In 1667 Louis XIV claimed Franche-Comté as a consequence of his marriage to Marie-Thérèse of Spain. As part of the War of Devolution, French troops arrived in the area in 1688. The town authorities tried to argue that it was neutral in any hostilities as it was an Imperial City, something that the French commander, the Prince de Conde, rejected as archaic. The French agreed to very generous surrender terms with the town authorities, which included transferring the university from the then still recalcitrant Dole. There were also rumours that the regional Parlement may be transferred from Dole. The City also laid down that it would be left the relic of a fragment of the holy winding sheet, and that Protestants should not have liberty of conscience in the same way as they then had in the rest of France.