War of Devolution

War of Devolution 1667-68, undertaken by Louis XIV for the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands. On her marriage to Louis, Marie Thérèse, daughter of Philip IV of Spain, had renounced her rights of inheritance in return for a large dowry. Blaming Spain for having failed to pay the stipulated dowry, Louis declared war and invoked an old law of Brabant providing that property might "devolve" upon the children of a first marriage—in this case upon Marie Thérèse (rather than upon Charles II of Spain). The French easily captured (1667) the Spanish Netherlands. The United Provinces, in alarm, formed the Triple Alliance with England and Sweden (Jan., 1668). The French overran Franche-Comté (Feb., 1668) but came to terms with the Triple Alliance in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (May, 1668).

Devolution, War of An attempt by LOUIS XIV of France to seize the Spanish Netherlands. In 1665, on the death of his father-in-law, Philip IV of Spain, he invoked dubious laws based on local customs by which a child of a first wife (as was his queen Maria Theresa) inherited titles and territory, rather than the son of a second wife. A campaign under the Vicomte de Turenne alarmed Europe, a defensive Triple Alliance was formed by the United Provinces, England, and Sweden to check the French advance, and Louis made peace. He restored most of his conquests, hoping to obtain part of the Spanish empire peacefully on the death of Charles II.