War of Devolution - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

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 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 realize 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.