ABRAHAM DE

See also:

• ABRAHAM DE FABERT (1599-166o)

FABERT (1599-166o)  , marshal of France, was the son of Abraham Fabert, seigneur de Moulins (d . 1638), a famous printer who rendered great services, civil and military, to Henry IV . At the age of fourteen he entered the Gardes francaises, and in 1618 received a commission in the Piedmont regiment, becoming major in 1627 . He distinguished himself repeatedly in the constant wars of the period, notably in La Rochelle and at the siege of Exilles in 163o . His bravery and engineering skill were again displayed in the sieges of Avesnes and Maubeuge in 1637, and in 1642 Louis XIII. made him governor of the recently-acquired fortress of Sedan . In 1651 he became lieutenant-general, and in 16J4 at the siege of Stenay he introduced new methods of siegecraft which anticipated in a measure the great improvements of Vauban . In 1658 Fabert was made a marshal of France, being the first commoner to attain that rank . He died at Sedan on the 17th of May 166o . See Histoire du marechal de Fabert (Amsterdam, 1697) ; P . Barre, Vie de Fabert (Paris, 1752) ; A . Feillet, Le Premier Marechal de France plebeien (Paris, 1869) ; Bourelly, Le Marechal Fabert (Paris, 188o) .