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WINNER: Society for the Study of French History First Book Prize
This book closely analyses the rise and fall of Louis XIV's marine insurance institutions in Paris, which were central to the French monarchy's efforts to stimulate commerce, colonial enterprise and economic growth. These institutions were the projects of two leading ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his son, the Marquis de Seignelay. While both men recognised that marine insurance was crucial for protecting commercial investment in French maritime endeavours, Colbert looked to private enterprise to lure capital away from passive investments in state debt towards the marine insurance industry. Seignelay, by contrast, leveraged the tools of privilege on which the French economy was built by creating the first chartered company in the history of marine insurance. In exploring the global insurance portfolios of the men and women who joined these institutions - and the conflicts that arose when maritime incidents came into dispute - the book identifies the absolute monarchy itself as the source of the institutions' struggles. While the markets of Amsterdam and London thrived in the long run, Parisian insurers were made to bear the burden of maritime and colonial losses during Louis XIV's costly wars to make up for the state's inadequate protection of French shipping, the French Atlantic empire and the Parisian market. This encapsulates, the book argues, the overarching system of risk management that lay at the heart of absolutism itself.
The ebook edition of this book is openly available under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.
This book closely analyses the rise and fall of Louis XIV's marine insurance institutions in Paris, which were central to the French monarchy's efforts to stimulate commerce, colonial enterprise and economic growth. These institutions were the projects of two leading ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his son, the Marquis de Seignelay. While both men recognised that marine insurance was crucial for protecting commercial investment in French maritime endeavours, Colbert looked to private enterprise to lure capital away from passive investments in state debt towards the marine insurance industry. Seignelay, by contrast, leveraged the tools of privilege on which the French economy was built by creating the first chartered company in the history of marine insurance. In exploring the global insurance portfolios of the men and women who joined these institutions - and the conflicts that arose when maritime incidents came into dispute - the book identifies the absolute monarchy itself as the source of the institutions' struggles. While the markets of Amsterdam and London thrived in the long run, Parisian insurers were made to bear the burden of maritime and colonial losses during Louis XIV's costly wars to make up for the state's inadequate protection of French shipping, the French Atlantic empire and the Parisian market. This encapsulates, the book argues, the overarching system of risk management that lay at the heart of absolutism itself.
The ebook edition of this book is openly available under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.
Price: $39.95
Pages: 376
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Boydell Press
Publication Date:
17 October 2023
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9781837650217
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
HISTORY / Europe / France, European history, HISTORY / Modern / 17th Century, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Insurance / General, General and world history
This book deploys substantial archival research in a highly technical field - seventeenth-century marine insurance - and clearly demonstrates the significance of the Paris chamber of commerce for Louis XIV's monarchy and its European rivals. Privilege, Economy and State in Old Regime France situates its case study within wider historical debates about economic policy, state formation and conflict resolution in the early modern world to make a broader argument about the financial resilience of the absolute monarchy, within the limits of political will. It is beautifully written, and has found some wonderful source material that introduces its characters effectively and makes a book about insurance compelling reading.
— PANEL OF SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF FRENCH HISTORY FIRST BOOK PRIZE
Wade's book is a fascinating and revealing dive into this underexplored world and... he manages to address a range of issues that were important at the time and are somewhat ignored by historians of the French state. The author engages actively and directly with multiple historiographical fields, whose practitioners would benefit greatly from reading it: the history of absolute monarchy, of privileged commercial companies and manufacturers, of colonies and empire, and of French legal history.
— INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY
Wade's study is a meticulously researched history of the early French marine insurance industry, demonstrating a deep knowledge of sources and literature and a keen eye for detail. It focuses on the key institutions while not neglecting private business involvement in this increasingly important sector... a very well-written, vividly presented, and highly informative study that significantly enriches the existing body of research on early modern marine insurance.
Wades Studie ist eine mit großer Quellen- und Literaturkenntnisund viel Liebe zum Detail gearbeitete Geschichte der Frühzeitdes französischen Seeversicherungswesens, konzentriert aufdie maßgeblichen Institutionen, das private geschäftlicheEngagement in diesem immer wichtiger werdenden Sektorallerdings nicht ausklammernd... eine sehr gut geschriebene, anschaulich präsentierte und äußerst informative Studie, die den bestehenden Forschungsstand zur frühneuzeitlichen Seeversicherung erheblich bereichert.
— FRANCIA RECENSIO
Wade's book is a welcome reminder that there are many early modern business archives like these waiting to be uncovered, and that studying them fairly first involves divesting ourselves from our own assumptions about profit and loss, success and failure.
— AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
Lewis Wade's Privilege, Economy, and State in Old Regime France offers historians a detailed overview of two maritime insurance initiatives founded in late seventeenth-century Paris. The book is excellent and ranges widely.
— H-NET REVIEWS, H-WAR
Lewis Wade's book offers a valuable and distinctive perspective on the nature of finance, trade, power and privilege in Louis Quatorzian France.
— FRENCH HISTORY
Lewis Wade has produced a first-rate study that surely stands among the best on the reign of Louis XIV in recent years.
— CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
It stands as a significant contribution to the field, finally providing a much-needed extensive and quantitative study on French insurance institutions and markets during the late seventeenth century.
— THE MARINER'S MIRROR
Összességében Lewis M. Wade könyve fontos hozzájárulás a kora újkori francia történelem kutatásához. Az „abszolutizmus mint kockázatkezelés" koncepciója új nézőpontot kínál, mivel túllép a hagyományosan politikai fókuszú értelmezések korlátain, és az abszolút monarchia működését összetettebb, pénzügyi-intézményi keretben vizsgálja.
Overall, Lewis M. Wade's book is an important contribution to the study of early modern French history. His concept of "absolutism as risk management" offers a new perspective, as it goes beyond the limitations of traditionally politically focused interpretations and examines the functioning of absolute monarchy in a more complex, financial-institutional framework.
— VILÁGTÖRTÉNET
— PANEL OF SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF FRENCH HISTORY FIRST BOOK PRIZE
Wade's book is a fascinating and revealing dive into this underexplored world and... he manages to address a range of issues that were important at the time and are somewhat ignored by historians of the French state. The author engages actively and directly with multiple historiographical fields, whose practitioners would benefit greatly from reading it: the history of absolute monarchy, of privileged commercial companies and manufacturers, of colonies and empire, and of French legal history.
— INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY
Wade's study is a meticulously researched history of the early French marine insurance industry, demonstrating a deep knowledge of sources and literature and a keen eye for detail. It focuses on the key institutions while not neglecting private business involvement in this increasingly important sector... a very well-written, vividly presented, and highly informative study that significantly enriches the existing body of research on early modern marine insurance.
Wades Studie ist eine mit großer Quellen- und Literaturkenntnisund viel Liebe zum Detail gearbeitete Geschichte der Frühzeitdes französischen Seeversicherungswesens, konzentriert aufdie maßgeblichen Institutionen, das private geschäftlicheEngagement in diesem immer wichtiger werdenden Sektorallerdings nicht ausklammernd... eine sehr gut geschriebene, anschaulich präsentierte und äußerst informative Studie, die den bestehenden Forschungsstand zur frühneuzeitlichen Seeversicherung erheblich bereichert.
— FRANCIA RECENSIO
Wade's book is a welcome reminder that there are many early modern business archives like these waiting to be uncovered, and that studying them fairly first involves divesting ourselves from our own assumptions about profit and loss, success and failure.
— AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
Lewis Wade's Privilege, Economy, and State in Old Regime France offers historians a detailed overview of two maritime insurance initiatives founded in late seventeenth-century Paris. The book is excellent and ranges widely.
— H-NET REVIEWS, H-WAR
Lewis Wade's book offers a valuable and distinctive perspective on the nature of finance, trade, power and privilege in Louis Quatorzian France.
— FRENCH HISTORY
Lewis Wade has produced a first-rate study that surely stands among the best on the reign of Louis XIV in recent years.
— CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
It stands as a significant contribution to the field, finally providing a much-needed extensive and quantitative study on French insurance institutions and markets during the late seventeenth century.
— THE MARINER'S MIRROR
Összességében Lewis M. Wade könyve fontos hozzájárulás a kora újkori francia történelem kutatásához. Az „abszolutizmus mint kockázatkezelés" koncepciója új nézőpontot kínál, mivel túllép a hagyományosan politikai fókuszú értelmezések korlátain, és az abszolút monarchia működését összetettebb, pénzügyi-intézményi keretben vizsgálja.
Overall, Lewis M. Wade's book is an important contribution to the study of early modern French history. His concept of "absolutism as risk management" offers a new perspective, as it goes beyond the limitations of traditionally politically focused interpretations and examines the functioning of absolute monarchy in a more complex, financial-institutional framework.
— VILÁGTÖRTÉNET
Introduction
Part 1: Insurance, Privilege and Commercial Policy
1 The Royal Insurance Chamber and Colbertian Commercial Policy, 1664-1683
2 The Royal Insurance Company and Privilege in Post-Colbertian Commercial Policy, 1683-c. 1700
3 'Over thirty leagues from the sea': Paris, Information Asymmetries and State Intervention
Part 2: War, Maritime Commerce and Empire
4 Underwriting in War and Peace: Fortune and Failure in the Royal Insurance Chamber, 1668-1672
5 In the Absence of the State: The Royal Insurance Company, the Atlantic Empire and Neutral Shipping, 1686-1698
Part 3: Law, Conflict Resolution and the Absolute Monarchy
6 'In the time of the Ordonnance': Insurance, Law and Maritime Jurisdiction
7 'Impavidum ferient': Reputation, Conflict Resolution and State Propaganda in the Royal Insurance Chamber, 1668-1686
8 'Nec hostes nec mare terrent': Reputation, Conflict Resolution and Privilege in the Royal Insurance Company, 1686-1701
Conclusion: Privilege at a Premium
Appendix I (online)
Appendix II (online)
Bibliography
Index
Part 1: Insurance, Privilege and Commercial Policy
1 The Royal Insurance Chamber and Colbertian Commercial Policy, 1664-1683
2 The Royal Insurance Company and Privilege in Post-Colbertian Commercial Policy, 1683-c. 1700
3 'Over thirty leagues from the sea': Paris, Information Asymmetries and State Intervention
Part 2: War, Maritime Commerce and Empire
4 Underwriting in War and Peace: Fortune and Failure in the Royal Insurance Chamber, 1668-1672
5 In the Absence of the State: The Royal Insurance Company, the Atlantic Empire and Neutral Shipping, 1686-1698
Part 3: Law, Conflict Resolution and the Absolute Monarchy
6 'In the time of the Ordonnance': Insurance, Law and Maritime Jurisdiction
7 'Impavidum ferient': Reputation, Conflict Resolution and State Propaganda in the Royal Insurance Chamber, 1668-1686
8 'Nec hostes nec mare terrent': Reputation, Conflict Resolution and Privilege in the Royal Insurance Company, 1686-1701
Conclusion: Privilege at a Premium
Appendix I (online)
Appendix II (online)
Bibliography
Index