The Treaty of Münster of 24 October 1648 was a treaty signed in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

between, on the one hand, the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

with regent cardinal

Jules Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the Chief minister o ...

for the underage king

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, plus his allies, and, on the other hand,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Ferdinand III and his allies.

Background

The treaty was part of the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) 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 peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

, which ended the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–1648) and the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

( 1566–1648). * ''

Peace of Münster The Peace of Münster, signed on 30 January 1648, was a treaty between Philip IV of Spain and the States-General of the Netherlands, Lords States General of the Dutch Republic. Negotiated in parallel to, but not part of, the Peace of Westphalia, ...

'' (30 January 1648), which ended the

between the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. * Treaty of Münster (24 October 1648), which ended the war between France and the Holy Roman Empire (since 1635). * Treaty of Osnabrück (24 October 1648), which ended the war between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and the Holy Roman Empire (since 1630).

Proclamation of the treaty of Munster MET DP823140

The treaty consists of a main act and two annexes. The main act is the peace treaty itself. The first annex is the act of cession to the King of France of the

Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics ( ) constituted a Provinces of France, government of the Kingdom of France consisting of the dioceses of Prince-Bishopric of Metz, Metz, Prince-Bishopric of Verdun, Verdun, and Prince-Bishopric of Toul, Toul within the Lorr ...

, Alsace, Brisach and Pignerol; the second is the act of cession of Alsace to the King of France. This treaty took a long time to materialise. Indeed, the negotiations started on 25 December 1641, but the signatures were not formalised until seven years later. This delay was due to some delicate issues – including the structure of the Empire – on which the authorities did not agree.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty of Munster October 1648 1648 in the Holy Roman Empire Treaties of France Treaties of the Holy Roman Empire 1648 treaties 1648 in France 1648 in Europe History of Münster France–Holy Roman Empire relations Thirty Years' War treaties

Background

Contents

References

Bibliography