The greatest art patron of his age, Louis XIV made of Versailles a showroom for the glory of France and a travel destination for Europeans, and encouraged women’s education. Yet he launched four European wars and killed French Protestants and banned their religion. In his new biography King of the World, Philip Mansel sees Louis XIV as global and European as well as French, and leaves readers to decide whether he made France stronger or weaker.
Chaired by Prof. Tim Blanning, Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge.
