War of Devolution

War of Devolution
Louis XIV visiting a trench during the war. Painting by Charles Le Brun.
Date 24 May, 1667 – 2 May, 1668 Location Spanish Netherlands, Franche-Comté Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders
Louis XIV	Mariana of Austria

The War of Devolution (1667–1668) 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

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 (1605–1665) had to cede certain territories, and also had to consent to the marriage of his daughter Maria Theresia (1638–1683) to the young Louis XIV of France (1638–1715). Furthermore, it was agreed that with this marriage, Maria Theresia explicitly renounced all rights to her father's inheritance. As compensation, a dowry of 500 000 gold écus 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 Herrschaft of Mecheln, Gelderland, the counties of Namur, Artois and Hennegau, 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 Queen's renunciation of her inheritance was therefore invalid. By way of further legal justification, he referred to the inheritance law of the Duchy of Brabant, which provided for so-called 'devolution', an instrument of private law, which placed the inheritance rights of children from a first marriage (including daughters) before that of children from a second marriage. French legal scholars concluded from this that the Spanish Netherlands should not go to the still underage heir to the Spanish throne Charles II (1661–1700), since he had been born as a result of the second marriage of Philip IV. Maria Theresia 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.

The Spanish Regent Maria Anna (1634–1696), who was taking care of government business for her underage son along with her confessor Cardinal Johann Eberhard Neidhardt (1607–1681), rejected these claims, referring to the renunciation by Maria Theresia of all inheritance rights. At this, the French king began preparations for a new campaign against Spain. His able financial minister Colbert reorganized the army and expanded it from 50,000 to 80,000 men. Spain, on the other hand, was a fragmented nation struggling to cope with major inflation.

Political preparations

The international situation in 1667 was very advantageous for France. Spain had already been at war with Portugal for some years (the Portuguese Restoration War), which had brought Spain almost only defeats and which bound up the largest part of the Spanish military potential. France at first supported Portugal covertly, then openly. Thus, the two states formally concluded an alliance on 31 March 1667. The United Provinces were another ally of France. After France had for a long time supported the Dutch in their war with Spain, both countries 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 (1625–1672) suggested that the Spanish Netherlands be mutually divided. Such plans were already being debated from 1663 onwards. But the share that Louis XIV demanded for himself alienated de Witt, and the deal was never concluded. At the same time, the Spanish suggested setting up a combined army if the French invaded. De Witt believed Spanish military power to be weak however, and the French emissary declared candidly that a Dutch alliance with Spain would amount to a declaration of war on France. Although the Franco-Dutch negotiations had not led to tangible results, Louis XIV was 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 States 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 8th 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 in order to save costs. In 1665 they numbered only 50,000 men. Louis XIV however authorised preparations through 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. The actual commander was however Maréchal Turenne (1611–1675). 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 (1601–1669), whilst another corps under Lieutenant General François de Créquy, marquis de Marines (1624–1687), took over the protection of the main army on the right flank. All three armies were to enter the Spanish territories at the same time, in order 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 24th 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 (1610–1675), who also commanded the few regular Spanish troops. Apart from this, he only had militias at his disposal, whiwh 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 10th 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 (1633–1707), in order 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 16th 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 21th June the main army reached the stronghold and surrounded it. It surendered a few days later, and the French entered it on 25th June. After this, the main army marched westwards along the Scheldt and there successfully besieged Douai from 1-7 July. Meanwhile, further to the North the corps of Maréchal d’Aumont had also successfullt advanced and, in taking the fortresses of Bergues (6th June) and Furnes (12th 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 18th 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, in order 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 2500 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 the 10th to the 28th 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 31st 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 (1601–1673) had to withdraw. After the taking of Lille, Maréchal de Turenne only undertook one further manoeuver. On 12th 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 13th October turned in to their winter quarters.

In Spain, preparations to dispatch a military force to Flanders had already begun in June. The government of the Regent raised more than 1 million pesos and appointed Juan José de Austria (1629–1679) 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 engotiations with the Portuguese court and on 13th 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 was agreed on 19th January 1668. The Emperor thus no longer had any reason to go to war with France, as it only occupies 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 had however greatly alarmed the United Provinces. Though they too were basically enemies of the Spanish monarchy, at the same time, "inactive and tired Spain was a better neighbour for them than powerful and aggressive France." They were desperate to maintain the Spanish Netherlands as a kind of buffer state. The Netherlands therefore hurriedly ended their war with England, and despite the very successful conduct of the war, signed the Treaty of Breda on 31st July 1667. After this, they offered to mediate in the war between France and Spain. Louis XIV however rejected this in September 1667 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, in order 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. King Charles II of England (1630–1685) had, after the Treaty of Breda, started secretly negotiating an alliance with France, an alliance that 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 23rd January 1668, the United Provinces and England concluded an alliance, whose declared aim was to bring about the Spanish relinquishment of certain territories 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 also joined this alliance, to obtain urgently need subsidies by these means. 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.

Campaign in Franche-Comté

With a new campaign, 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. This was isolated, and practically devoid of Spanish troops, for several reasons: France had respected the territory's neutrality in the last war against Spain; furthermore, the Spanish generals did not expect an attakc by the French in the middle of winter.

The war began on 24 May when a French army under the Vicomte de Turenne crossed the border and invaded the Spanish Netherlands. With no main Spanish army in Flanders, the initial stages of the war in 1667 involved a series of French sieges against Spanish-held towns and fortresses that were undermanned and with no hope of relief. Most of these sieges ended quickly and Turenne, at times with Louis in attendance, took towns such as Charleroi, Tournai, and Douai in a campaign dubbed the promenade militaire by the French. The only relatively long siege was that of Lille, which lasted from August 28 to September 25.

The great success of the French began to worry the other powers of Europe, including France's long-time ally, the Dutch Republic. The Dutch as well as England, the various German states, and Sweden had been quite content to have Spain, a weakened kingdom that no longer posed a serious threat to their borders, in control of the strategic southern Low Countries. If France gained control of the Spanish Netherlands it would mean a strong and aggressive state on the Dutch border, and in control of the excellent ports opposite England and the North Sea. Thus the Dutch formed the Triple Alliance with England and Sweden in January 1668. They issued a decree granting Louis the territory he had demanded at the start of the war, but warned that if the French continued their offensive beyond those lines, they would join the Spanish against France.

French troops under the skillful Prince de Condé (the "Grand Condé") swiftly occupied the Franche-Comté in February, but then, with his troops ranged across a long potential front and thus ill positioned to resist the Triple Alliance, Louis agreed to its demands.

Aftermath

France gained some territory in Flanders, but the Spanish Netherlands, as well as the Franche-Comté, were 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.

References

• Childs, John. Warfare in the Seventeenth Century. London: Cassel & Co, 2001. ISBN 0-304-35289-6
• Lynn, John A. The French Wars 1667-1714. London: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-361-6