Editing Louis XIV (section)

===Accession===
{{Further|Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)}}
[[File:Bb85790a33.jpg|thumb|right|Louis XIV in 1643, by [[Claude Deruet]]]]
Sensing imminent death in the spring of 1643, King [[Louis XIII]] decided to put his affairs in order for his four-year-old son Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV. Not trusting the judgement of his Spanish wife Queen Anne, who would normally have become the sole [[regent]] of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his son's behalf, with Anne at its head.{{Sfn|Reinhardt|2016|p=20}}

Louis XIII died on 14 May 1643. On 18 May{{Sfn|Kleinman|1985|p=145}} Queen Anne had her husband's will annulled by the ''[[Parlement|Parlement de Paris]]'', a judicial body of nobles and high-ranking clergy,{{Sfn|Bély|2001|p=57}} and she became sole regent. She exiled her husband's ministers Chavigny and Bouthilier and appointed the [[Henri-Auguste de Loménie, comte de Brienne|Count of Brienne]] as her minister of foreign affairs.{{Sfn|Sonnino|1998|pp=217–218}} Anne kept the direction of religious policy strongly in hand until her son's majority in 1661.

She appointed [[Cardinal Mazarin]] as chief minister, giving him the daily administration of policy. She continued the policies of her late husband and [[Cardinal Richelieu]], despite their persecution of her, in order to win absolute authority in France and victory abroad for her son. Anne protected Mazarin by exiling her followers the [[César de Bourbon|Duke of Beaufort]] and [[Marie de Rohan]], who conspired against him in 1643.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=34–37}}</ref>

The best example of Anne's loyalty to France was her treatment of one of Richelieu's men, the Chancellor [[Pierre Séguier]]. Séguier had brusquely interrogated Anne in 1637 (like a "common criminal", as she recalled) following the discovery that she was giving military secrets to her father in Spain, and Anne was virtually under house arrest for years. By keeping the effective Séguier in his post, Anne sacrificed her own feelings for the interests of France and her son Louis.

The Queen sought a lasting peace between Catholic nations, but only after a French victory over her native Spain. She also gave a partial Catholic orientation to French foreign policy. This was felt by the Netherlands, France's Protestant ally, which negotiated a separate peace with Spain in 1648.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=29–36}}</ref>

In 1648, Anne and Mazarin successfully negotiated the [[Peace of Westphalia]], which ended the [[Thirty Years' War]].{{Sfn|Beem|2018|p=83}} Its terms ensured [[Eighty Years' War|Dutch independence]] from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], awarded some autonomy to the various German princes of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and granted Sweden seats on the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] and territories controlling the mouths of the [[Oder]], [[Elbe]], and [[Weser|Weser Rivers]].{{Sfn|Barentine|2016|p=131}} France, however, profited most from the settlement. Austria, ruled by the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] Emperor [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III]], ceded all Habsburg lands and claims in [[Alsace]] to France and acknowledged her ''de facto'' sovereignty over the [[Three Bishoprics]] of [[Metz]], [[Verdun]], and [[Toul]].{{Sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=456}} Moreover, many petty German states sought French protection, eager to emancipate themselves from Habsburg domination. This anticipated the formation of the 1658 [[League of the Rhine]], which further diminished Imperial power.