1 October, 9.00am–5.30pm
Maison Française d’Oxford

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Convened by François-Joseph Ruggiu (Sorbonne Université/CNRS) 
& Perry Gauci (Lincoln College, Oxford)

For the past forty years, the study of trading conditions in 18th-century France has attracted keen interest. The bibliography is therefore extensive, but the question of the influence of the commercial class on the exercise of power remains understudied. The political history of the 18th century remains largely dominated by the narrative of an absolute monarchy struggling to reform itself and caught in a cycle of confrontations and negotiations with a class of landed magistrates increasingly out of touch with the aspirations of a rapidly changing society. However, British historiography has long used the term ‘monied interests’ to describe this transformation of men of wealth into a political influence or a capacity for action. They were able to make their voices heard not only through the House of Commons, but also through a whole range of institutions, such as the Bank of England and the East India Company. They also were vocal through forums for discussion at the lower echelons of political life. The workshop we are proposing aims to address the question of the power of money from a comparative perspective throughout the long 18th century. The speakers involved in this workshop will therefore examine about what and how the enrichment of merchants and bankers – particularly those linked to the empire – led them to become involved, either as a group or as individuals, in politics in the broadest sense of the term.

Programme

9am Coffee, welcome and introduction

Morning session

Session 1 
9.15-10.45am Chair: Joanna Innes (Somerville College, Oxford)

Clarisse Coulomb (Grenoble Alpes University), "The Merchant as Citizen : Urban Histories, Commercial Humanism and the Colonial Turn in Eighteenth-Century France"

Richard Huzzey (Durham University), "The Public Politics of Commerce and Empire: Hybridisation in practice, c. 1780-1834"

Session 2 
11am-12.30pm Chair : Perry Gauci (Lincoln College, Oxford)

Will Pettigrew (Lancaster University): “The Changing Organisational Structure of Britain’s Slave Trade, 1660-1770”

François-Joseph Ruggiu (Sorbonne University), “La représentation politique des communautés négociantes ultramarines - Caraïbes, seconde moitié du 18e siècle”

Afternoon session

Session 3 
2-3.30pm Chair : François-Joseph Ruggiu (Sorbonne Université)

Perry Gauci (Lincoln College, Oxford), “The Politics of Commercial Change: The Lobbying-Book of Thomas Wolrich of Leeds, 1773-4”

Caroline Le Mao (University Bordeaux-Montaigne),”Négocier l’Empire en temps de guerre : marchands, ressources coloniales et politique maritime sous Louis XIV”

Session 4 
3.45-5.15pm Chair : Katrina Navickas (Worcester College, Oxford)

Tom Leng (Sheffield University):  'Contesting the regulation of England's cloth export trade, 1640-1700' 

Nicolas Lyon-Caen (CNRS), “Les marchands orléanais de Cadix au début du 18e siècle : experts commerciaux de la monarchie ou poules aux œufs d’or pour les administrateurs royaux”

5.15pm Conclusions