FAURIEL, CLAUDE CHARLES, a French philologist, historian, and critic, was b. at St. Etienne, in the department of Loire, 21st Oct., 1772, studied at the college des Ora toriens at Tournon, and afterwards at Lyon, and in 1799 was appciinted to a situation under Fouche; but, destitute of all political ambition or predilections, and passionately fond of learned studies, F. resigned his office in 1802, and devoted himself to the calmer pursuits of literature. He made himself familiar with Sanscrit, Arabic, and the trea sures of classical antiquity and of the middle ages; and although he did not write much, comparatively speaking, yet the value of what he did write cannot be easily over-esti mated. M. Henan may exaggerate when he affirms that F. " put in circulation the greatest number of ideas" of any contemporary writer; but even the Germans allow that in many points of literary history, criticism, and philology, F. was 20 years in advance of his age. After the July revolution, be was appointed a professor at the Sorbonne; in 1836, he published his chief work, Ilistoire de la Gaule ..ileridionale sous :6 Domination des Conguerants Germaine (4 vols., i'aris), which is reckoned one of the best specimens of historical investigation and art produced in modern times. Worthy of notice, also, particularly on account of its remarkable historical introduction, is his edition of the Provencal rhymed chronicle, entitled Ilistoire de la Croisade contre les Heritiques Albigeois (Paris, 1837). F. also contributed several important essays to the literaryjournals of France, of which, perhaps, the best known was that on the origin of the Epic of Chivalry in the middle ages. He died at Paris, 15th July, 1844. Two
years after his death appeared a collection of his professorial lectures, under the title of Histoire de la PAsie Provene;ale (3 vols., Paris, 1846), in F. endeavors, with great erudition and originality of criticism, to show that to the Provencals must be attributed the composition and primitive development of the greater portion of the romances of chivalry, including those which describe the contests of the Christians and Moors in Spain, and those which form the Charlemagne cycle, thus finding the origin of the old Spanish and German poetry on the soil of France. F.'s views have, however, met with considerable opposition.
in fortification, a low rampart encircling the body of a place, and raised about 3 ft. abov6 the level ground. This work has been mostly discarded by modern engineers, except when used in front of curtains, under the name of tenailles (q.v.). The French engineers gave this title to the work, as an adaptation from the Italian tertnfoisa. brew, which had its origin from the fausse-braye being commonly in the ditch, in front of the main wall. The fausse-braye had the advantage of giving an additional tier of guns for defensive purposes; but the. still greater disadvantage of affording facilities for the scaling of the parapet.