LOUIS XIV, GLOBAL MONARCH. PHILIP MANSEL IN CONVERSATION WITH SAVILIAN DAVID OLDROYD-BOLT.

Philip Mansel, in conversation with David Oldroyd-Bolt, discusses Louis XIV’s projection of French hard and soft power throughout his reign and throughout the world, in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Africa and Asia. From the Mississippi to the Mekong he seized territory and used French travellers, merchants and missionaries to spread French trade, French prestige,  and the French language . Versailles became a global hub and travel destination as well as a royal residence. Louis XIV was just as interested in Europe and the world as in France. Thanks to Louis XIV, France acquired three new provinces, Flanders, Alsace and Franche Comte and Lille, Strasbourg and Besancon became French cities. Unlike Napoleon, Louis XIV left France  larger than he found it.

Dr. Philip Mansel (www.philipmansel.com) is the author of fourteen books on France and the Middle East, including histories of Constantinople and nineteenth century Paris. Seven have been translated into French. He is President of the Scientific Committee of the Research Centre of the Chateau de Versailles and a Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, London. In 2012 he won the London Library Life in Literature award and in 2019 the Franco-British Book Prize. In 1995 he was a co-founder of the Society for Court Studies (www.courtstudies.org).