1685, Vauban vocally condemned the repeal of the edict of Nantes. It appears that his opposition was mostly made on economic grounds. In the 1690s, he conducted a comprehensive census of Flanders and other areas of France, which earned him his nickname as the "French Petty". A prolific writer on many subjects, e.g. forestry, pig breeding, monetary policy, colonization, etc., Vauban was made an honorary member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Dismayed by the inefficiency of Colbertism, Vauban's 1707 tract called for the repeal of all taxes and the imposition of a single tax of 10% on all land and trade with no exemptions. He backed up his argument with a mass of statistics. It was not well-received at the time (the king shunned him thereafter), but it inspired later Enlightenment economists, such as Forbonnais, Mirabeau and the Physiocrats.

He was made Marshal of France on January 14, 1703.

He died in Paris, of an inflammation of the lungs.

Fortifications

Between 1667 to 1707, Vauban upgraded the fortifications of around 300 cities, including:

• Arras
• Belfort
• Briançon
• Brisach
• Landau
• Lille
• Maubeuge
• Sarrelouis

He built 37 new fortresses, and fortified military harbors, including:

• Toulon
• Perpignan
• Rochefort
• Brest
• Dunkerque
• Quebec (La Citadelle)

Works

• De l'attaque et de la défense des places ("On Siege and Fortification") (1737, many reprints since).
• A Manual of Siegecraft and Fortification, transl. George A. Rothrock, (Ann Arbor, 1968).

External link

• Marshal Vauban Homepage (much detail)