Why did Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz travel to Paris in 1672?

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Engraved portrait of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz with long curly hair, wearing a buttoned coat and cravat, facing forward. — Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, engraving, c. 1701.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz traveled to Paris in 1672 as part of a diplomatic mission commissioned by the prince elector and archbishop of Mainz, Johann Philipp von Schönborn.1

At the time, King Louis XIV of France posed a significant threat to the Holy Roman Empire. To mitigate this danger, the archbishop hoped to divert the French king's interests by proposing a project for an expedition into Egypt. Leibniz, who was in the service of the archbishop, was sent to Paris to help facilitate this proposal. Additionally, the mission was intended to promote the reunion of the church, a goal for which Leibniz sought the support of figures such as the theologian Antoine Arnauld.1