Lewis Wade

Lewis Wade is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Leiden University’s Institute for History, specializing in economic, maritime, and global history with a focus on early modern France and its commercial networks. His research examines the intersections of state policy, insurance systems, and transcontinental trade under Louis XIV.

• PhD in History from the University of Exeter (2021)
• BA in History from the University of Cambridge (2016)

His book Privilege, Economy and State in Old Regime France (2023) won multiple prizes, analyzing marine insurance and state resilience during Louis XIV’s reign. Current projects include Franco-Ottoman cloth trade dynamics (1683–1715) and the economic role of Languedocian industries.

Key awards include the Society for the Study of French History First Book Prize and the Association of Business Historians’ Coleman Prize. His work is supported by grants from the European Research Council, Economic History Society, and Institute of Historical Research.