Devolution, War of

War waged unsuccessfully 1667-68 by Louis XIV of France in an attempt to gain Spanish territory in the Netherlands, of which ownership had allegedly ‘devolved’ on his wife Maria Theresa.

During the course of the war the French marshal Turenne (1611-1675) conducted a series of sieges. An alliance of England, Sweden, and the Netherlands threatened intervention, so peace was made at Aix-la-Chapelle.