Louis XIV of France

:For the musical group of the same name, see Louis XIV (band).

War and the Low Countries

After Louis's father-in-law, Philip IV of Spain, died in 1665, his son (by his second wife), a sickly and mentally retarded child, became Charles II of Spain. Louis claimed that Brabant, a Spanish territory in the Low Countries, had "devolved" to his wife, Maria Theresa, Charles II's half-sister. Louis made the legal argument that the custom of Brabant required that a child should not suffer from his or her father's remarriage. He personally participated in the battles of the subsequent War of Devolution, which broke out in 1667. Louis saw as his primary enemy not Spain (which had little interest in Brabant and other Belgian territories), but the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (the Netherlands).

Related Topics:
Philip IV of Spain - Charles II of Spain - Brabant - Low Countries - War of Devolution - Republic of the Seven United Provinces - Netherlands

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Problems internal to the United Provinces aided Louis's designs on the Low Countries. The most prominent political figure in the United Provinces at the time, Johan de Witt, feared that power might come into the hands of William III, Prince of Orange. De Witt saw a naval war with France as potentially manageable, but a war on land would have allowed William III's army to intervene. Thus, France easily conquered both Flanders and the Franche-Comté. To protect itself from further French aggression, the United Provinces joined the Triple Alliance, with England and Sweden, in 1668. Faced with the joint naval and commercial power of England and the United Provinces, Louis agreed to make peace. Under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), France retained Flanders, but surrendered the Franche-Comté to Spain.

Related Topics:
Johan de Witt - William III, Prince of Orange - Flanders - Franche-Comté - Triple Alliance - England - Sweden - 1668 - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

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The Triple Alliance did not last very long. In 1670, Charles II secretly signed the Treaty of Dover, entering into a coalition with France; the two nations declared war on the United Provinces in 1672. Louis XIV's aggression forced Johan de Witt to resign, and allowed William III, Prince of Orange to take power. William III entered into an alliance with Spain, causing England to withdraw in 1674. William even married Mary, the niece of the English King Charles II. A peace was therefore hastened, and accomplished in 1678 with the Treaty of Nijmegen. Louis gained more territory in the Low Countries, and regained the Franche-Comté.

Related Topics:
1670 - Treaty of Dover - 1672 - 1674 - Mary - Charles II - 1678 - Treaty of Nijmegen

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The Treaty of Nijmegen improved France's influence in Europe, but did not satisfy Louis XIV. Louis dismissed his foreign minister, Simon Arnaud, Marquis de Pomponne, in 1679. He also kept up his army, but accomplished further increases in territory through judicial processes instead of military ones. Louis claimed that the territories ceded to him in previous treaties ought to be ceded along with all their dependencies and all lands which had formerly belonged to them, but had separated over the years. French "courts of reunion" were appointed to ascertain which territories belonged to France; the French troops later occupied them. The annexation of these lesser territories, however, was not Louis's primary aim. Louis actually desired to gain Strasbourg, an important strategic outpost. Strasbourg was a part of Alsace, but had not been ceded with the rest of Alsace in the Peace of Westphalia. It was nonetheless occupied by the French in 1681 under Louis's new legal pretext.

Related Topics:
Simon Arnaud, Marquis de Pomponne - 1679 - Strasbourg - Alsace - Peace of Westphalia - 1681

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