The Peace of Vervins or Treaty of Vervins was signed between the representatives of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

and

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

under the auspices of the papal legates of Clement VIII, on 2 May 1598 at the small town of Vervins in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

, northern France, close to the territory of the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

Background

Henry had declared war on Spain in 1595 and after victory at the Siege of Amiens in 1597, he then promulgated the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

, on 13 April the following year. The Edict effectively brought the Wars of Religion in France including the Brittany Campaign to an end, which had spread to a European-wide conflict.

Treaty

The parties to the treaty were hosted by Guillemette de Coucy, co-seigneur of Vervins, in her Châteauneuf de Vervins ('' fr'') Close to the Spanish Netherlands, the Thiérache region had suffered much damage in the recent fighting. Its numerous 16th-century fortified churches still bear witness today. The terms were worked out under the auspices of the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

of Clement VIII, Alessandro de' Medici, the "architect of the treaty", according to Bernard Barbiche. By its terms, Philip recognized the formerly

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Henry as King of France and withdrew his forces from French territory, depriving the remnants of the faltering Catholic League of their support. Additionally, the vitally important city of Calais and the coastal fortress of Risban, which had been captured by the Spaniards in 1596, were returned to the French.

Aftermath

Philip died on 13 September, but his heir Philip III respected the terms of the treaty. Carlo Emanuele, duke of Savoy, who had held back from the treaty, was defeated by Henry IV in 1599. He signed a separate Treaty of Lyon with Henry in 1601. Some historians have seen this as the final defeat of Philip II, who had furthered dynastic causes through championing ultra-Catholic principles, and a sign of the long downfall of Habsburg Spain and the gradual rise in European

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...

of France during the ensuing '' Grand Siècle''.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Text of the treaty
{{Authority control Peace treaties of the Ancien Régime French Wars of Religion 1598 in France 16th-century diplomatic conferences Peace treaties of Spain 1598 treaties Treaties of the Spanish Empire France–Spain relations 16th-century military history of France Henry IV of France Philip II of Spain Pope Clement VIII History of Picardy