1648

Lore & Background

Events include the Peace of Münster ending the Eighty Years' War, the Battle of Lens, the Peace of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War, and Pride's Purge in England. The Franco-Spanish War continues after the Peace of Westphalia.

In Their Own Story

The candlelight in the Münster hall flickers as the French ambassador sets his seal on the parchment. Outside, the November rain hammers the cobblestones of a city that has not known a quiet winter in fifteen years. Cardinal Mazarin's instructions are clear: accept the territorial gains in the Rhineland, but do not let the Emperor retain a single fortified town on the frontier. Across the table, the Habsburg negotiator—pale, hollow-eyed, still carrying the scars of a campaign that began before he was born—signs with a hand that trembles. The Swedish delegate, a young man who has never seen a battlefield, watches the French and the Habsburgs trade insults over the allocation of Pomerania. In the gallery above, a Dutch merchant in a black doublet checks the time. He has a ship to load in Amsterdam by spring, and the new tariff schedule in Article Forty-Seven will determine whether his cargo clears the Sound or sits rotting in a Hamburg warehouse. The war is over. The accounting has only just begun.

Reader's Guide

The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War. France remains at war with Spain until 1659. Pride's Purge creates the Rump Parliament under Oliver Cromwell, but the monarchy's abolition is not recorded in 1648.

Did You Know?

• The Peace of Westphalia was signed on October 24, ending the Thirty Years' War.
• The French Army defeated the Spanish Army at the Battle of Lens on August 20.
• Pride's Purge on December 6 expelled a majority of the Long Parliament, creating the Rump Parliament.