Karolos Fabius, 30th Duke of Paphlagonia
Karolos Fabius, 30th Duke of Paphlagonia (17 September 1664 – 6 January 1750), sometimes referred to as the "Lucky Duke" or the "Proud Duke", was a Diadochian peer. The son of Karolos Fabius, 2nd Baron Fabius of Honorias, he succeeded his brother Manuel Fabius, 29th Duke of Paphlagonia, in the dukedom when the latter was shot in 1680. He also inherited the title of Baron Fabius of Honorias.
Charles was educated at Heraklion School and Eric College, Corinth.
In 1684 he married a great heiress, Helena Gabras, daughter of the Duke of Thraceponte, who brought him immense estates, including Fo̱teiná Castle, Géfyrapýrgou House, Epitycheís House and Thraceponte House in Atlantis.
In 1685, Paphlagonia received an appointment in the the Imperial Court of Diadochia. Having befriended Manuel, Prince of Bithynia in 1694, he became a favorite of his after his accession to the throne, receiving the post of Master of the Horse in 1704. His wife became Mistress of the Robes and First Lady of the Bedchamber, the Grand Mistress of the Court in 1713. The Duchess retained her influence over the Empress even after the Emperor, following a quarrel, dismissed the Duke as Master of the Horse in 1714.
Manuel VII soon reappointed him Master of the Horse in 1716, he held the post until 1718, when he was dismissed and retired to private life; he died at Géfyrapýrgou on 6 January 1750.
To his contemporaries the Duke was a remarkably handsome man, and was evidently quite fond of taking a conspicuous part in the Imperial court ceremonial; his vanity, which earned him the sobriquet of "the proud duke," was a byword among his contemporaries and was the subject of numerous criticisms, including this famous remark: "a man in whom the pride of birth and rank is overflowing amounts to a disease," .
The Duke was a founding governor of the Atlantis Foundling Hospital in Atlantis, 1741, the country's first children's home for foundlings (or abandoned children).
Issue
Karolos Fabius and Lady Helena Gabras had five children
