 Veuillez patienter... Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707)
Sébastien Le Prestre de VaubanSébastien le Prestre de Vauban was born the 4th of May 1633 in the region of Morvan, in Saint-Léger-de-Focheret. At the age of eighteen he became a cadet in the regiment of Condé. It's the period of the "Fronde of Princes" (The Slinging of Princes) animated by Louis de Bourbon, also known as ¿The Great Condé¿. He wan, during the rebellion, against queen Anne of Austria and her Prime Minister Cardinal Mazarin, in Recroi in 1643.
After the arrest of Condé in 1650, Vauban joined Mazarin and the young king Louis XIV. He leads his fist city siege in Argonne. Then, thanks to his studies, he will be proclaimed king's engineer in 1655.
Joining theory and practice he works very hard to improve the forts defences following the footsteps of Henry's IV engineers of fortifications (les Errard, Chastillon, de Beins, de Bonnefons). He improves, invents, implements; in 1705 he also writs a thesis about the attacks of the fortresses.
He is appointed general Lieutenant in 1688. The Marshal of France gives him his honours the 14th of January 1703. He devotes his entire carrier to the king and his kingdom : he builds or restores more than 300 fortresses, leads more than 50 sieges; some of his conquers are famous: Tournai, Douai, Lille, Maastricht, Mons, Besançon, Namur, Luxembourg, are some examples. |
|  | | Vauban in Cambrai Photo SHAT |
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| From 1673 he will fortify the kingdom which he will call "le pré carré". In Flandres and in the north, in Ardennes, Alsace, Rhénanie, in Franche-Compté, the Alps, Brittany, Roussillon, without forgetting the maritime front, all these locations have been fortified by Vauban. He created fortified places in Lille, Besançon, Belfort, etc.
He was a builder, a town planner, an engineer of the armament, a strategist and tactician, a manager, an economist and a civil engineer. In 1707 he publishes his project about the royal tithe, recommending a single tax. In 1689 he also wrote a report disapproving the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in the name of the freedom of conscience.
Exhausted by a life of immense work he dies the 30th of March 1707 in Paris. His body rests in the church of Bazoches ( Nievre ), close to the castle he acquired in 1675, his heart is deposited, since the 28th of May 1808 in the church of the Dome, in Invalides. It was Napoleon's decision to transfer it to Paris. |
| " After God the King is my great example and I will always carry out with joy every order he will give me.
Even if I would have to pay with my own life. "
Vauban , letter of Vauban to CHAMILLART,
Paris, 16th of January 1706.
Besiege city by Vauban : besieged city. City defended by Vauban, impregnable city. |
| | MINDEF/SGA/DMPA Daniel Bax Pierre Hervet 11/7/2002 |
Les lieux à découvrir sur le sujet
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Arras |
The citadel, the british memorial and the New-Zeland tunnel of Arras.
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Avallon, the statue of Marchall Vauban concieved by Bartholdi (89) |
| The 14th of July 1866 the committee of the monument of Vauban will invite Bartholdi in Avallon. It will opt right away for the initial project of the memorial conceived by the sculptor. It will then be presented to the mayor of the town : ... |
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Castle of Bazoches, Marshall Vauban's residence (58) |
| 10 kilometres from Vézelay, in the region of Morvan, discover the wonderful castle of Bazouches. This was the residence of Mashall Vauban. |
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Colmars-les-Alpes (04) |
| The site of Colmars-les-Alpes, a rocky outcrop in the Ubaye valley, is one of the interesting legacies of Vauban's task of fortifying the borders. |
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Condé sur l'Escaut |
| The fortifications of Condé sur l'Escaut |
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Ecomuseum Vauban, Saint-Léger-Vauban (89) |
| Natural regional park of Morvan. The ecomuseum of Vauban is made up of three different exhibition rooms, rich of illustrations and documentaries, where the life and the work of the Marshal are exhibited : Vauban from Morvan, the military engineer and a honest men of his century. |
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The Fort of Bertheaume (29) |
| The fort of Baertheaume watches over the entrance of the narrows of Brest. This sentry was forified by Vauban in th XVII century. |
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The fort of Bouc (13) |
| More known as the "Caserne Suffren de Martigues", and fort of Vauban, the fort of Bouc is located on the ancient small island of Bouc, at the entrance of the pond of Caront which is connect the Mediterranean Sea to the pond of Berre. |
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Fort St Nicolas (13) |
| Situated on the southern bank of the entrance to the Old Port of Marseille, this fort is in the form of a system with a double compound, moats and bastions. |
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Gravelines |
| The fortifications of Gravelines and the museum of drawing and original print |
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The citadel of Lille |
| The citadel of Lille and the museum of the sedentary gunners. |
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The Mont-Dauphin citadel (05) |
| Entirely built by Vauban from1693 onwards, the citadel was intended to prevent access from the Valley of the Durance by the troops of the Duke of the Savoie. |
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Fort Boyard (17) |
| Halfway between the island of Oléron and the island of Aix to which it is attached, the impressive silhouette of Fort Boyard stands proudly like a "stone warship" perched on the fortified reefs. |
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The Fort de la Conchée (35) |
| The Fort de la Conchée is anchored to the Rocher de Quincé. Forming part of the protection system for St Malo, it was a fortification designed to enable enemy ships to be taken from behind and thus protect the city. |
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The Fort de la Croix de Bretagne (05) |
| The Fort de la Croix de Bretagne was built at the end of the 19th century to protect the borders of the French alpine valleys, under threat from Italy. |
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The Fort de la Rade (17) |
| Le fort de la Rade owes its current appearance and name to work carried out in Napoleonic times. |
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The Fort de l'Infernet (05) |
| Culminating at 2,380 m, the Fort de l'Infernet is one of a group of forts and batteries constructed around Briançon from 1874 onwards. |
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Le fort de Saint-Elme (66) |
| Collioure est dominée par le fort de Saint-Elme, au sud du port du village. |
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Fort du Randouillet (05) |
| From its high position at an altitude of 1604 metres Fort du Randouillet's purpose was to protect the Fort des Têtes, whilst controlling access to the Cervières valley. |
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The garden of Réduit, Lille (59) |
| The fort of Réduit, which before was called fort Saint-Sauveur was build by Vauban between 1671-74. It had the objective to reinforce ... |
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Maubeuge |
| The high walls of Maubeuge |
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Montreuil sur mer |
| The citadel of Montreuil sur mer |
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Saint Pol sur mer |
| The military relicts and traces of Saint Pol sur mer |
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Ambleteuse |
| The fort Mahon d'Ambleteuse |
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Neuf-Brisach (68) |
| Created in 1697 after the loss of Vieux-Brisach across the Rhine, Neuf-Brisach is the only, yet magnificent, example of Vauban's third system. |
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Les forts de l'Esseillon ( 73 ) |
| Dominant la vallée de l'Arc sur deux km en amont de Modane, le contrefort rocheux de l'Esseillon, muraille naturelle d'une centaine de mètres de haut, barre l'accès à la vallée de la Hte-Maurienne et au col du Mont-Cenis... |
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The fortifications of île d'Aix (17) |
Off the mouth of the Charante, in the Strait of Antioche, discover the richness of the natural and historical heritage of the île d'Aix...
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Le Quesnoy (59) |
| The fortifications of Le Quesnoy ... |
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The Royal Fort Royal of the island of Sainte-Marguerite (06) |
| Situated in the Bay of Cannes, the royal fort, a state prison, played host to the Iron Mask from 1687 to 1688 and then, after the war, to Marshall Bazaine. |
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The forts têtes, Briançon (05) |
| In the department of Hautes-Alpes, in the heart of the southern Alps, Briançon controls from more than 1 300 meters of altitude the valley of Durance, of Guisane, of Clarée and the pass of Izoard and of Mont Genèvre. |
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Citadel of Blaye (33) |
| The citadel of Blaye, keystone of the defence device of La Gironde. |
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The castle of Joux (25) |
| The castle of Joux, testifys with its five fortified walls, the development of the fortifications during more than ten centuries. |
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The citadel of Bitche (57) |
| In Lorraine, in the north-east of the department of the Moselle, the citadel of Bitche rises up on a pink sandstone rock, in the heart of the village. |
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