11.1.22 to 11.1.24

Foreign affairs From the beginning of his reign Louis pursued a vigorous foreign policy. Historical opinion has traditionally held that Louis sought to dominate Europe, only to meet his just deserts at the end of his reign. More recently another interpretation has emerged, which argues that Louis pursued consistent and for the most part moderate aims and pursued them successfully up to and including the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). The starting point for the more recent interpretation is the ambiguous Peace of Münster (1648), forming part of the great European settlement of Westphalia, the terms of which subsequently became a bone of contention between Bourbon and Habsburg rulers. One of the critical issues of the treaty was the fate of the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun on the northeast frontier of France. These bishoprics, occupied by the French since 1552, were formally acquired in 1648 together with a number of towns in nearby Alsace. One of the main Habsburg aims in the War of the League of Augsburg, or War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97), and in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) was the restoration of the three bishoprics and the province of Franche-Comté, also on the eastern frontier of France, connecting Burgundy with Alsace, which Louis had acquired at the Treaties of Nijmegen (1678-79) at the end of the Dutch War (1672-78). Louis, however, was determined to hold onto the gains in Alsace, however ambiguously acquired; he also hoped to add Lorraine, to the north of Franche-Comté, to further consolidate this least secure French frontier area. Lorraine was periodically occupied by French troops, notably between 1633 and 1648 and between 1670 and 1697, and Louis sought through various exchange schemes to incorporate the territory into France. The French share of the Partition Treaties (1698, 1700) in Italy was intended as an exchange for Lorraine and not as a means of threatening English and Dutch trade with the Levant. Lorraine, however, did not become a part of France until 1766.