French "philosophe" Voltaire (1694–1778) had an enormous influence on the art of history writing. His best-known histories are "The Age of Louis XIV" (1751), and "Essay on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations" (1756). "My chief object," he wrote in 1739, "is not political or military history, it is the history of the arts, of commerce, of civilization – in a word, – of the human mind." He broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events, and emphasized customs, social history, and achievements in the arts and sciences. He was the first scholar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world, eliminating theological frameworks, and emphasizing economics, culture, and political history.