Treaty of the Pyrenees
Categories: Thirty Years' War | Treaties | History of Catalonia | History of Spain | History of France
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The Treaty of the Pyrenees was a treaty signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War.
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, Luxembourg, and 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 is an enclave of Spain in this part of France, the town of Llívia - considered a town and not a village - which is still under Spanish control and is in 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 Austria, 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.
The defeat and inability to pay Maria Theresa's dowry effectively eliminated Spain as an important power in Europe, while France as a result was at the height of its power.
Consequences for Catalonia
The former Catalonian comarques of Rosselló, Conflent, Vallespir, Capcir and half of Cerdanya, currently known as Northern Catalonia or French Catalonia, have remained under French dominion.
The Treaty included several points about conserving Catalonian instituions, but Louis XIV did not respect this part. Catalonian institutions were abolished just a year later the Teatry was signed.
A royal French decree on April 2, 1700 (applied on May 1 of that very year), forbade Catalan language usage in any kind of official act. Since then, French continues being the only official language and the only one used in public education. Recently, the French Constitution has been modified, and the statement la langue de la République est le français (French is the language of the Republic) was added in its 2nd article. This is often referred in order to deny subventions to civic and cultural movements, or for refusing Catalan language presence in administration.
Every year on November 7, Catalanists remember this event and demonstrate in Perpinyà.
External links
- Full Treaty text France National Archives transcripton (French, PDF)
- European Charter for Regional or Minority Languageses:Tratado de los Pirineos
ca:Tractat dels Pirineus de:Pyrenäenfrieden fr:Traité des Pyrénées lb:Traité vun de Pyrenäen pt:Tratado dos Pirinéus pl:Pokój pirenejski