Everything about The Treaty Of The Pyrenees totally explained
The
Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in
1659 to end the war between
France and
Spain that had begun in 1635 during the
Thirty Years' War. It was signed on
Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries.
France entered the Thirty Years' War after the Spanish victories in the
Dutch Revolt in the 1620s and at the
Battle of Nördlingen against
Sweden in 1634. By 1640 France began to interfere in Spanish politics, aiding the revolt in
Catalonia, while Spain in response aided the
Fronde revolt in France in 1648. During the negotiations for the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648, France gained
Alsace and
Lorraine and cut off Spanish access to the
Netherlands from
Austria, leading to open warfare between the French and Spanish.
After over 10 years of war, an Anglo-French alliance was victorious at the
Battle of the Dunes in 1658 and a peace was settled in 1659. France gained
Roussillon,
Artois, part of
Luxembourg, and part of
Flanders, and the border with Spain was fixed at the Pyrenees. However, the treaty only stipulated that all villages north of the Pyrenees should become part of France. For that reason there's an enclave of Spain in this part of France, the town of
Llívia - considered a town and not a village - which remains under Spanish control and is part of the
comarca of
Baixa Cerdanya, Spanish province of
Girona.
The treaty also arranged for a marriage between
Louis XIV of France and
Maria Theresa of Spain, the daughter of
Philip IV of Spain. Maria Theresa was forced to renounce her claim to the Spanish throne, in return for a monetary settlement as part of her
dowry. This settlement was never paid, a factor that led to the
War of Devolution in 1668.
Consequences for Catalonia
The
pays of
Roussillon,
Conflent,
Vallespir,
Capcir and
French Cerdagne, currently known by Catalan people as
Northern Catalonia, have remained under French dominion. Every year on
November 7,
Catalanists remember this event and demonstrate in
Perpignan. The treaty included several points about conserving Catalonian institutions, but
Louis XIV didn't respect this part. Catalonian institutions were abolished just a year after the treaty was signed, and a royal French decree on
April 2,
1700 (applied on
May 1), forbade
Catalan language usage in any kind of official act. Since then, French continues to be the only
official language.
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