War of Devolution The War of Devolution ( 1667 – 68 ) saw Louis XIV ' s French armies overrun the Habsburg - controlled Spanish Netherlands and the Franche - Comté , but forced to give most of it back by a Triple Alliance of England , Sweden , and the Dutch Republic in the Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle . Background . Upon the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661 , the 22 - year - old Louis XIV , who had nominally been king since 1643 , began to rule France in his own right . Having been raised in a culture that expected young princes to seek " glory " on the battlefield , Louis was looking for an opportunity to go to Spain . Louis believed that he had a pretext to go to war with Spain and allow him to claim the Spanish Netherlands ( present - day Belgium ) . However , Louis ' s claims to the Spanish Netherlands were tenuous : in 1659 , France and Spain had concluded the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ended 24 years of war between the two states . With the Treaty , King Philip IV of Spain had to cede certain territories , and also had to consent to the marriage of his daughter Maria Theresa of Spain to the young Louis XIV of France . Furthermore , it was agreed that with this marriage , Maria Theresa explicitly renounced all rights to her father ' s inheritance . As compensation , a dowry of 500 000 gold écu s was promised to the Bourbon Louis XIV ; this was not paid , however . When Philip IV died on 17 September 1665 , the French king immediately laid claim to parts of the Spanish Netherlands : the Duchies of Brabant and Limburg , Cambrai , the marquessate of Antwerpen , the Lordship of Mechelen , Guelders , the counties of Namur , Artois and Hainaut , a third of the County of Burgundy and a quarter of the Duchy of Luxembourg . Louis XIV justified this with the fact that the promised dowry had not been paid and that the French Queen ' s renunciation of her Spanish inheritance was therefore invalid . Accordingly , Louis argued , his wife ' s prior claims to her father ' s estate , properly " devolved " to her . French legal scholars concluded from this and the clause of ' devolution ' that the Spanish Netherlands should not go to the still underage heir to the Spanish throne Charles II of Spain , since he had been born as a result of the second marriage of Philip IV . Maria Theresa on the other hand was a result of his first marriage and was therefore entitled to the inheritance in Brabant , and , through her , Louis XIV . The Queen could not renounce this natural right for her children as well . Maria Theresa ' s stepmother , Queen Mariana of Spain , who was taking care of government business for her underage son along with her confessor Cardinal Johann Eberhard Neidhardt , rejected these claims , referring to the renunciation by Maria Theresa of all inheritance rights . At this , the French king began preparations for a new campaign against Spain . France was in a period of tremendous economic expansion and growth in the seventeenth century . Louis was able to take advantage of this new economic condition in France an with his able financial minister Colbert reorganise the government ' s finances to improve and expand the army from 50 , 000 to 80 , 000 men . Spain , on the other hand , was a fragmented nation struggling to cope with major economic problems . The discovery of gold in Spanish America and the importation of at least 9 million grams of gold into the Spanish economy had caused ruinous inflation ( rising 100 % during the first half of the sixteenth century ) in the Spanish economy throughout the whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . Political preparations . The international situation in 1667 was very advantageous for France . Spain had already been at war with Portugal for some years , a war that brought Spain a series of defeats and bound up a large portion of Spain ' s military potential France supported Portugal , support that ultimately led the two states to conclude an alliance on 31 March 1667 . Under this treaty , Spain was forced to recognise the independence of its former province — Portugal and give up all future attempts to conquer and re - annex Portugal . The United Provinces had been an ally of France in the recent Restoration War between Portugal and Spain . Indeed , France had , since 1560 , supported the Dutch in their war with Spain and both countries had entered into a defence alliance in 1662 . Louis XIV was anxious to gain the support of the United Provinces for a conquest of the Spanish Netherlands and therefore entered into negotiations . The United Provinces were at this time at war with England ( the Second Anglo – Dutch War ) , and in the States - General there were fears of a rapprochement between England and France , if they did not take up the French offers . The influential Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt suggested that the Spanish Netherlands be mutually divided . Such plans were already being debated from 1663 onwards . But the share of the Spanish Netherlands that Louis XIV demanded for himself alienated de Witt . Johan de Witt and his brother , Cornelis de Witt were leaders of the republican States Party of the United Netherlands . Although " republican " the States Party represented the interests of the rich merchant class of the United Provinces of the Netherlands . The de Witt brothers and the States Party had been in control of the government of the United Netherlands since 1650 . In opposition , to the States Party was the Orangist Party , which was the party of the royal family of the Netherlands — the House of Orange - Nassau . While the Orangists tended to be pro - English in their foreign policy orientation , the deWitt brothers and the States Party tended to be pro - French in their foreign policy . Consequently , when Louis XIV alienated the de Witt brothers by the size of his territorial demands in the Spanish Netherlands , he was alienating his traditional friends among the Dutch . Thus , no deal to split the Spanish Netherlands between France and the United Provinces was ever concluded . At the same time , the Spanish suggested setting up a combined army if the French invaded . The de Witt brothers believed Spanish military power to be weak however , and with the French emissary declaring candidly that a Dutch alliance with Spain would amount to a declaration of war on France , the de Witt brothers began to fear France more than Spain . Although the Franco - Dutch negotiations had not led to tangible results , Louis XIV was still convinced of the benevolence of the United Provinces . He promised them that he would mediate in the conflict with England and in the end himself declared war on England , although the French navy was not engaged to a very large extent . Therefore , the only remaining potential obstacle to French expansion was the Holy Roman Empire . As part of the Burgundian Circle , the Spanish Netherlands were subject of a special defence guarantee by the Empire , according to the agreement of Augsburg of 1548 between the Empire and Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor ( who was also King of Spain ) . In the event of an attack , the Imperial State s of the Reichstag could declare an imperial war on France . The French diplomats however were very intent on eliminating this threat . To this end , they availed themselves of the members of the League of the Rhine . Bilateral treaties were concluded with the Prince - Bishopric of Münster , the Archbishopric of Mainz , Palatinate - Neuburg , the Electorate of Brandenburg , the Electorate of Cologne , in which these Imperial States pledged to deny their territories to foreign troops and to push for imperial neutrality in the Reichstag . Thus , the planned French campaign was also protected against intervention of the Empire from the East . On 8 May 1667 Louis XIV transmitted to the Spanish court a declaration , in which he repeated his demands . This declaration was likewise advertised by the French ambassadors in every court in Europe . They were to present the campaign of the Sun King not as an invasion , but as an entry into lands that already rightfully belonged to him . The King himself called the invasion a " voyage " . War . After the Treaty of the Pyrenees the French armed forces had been sharply reduced to save costs . In 1665 they numbered only 50 , 000 men . As noted above , Louis XIV , however , authorised preparations by which the number of soldiers grew to 82 , 000 by the start of the war . In spring 1667 51 , 000 French soldiers , who had been raised in 4 days , deployed between Mézières and the sea . The main army consisted of 35 , 000 men personally commanded by Louis XIV . However , the actual commander was Maréchal Turenne . To the left of the main army , a further French corps drew up in Artois at the coast , under Maréchal Antoine d ’ Aumont de Rochebaron , whilst another corps under Lieutenant General François de Créquy , marquis de Marines , took over the protection of the main army on the right flank . All three armies were to enter the territories of the Spanish Netherlands at the same time , to take advantage of the French numerical superiority and not allow the Spanish to concentrate their defence against a single French force . Campaign in the Spanish Netherlands . On 24 May 1667 French forces crossed the border into the Spanish Netherlands . The latter were badly prepared for war and could not expect reinforcement from the mother country in the foreseeable future . Indeed , the military forces in the Spanish Netherlands were not centrally organised . Every large town had its own area of responsibility and went about the maintenance of its own defence arrangements , which in practice however meant that they were badly prepared for a siege . Their commanders were relatively independent and responsible only to the Statthalter Marquis of Castel Rodrigo , who also commanded the few regular Spanish troops . Apart from this , he only had militias at his disposal , which were however only available in the utmost emergency . Thus the small number of available troops did not permit the establishment of a field army . Therefore , the few available forces were posted in the strongholds of the country , to hold out as long as possible . For this reason , during the whole war , not one large battle was fought ; instead , small skirmishes and sieges ensued . On 10 May 1667 , Maréchal de Turenne had taken over the supreme command over the French forces . The first objective was the stronghold of Charleroi , which , due to its location on the Sambre , dominated the connection between the northern and southern Spanish possessions . The Marquis de Castel - Rodrigo did not have the means to hold this important position , and abandoned the fortress , after destroying all the fortifications . Maréchal de Turenne occupied Charleroi on 2 June and had the fortifications reconstructed by the prominent engineer Vauban , to advance from there against Mons or Namur . To this end , the whole main army encamped for 15 days around Charleroi . The Spanish strengthened the fortresses of Mons and Namur . However , Turenne bypassed Mons and took Ath on 16 June , which the Spanish troops left without putting up resistance , surprised by the unexpected French advance . The French extended the fortifications of this town as well . Maréchal de Turenne ' s objective was now to cut off all of Flanders , along with the capital city of Lille , from the large Spanish bases in the East ( Bruges , Ghent , Brussels , Namur ) . Therefore , he next turned to Tournai . On 21 June the main army reached the stronghold and surrounded it . It surrendered a few days later , and the French entered it on 25 June . After this , the main army marched westwards along the Scheldt and there successfully besieged Douai from 1 to 7 July . Meanwhile , further to the North the corps of the Maréchal d ’ Aumont de Rochebaron had also successfully advanced and , in taking the fortresses of Bergues ( 6 June ) and Furnes ( 12 June ) , had cut Flanders off from the sea . After this , Maréchal de Turenne had ordered this corps to attack Courtrai . This city was conquered on 18 July , and shortly after , the Spanish force in Oudenaarde also surrendered to d ' Aumont ' s troops ( 29 – 31 July ) . Through the French advances , Maréchal de Turenne had isolated the most important Spanish fortresses of Ypres , Lille and Mons . However , instead of immediately besieging these locations , he decided to first move against Antwerp , to capitalise on the weakness of the Spanish forces . This move however failed at Dendermonde , between Ghent and Brussels . The small stronghold of Dendermonde , defended by 2 , 500 Spanish , held out against the French army . Maréchal de Turenne therefore pulled back at the beginning of August via Oudenaarde and prepared to besiege Lille . This siege was the greatest undertaking of the entire campaign and lasted from 10 to 28 August , when the Spanish garrison capitulated in return for being allowed to freely withdraw . As the Marquis de Castel - Rodrigo had not yet been informed of the fall of the city , he sent another army of 12 , 000 men under the Marquis de Marchin , to relieve Lille . On 31 August this army came upon the corps of the French Marquis de Créquy , which Maréchal de Turenne had meanwhile drawn up to cover the siege . This battle was decided in favour of the French , and the troops of the Marquis de Marchin had to withdraw . After the taking of Lille , Maréchal de Turenne only undertook one further manoeuver . On 12 September he conquered the stronghold of Aalst , thus breaking the connection lines between Ghent and Brussels . After this , the French troops limited themselves to a loose blockade of Ypres and Mons , and on 13 October turned in to their winter quarters . The campaign had been a quick walkover by the mighty French against the feeble Spanish . The quick success of the French in the campaign had shocked the British and worried the Dutch . In Spain , preparations to dispatch a military force to Flanders had already begun in June . The government of the Regent raised more than one million pesos and appointed Juan José de Austria as commander of the intended army . His reputation as a general was already tarnished after a number of defeats in the war against Portugal , and as he assessed the conditions in the Spanish Netherlands pessimistically , he delayed the departure for weeks and months . His pretext for this was the decision of a theological commission , that had declared itself against an alliance with the Protestant countries , England and the Netherlands . In the end , further complications of domestic politics meant that the Spanish army never arrived in Flanders . Diplomatic turnaround . Operations were suspended in winter , and in this time , decisive shifts occurred in European politics . Spain attempted to put itself in a more advantageous position . First , the Spanish government asked the United Provinces for help . Above all , the Marquis de Castel - Rodrigo asked for financial support ( 2 million guilders ) ; in return , he offered to hand over the customs revenue of the trade on the Maas and the Scheldt to the United Provinces . The relinquishment of Bruges , Ostend and Damme was also discussed . De Witt , however , did not want to risk a direct confrontation with France and did not take up this offer of an alliance . Furthermore , Spain entered into negotiations with the Portuguese court and on 13 February 1668 agreed the Peace of Lisbon . Spain would therefore be able to use all its armed forces against France from the coming spring . To at least keep Emperor Leopold I out of the conflict , French diplomats entered secret negotiations with the court at Vienna . They offered the Emperor the partition of the Spanish Empire . King Charles II of Spain was a six - year - old child , whom no - one expected to live long , due to numerous physical and mental disablements . With him , the Spanish line of the Habsburgs would die out . The Emperor took up the offer . He was to receive Spain itself , along with its colonies and the Duchy of Milan . France , for its part , claimed the Spanish Netherlands , Franche - Comté , Navarre and the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily . The secret treaty of partition was agreed on 19 January 1668 . The Emperor thus no longer had any reason to go to war with France , as it only occupied territories that the Emperor had agreed it should have . The treaty was however not ratified by the Emperor in the following years , so as not to worsen relations with Spain any further . The rapid progress of the French in this war had , however , greatly alarmed the Dutch United Provinces . For almost a century ( 1560 – 1660 ) France and the Dutch United Netherlands had been allies against the Spanish . However , as France had become a formidable trading power in the world and a major competitor to United Provinces in world trade , the Dutch had become more and more worried about French intentions . This became especially clear in 1643 after the sensational victory of the French over the Spanish in the battle of Rocroy . Though they remained enemies of the Spanish monarchy , the Dutch began to wonder if " a tired and inactive Spain promised to be a better neighbor than a powerful and aggressive France " ( Lynn 1999 : 108 ) . The Dutch became more concerned about maintaining the Spanish Netherlands as a buffer state . The Netherlands , therefore , hurriedly ended their war , the Second Anglo - Dutch War ( or Second Navigation War ) with England . Despite the very successful conduct of the war , the Dutch signed the inconclusive Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667 . After this , they offered to mediate in the war between France and Spain . Louis XIV however rejected this in September and continued to try to persuade the Dutch to divide up the Spanish Netherlands with the French . These attempts were a failure , and Louis XIV played with the idea of a war against the Dutch . Now attempts were made by the Dutch to set up a coalition against France , to set a limit to the French expansion . It was not de Witt ' s intention to damage their good relations with France in doing so , however . Charles II of England had , after the Treaty of Breda , started secretly negotiating an alliance with France , which would be hostile to the United Provinces . But at the same time , he started negotiations with the United Provinces over a common alliance against France . In the former case , French subsidies would make him independent of the English Parliament ; in the latter case , his gain would be to have broken the Franco - Dutch alliance . Whilst Louis XIV rejected the English offer , De Witt was receptive . On 23 January 1668 , the United Provinces England and Sweden concluded the Triple Alliance , which declared aim was to bring about the Spanish relinquishment of certain territories in the Spanish Netherlands and to persuade France to limit its claims . A secret added protocol , however , also provided that , if the French king extended his claims or were to continue his campaign of conquest , the alliance would use force to push France back to the borders of 1659 . The Kingdom of Sweden had joined this alliance , to obtain urgently needed subsidies . At the same time , De Witt assured the French diplomats that this alliance was not aimed against France , but had the purpose of making Spain relinquish the specified territories . Nonetheless , Louis bore a deep resentment against the Dutch , an ally , for joining the Triple Alliance . The Dutch had betrayed France , he felt , and the betrayal had come after the French had supported the Dutch cause for independence on so many occasions in the past . Louis wanted revenge against the Dutch . Campaign in the Franche - Comté . In the coming summer campaign of the new year , 1668 , Louis XIV planned to conquer as many Spanish territories as possible , so as to use these as bargaining counters at any peace negotiations . To this end , he planned to take the Spanish Franche - Comté before the summer campaign . Franche - Comté was ripe for the picking by France , since it was isolated , and practically devoid of Spanish troops . There were for several reasons for the lack of Spanish troops at Franche - Comté . Firstly , France had usually respected the territory ' s neutrality and had done so in the last war against Spain . Furthermore , the Spanish generals did not expect an attack by the French in the middle of winter . Louis XIV instructed the Prince de Condé to undertake preparations for a winter campaign against the Franche - Comté . Condé had fallen into disgrace as a former opponent of the King during the Fronde and was entrusted with a military command in 1668 for the first time in 9 years . As the Governor of Burgundy , Condé was in the best position to prepare an attack against the County . To this end , a second army of newly - raised troops was set up . Louis XIV once again personally accompanied the campaign . The King left Saint - Germain on 2 February 1668 , to join up with the main army . It was at this point that he received news of the formation of the Triple Alliance ; he was also informed by a spy that its members would be prepared to declare war on France . Despite this , he persisted with the campaign , as he hoped to conquer territories that would be a suitable bargaining counter in later negotiations . General de Condé had started the invasion on 4 February , and on 7 February took Besançon , which also lay in Franche - Comté . On the same day a further French corps under General François - Henri de Montmorency , duc de Luxembourg ( 1628 – 1695 ) managed to take Salin . Both strongholds put up practically no resistance . After this , the French army concentrated on taking the town of Dole . This town did not surrender until 14 February after a short siege of four days , in which 400 – 500 French soldiers lost their lives . Five days later , on 19 February , the stronghold of Gray also fell to the French . Shortly before , the Spanish Marquis de Yenne had surrendered to the French king , and now persuaded the Governor of Gray to capitulate . Louis XIV returned to Saint - Germain , arriving on 24 February 1668 . After only 17 days , the whole County was occupied . The causes behind this quick success were surprise , and the fact that the Spanish were badly prepared . Furthermore , the local population tended to sympathise with the French , and mostly welcomed them . Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle . The conquest of the France - Comté was initially only supposed to be the prelude to a broad campaign in the spring . The army ' s size had been increased to 134 , 000 soldiers . The plan was that the King and the Maréchal de Turenne would conquer the remaining part of the Spanish Netherlands with 60 , 000 men . At the head of a force of 10 , 000 men , the brother of the King , Philippe I , Duke of Orléans ( 1640 – 1701 ) , was to advance into Catalonia , whilst the Prince de Condé , with 22 , 000 men , would defend against any potential offensive by the Holy Roman Empire in the dioceses of Metz , Toul and Verdun . But after Louis XIV had secured the Franche - Comté , in February 1668 , as a bargaining counter , the immediate question was whether he should bow to the demands of the Triple Alliance , or whether he should continue the war . The Marquis de Louvois , the Secretary of State for War , as well as Turenne and Condé were in favour of continuing the war , as the situation seemed advantageous , since the Spanish were significantly weakened . On the other hand , the foreign minister , Hugues de Lionne ( 1611 – 1671 ) , and the finance minister , Jean - Baptiste Colbert ( 1619 – 1683 ) , both would have preferred to see a peace treaty signed quickly , as the costs of continuing the war were incalculable ( so far it had cost most than 18 million livres ) , and the international conditions did not make a victory seem likely . This was especially the case since Spain had in the meantime ( 13 February 1668 ) signed the Treaty of Lisbon with Portugal and could now concentrate on the war with France . Louis XIV was forced to realise that France was no match for the coalition of Spain , the Netherlands , England , and Sweden , and therefore announced a cease - fire until the end of March 1668 and started negotiations . In April , the parties involved met in Saint - Germain and negotiated a peace treaty by the 13th . From the 25 April onwards , a congress met , chaired by the nuntius of Pope Clement IX , in Aachen , where the treaty was finally signed on 2 May 1668 ( see Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle ( 1668 ) ) . During these negotiations , the Triple Alliance managed to enforce their demands : France abandoned the Franche - Comté , including the free imperial city of Besançon , but first destroyed all fortifications of the cities of Gray and Dole . French troops also had to withdraw from the Spanish Netherlands . A total of 12 conquered cities would remain in the hands of the French king : Lille , Tournai , Oudenarde , Courtrai , Furnes , Bergues , Douai with la Scarpe , Binche , Charleroi , Ath and Armentiers . Image of the " Sun King " . For the young French king , the war against Spain was an opportunity to secure a great reputation for himself . As was customary , he personally commanded the army , at least nominally , and accompanied it on campaigns . He reached the main army on 3 June 1667 near Charleroi and left it again on 2 September 1667 . From 2 – 24 February 1668 he was once again in the field with the army of Prince Condé in the Franche - Comté . Although Louis took part in the council of war , it was in fact experienced generals who decided matters on the battlefield . The King drew some attention to himself , however , by constantly putting himself in personal danger ; during sieges , for example , he visited the trenches at the front line , and spent many nights in bivouac shelter s . This did not , however , come close to the " heroism " of some of his predecessors ; Voltaire unfavourably compared his actions with those of Francis I and Henry IV . During this period the King did , however , travel with his entire royal household and all the luxuries that he was accustomed to and would not dispense with even in wartime . This alone required a huge logistical effort . Louis XIV was accompanied by , amongst others , the Queen , his two mistresses , ( Louise de La Vallière and Madame de Montespan ) , as well as all his ministers and generals who were not involved in the war . Madame de Montespan , in particular , tended to scheme against the marshals in command , especially against the Maréchal de Turenne , which impaired his ability to lead . The two leading court painters , Adam Frans van der Meulen and Charles Le Brun , were also amongst the King ' s retinue ; they were instructed to record the Sun King ' s deeds , as were various other artists . Thus numerous paintings and Gobelin tapestries were created , as well as medals and poems . After peace was declared , a great victory celebration took place in Versailles ; various important figures of the time participated in arranging this , including Molière , Jean - Baptiste Lully , Louis Le Vau and Carlo Vigarani . At all these events and in every representation , the King was constantly portrayed as having personally been in sole command ; the numerous marshals and generals were not mentioned . In the years following the war ( after 1671 ) the King was often praised as " Louis le Grand " or " Ludovicus Magnus " ( Ludwig the Great ) , and on the suggestion of Colbert , the finance minister , even a triumphal arch was to be built in Paris ; however , construction was abandoned in 1671 . Aftermath . France gained some territory in Flanders , but nearly all of the Spanish Netherlands , as well as the Franche - Comté , was returned to Spain . Inwardly , Louis XIV was seething . He had hoped to take the entirety of the Spanish Netherlands and felt betrayed by the Dutch , who , to French eyes , were only independent due to French assistance in the Eighty Years ' War . The War of Devolution thus led directly to the Franco - Dutch War of 1672 – 1678 . The consequences of the War of Devolution were manifold . From a purely military perspective , France had gained some advantages , by breaking through the ring of fortresses that surrounded the Spanish Netherlands . This simultaneously increased the French defensive power , as Vauban immediately set about expanding the conquered cities into strong fortifications . These in turn served as starting points from which further French campaigns of conquest could be launched in later wars . It is not possible to determine how high the French and Spanish losses of troops were during the war , or to ascertain civilian losses . Due to the short duration of the conflict , however , they were probably fairly low . For example , it is known that the French army sustained more than 4 , 000 casualties ( dead or wounded ) in the siege of Lille alone . The Spanish troops then lost 180 men in fighting in Brussels . On the political level , the results were less positive for Louis XIV . The King ' s reputation in the Holy Roman Empire had certainly been damaged , above all due to taking the free imperial city of Besançon . Due to the perceived French expansionist drive , the League of the Rhine dissolved itself already in 1668 , and other allies such as the Elector of Brandenburg also abandoned France . This U - turn of many Imperial States was made vivid when , in 1673 , at the beginning of the second war of Louis XIV , they declared an imperial war on France . The most important consequence , however , was the changed attitude of Louis XIV towards the United Provinces . The King mostly blamed them , his former close allies , for the creation of the Triple Alliance , whose pressure had put a halt to his conquests . The French foreign policy of the following years was therefore completely geared towards isolating the United Provinces , to attack them at a convenient opportunity . After succeeding in isolating them through alliances with several German princes , England and Sweden , Louis XIV started the Franco - Dutch War in 1672 , which was to expand into a pan - European conflict . Many historians see this war as merely a continuation of the War of Devolution .