League of the Rhine

…a principal negotiator of the League of the Rhine (1658), whereby a number of German states, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, secured a French guarantee against any attempt by the new Holy Roman emperor, Leopold I, to restore Habsburg domination. In 1664, however, while he was concerned with asserting the…

…among themselves, such as the League of the Rhine (Rheinbund), tied in 1658 to France and Sweden. In the princely territories authority fell increasingly to the princes (though Württemberg and Mecklenburg were exceptions), while territorial estates dwindled in political importance. In each of the empire’s constituent units, estates served mainly…

…to the French frontier (the League of the Rhine, August 1658). Spain, however, encouraged by the defection of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, who had signed a separate peace in January 1648, refused to agree to the peace. In order to force Spain to make a settlement, Mazarin continued…