The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on
Pheasant Island, and ended the
Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635.
Negotiations were conducted on
Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the
Bidasoa River on the border between the two countries, which has remained a French-Spanish
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
ever since. It was signed by
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
and
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...
, as well as their chief ministers,
Cardinal Mazarin and Don
Luis Méndez de Haro.
Background
France entered the Thirty Years' War after the
Spanish Habsburg victories in the
Dutch Revolt in the 1620s and at the
Battle of Nördlingen against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
in 1634. By 1640, France began to interfere in Spanish politics, aiding the
revolt in Catalonia, while Spain responded by aiding the
Fronde revolt in France in 1648. During the negotiations for the
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...
in 1648, France gained the
Sundgau
Sundgau ( or ; ) is a geographical territory in the southern Alsace region ( Haut Rhin and Belfort), on the eastern edge of France. The name is derived from Alemannic German ''Sunt- gowe'' ("South shire"), denoting an Alemannic county in the Old ...
and cut off Spanish access to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
from
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, leading to open warfare between the French and Spanish.
An Anglo-French alliance was victorious at the
Battle of the Dunes on 14 June 1658, but the following year the war ground to a halt when the French campaign to take
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
was defeated. Peace was settled by means of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in November 1659.
Content
France gained
Roussillon (including
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
) and the northern half of
Cerdanya,
Montmédy and other parts of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Artois and other towns in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, including
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
,
Béthune,
Gravelines and
Thionville, and a new border with Spain was fixed at the Pyrenees. However, the treaty stipulated only that all "villages" north of the Pyrenees should become part of France. Because it was a town,
Llívia
Llívia (; es, Llivia ) is a town in the ''comarca'' of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave surrounded by the French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. In 2009, the municipality of Llívia had a total ...
, once the capital of Cerdanya, was thus unintentionally exempted from the treaty and became a Spanish exclave as part of the ''
comarca'' of
Baixa Cerdanya, in the
Spanish province of
Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...
. This border was not properly settled until the
Treaty of Bayonne was signed in 1856, with its final acts accepted 12 years later. On the western Pyrenees a definite borderline was drawn and decisions made as to the politico-administrative affiliation of bordering areas in the
Basque region—
Baztan,
Aldude,
Valcarlos
Luzaide (Spanish: Valcarlos; official name Luzaide/Valcarlos) is a town in Navarre, northern Spain, located on the French border and just a few kilometers from the road frontier in the French village of Arnéguy.
Tradition holds that this is the ...
.
[M. Gregorio. Jimeno, R. 2012, pp. 72-73, 121-122.]
Spain was forced to recognize and confirm all of the French gains at the Peace of Westphalia. In exchange for the Spanish territorial losses, the French king pledged to quit his support for
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
and renounced his claim to the
county of Barcelona
The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...
, which the French crown had claimed ever since the
Catalan Revolt (also known as Reapers' War). The Portuguese revolt in 1640, led by the Duke of Braganza, was supported monetarily by Cardinal Richelieu of France. After the Catalan Revolt, France had controlled the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of it ...
from January 1641, when a combined Catalan and French force defeated the Spanish army at
Battle of Montjuïc, until it was defeated by a Spanish army at Barcelona in 1652. Though the Spanish army reconquered most of Catalonia, the French retained Catalan territory north of the Pyrenees.
The treaty also arranged for a marriage between
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
and
Maria Theresa of Spain, the daughter of
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...
. Maria Theresa was forced to renounce her claim to the Spanish throne, in return for a monetary settlement as part of her
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
. This settlement was never paid, a factor that eventually led to the
War of Devolution
In the 1667 to 1668 War of Devolution (, ), France occupied large parts of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté, both then provinces of the Holy Roman Empire (and properties of the King of Spain). The name derives from an obscure law k ...
in 1667. At the
Meeting on the Isle of Pheasants in June 1660, the two monarchs and their ministers met, and the princess entered France.
In addition, the English received
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. , although they elected to sell it to France in 1662.
Consequences
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was the last major diplomatic achievement by Cardinal Mazarin. Combined with the
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...
, it allowed Louis XIV remarkable stability and diplomatic advantage by means of a weakened
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and a weakened Spanish Crown, along with the agreed dowry, which was an important element in the French king's strategy.
All in all, by 1660, when the
Swedish occupation of Poland was over, most of the European continent was at peace (though the third stage of the
Portuguese Restoration War
The Portuguese Restoration War ( pt, Guerra da Restauração) was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a formal end to the Iberian Union. The ...
would soon begin), and the Bourbons had ended the dominance of the
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
. In the Pyrenees, the treaty resulted in the establishment of border customs and restriction of the free cross-border flow of people and goods. The treaty also settled indefinitely the century and half long
litigation over the Kingdom of Navarre, while the dispute over the
Aldudes
Aldudes (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.
It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aldulais'' or ''Al ...
remained in place still throughout the 18th century.
French annexations
In the context of the territorial changes involved in the Treaty, France gained some territory, on both its northern and southern borders.
*In the north, France gained
Artois and smaller areas along its north-east border with the Holy Roman Empire.
*In the south:
::# On the east: the northern part of the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of it ...
, including
Roussillon,
Conflent
Conflent () is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent.
The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades ( ca, Prada de Conf ...
,
Vallespir
Vallespir (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca in Northern Catalonia, part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa and Ripollès. It l ...
,
Capcir, and
French Cerdagne
French Cerdagne ( ca, Alta Cerdanya, ) is the northern half of Cerdanya, which came under French control as a result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, while the southern half remained in Spain (as part of Catalonia). Catalans often refe ...
, was transferred to France, i.e. what later came to be known as "
Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia, North Catalonia, ; french: Catalogne (du) Nord ; oc, Catalonha (del) Nòrd; es, Cataluña (del) Norte) French Catalonia or Roussillon refers to the Catalan-speaking and Catalan-culture territory ceded to France by Spain ...
".
::# On the west: the parties agreed to put together a field group to compromise a borderline on disputed lands along the Basque Pyrenees, involving Sareta—
Zugarramurdi,
Ainhoa, etc.—
Aldude, and the Spanish wedge of
Valcarlos
Luzaide (Spanish: Valcarlos; official name Luzaide/Valcarlos) is a town in Navarre, northern Spain, located on the French border and just a few kilometers from the road frontier in the French village of Arnéguy.
Tradition holds that this is the ...
.
See also
*
Language policy in France
*
Parliament of Quillín
*
Jubilate Deo omnis terra
''Jubilate Deo omnis terra'' (LWV 77/16) is a motet by Jean-Baptiste Lully (music) set on biblical text. Written to both celebrate the new treaty and to celebrate the wedding of King Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain on 29 August 1660 at the ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* , France National Archives Transcription
{{Authority control
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
Military history of Catalonia
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
Principality of Catalonia
Pyrénées-Orientales
Linguistic rights
1659 in France
17th century in Spain
France–Spain border
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
1659 treaties
Treaties of the Spanish Empire
France–Spain relations
Catalan law