Portrait: Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, military engineer and Marshal of France

2 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Portrait, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban by Hyacinthe Rigaud © Georgius LXXXIX/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban by Hyacinthe Rigaud © Georgius LXXXIX/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban, commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them. He also advised Louis XIV on how to consolidate France’s borders, to make them more defensible. Vauban made a radical suggestion of giving up some land that was indefensible to allow for a stronger, less porous border with France’s neighbours.   read more…

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