Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism--the use of multiple languages in one geographical area--was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draws valuable lessons for understanding today's cosmopolitan societies.

This volume takes an interdisciplinary approach to distinguishing and analysing several different types of linguistic and foreign cultural policie pursued by European monarchies and states outside their own borders.

This multinational collection of essays challenges the traditional image of a monolingual Ancient Regime in Enlightenment Europe, both East and West.