“A dazzling collection of early modern artworks and a major interdisciplinary achievement between social history and art history that uncovers, for the first time, how and why the French Sun King Louis XIV shaped his propaganda on the enslavement of Mediterranean Muslims. A masterpiece!”
—M’hamed Oualdi, Sciences Po, Paris
"Superbly illustrated, The Sun King at Sea is a tour de force of the historical imagination that deploys the resources of social and cultural history and of material and visual culture to reveal and portray the enslavement of Muslims for Louis XIV’s Mediterranean galley fleet. Martin and Weiss’s approach to a disturbing subject too long hidden in plain sight is unflinchingly illuminating yet humane."
—Colin Jones, Queen Mary University of London
“This is not only an original and archivally rich study but also an unsettling and necessary one. The authors combine rigorous historical research with fresh and insightful visual analysis to chronicle the violence, coercion, and suppression that underpinned the fabric of Louis XIV’s navy and the diplomatic, material, and symbolic structures of his reign. Martin and Weiss’s book is a must-read for all students and scholars of the Sun King’s court as well as those interested in slavery, maritime power, and society in early modern Europe.”
—Mark Ledbury, Director of the Power Institute, The University of Sydney
“An indispensable and original book that centers the Mediterranean Sea in the visual and ornamental imaginary of the so-called Grand Siècle; interprets maritime vessels as pluralistic micro-societies and vehicles of royal propaganda, and locates the roots of Orientalism in an early-modern Turquerie complicated by the longstanding presence of slavery and Islam in France. A must-read!”
—Anne Lafont, directrice d'études à l'EHESS
2023 Winner of The David H. Pinkney Prize
Honorable Mention for The Mediterranean Seminar Best Book Prize 2023
“The 'Sun King' Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715) was not only one of the most cultured kings of France, but one of the cruellest. . . . As Meredith Martin and Gillian Weiss show in this remarkable publication, he used enslaved people to row his galleys.”
~Philip Mansel, The Art Newspaper
“Their book seeks to challenge this persistent myth, largely by focusing on Mediterranean maritime art—that which depicted, and celebrated, Louis XIV’s rule, as exercised over the waterway that connected Europe, Africa, and Asia.”
~James Devitt, NYU News
“With its resonance to contemporary issues, thoroughly researched evidence, rich discursive endnotes, and lucid prose, The Sun King at Sea is an important resource for scholars and students alike, offering a deeper understanding of French art and politics through its retrieval of complex relationships among enslaved laborers, artists, and the aristocracy in the early modern Mediterranean.”
~Dana V. Hogan, caa.reviews
“The present engagingly written, beautifully illustrated, comprehensively researched and documented volume examines the manifold ways in which galleys and their rowers, important components of Louis XIV’s maritime endeavors, were represented visually.”
~P. D. Thomas, Choice
“Martin and Weiss's exploration of this challenging material, and the language they employee, is commendable.”
~Wolf Burchard, Apollo
“[A] long-overdue book on the impact of Mediterranean galley slavery on the arts in Louis XIV’s France.”
~Gauvin Alexander Bailey, The Burlington Magazine
“Martin and Weiss thus provide a convincing approach that is sure to inspire maritime historians and renew multiple fields of study.”
~Pauline Rocca, International Journal of Maritime History
“Beyond pleasure cruises on small crafts, the aquatic entertainments at Versailles included naumachia, a type of ancient Roman entertainment based on staged sea battles. . . . This naval display also had an unsettling history. As uncovered in Meredith Martin and Gillian Weiss’s The Sun King at Sea, these fleets were not only powered by salaried rowers and convicts but also by enslaved laborers.”
~J. Cabelle Ahn, artnet
