7 Louis XIV 7entourage. In 1682 he had the seat of government trans-
ferred to Versailles. The following year, the queen died,
and the king secretly married his latest mistress, the pious
Mme de Maintenon.
Meanwhile, Louis’s expansionism alarmed England,
the Dutch, and the Holy Roman Emperor, who united in
opposition to him. The resulting War of the Grand Alliance
lasted from 1688 to 1697. Despite many victories, Louis
gave up part of his territorial acquisitions when he signed
the Treaty of Rijswijk, for which the public judged him
harshly. He reconciled himself to another painful sacrifice
when he recognized William of Orange as William III of
England, in violation of his belief in the divine right of the
Stuart king James II to William’s throne.
Three years later, in 1700, Charles II, the last Habsburg
king of Spain, died, bequeathing his kingdoms to Louis’s
grandson, Philip of Anjou (Philip V). Louis, who desired
nothing more than peace, hesitated but finally accepted
the inheritance. He has been strongly criticized for his
decision, but he had no alternative. With England against
him, he had to try to prevent Spain from falling into the
hands of the equally hostile Holy Roman Emperor Leopold
I, who disputed Philip’s claim. In the ensuing War of the
Spanish Succession (1701–14), the anti-French alliance was
reactivated by William of Orange before his death. The
disasters of the war were so great that, in 1709, France
came close to losing all the advantages gained over the
preceding century. Finally, a palace revolution in London,
bringing the pacific Tories to power, and a French victory
over the imperial forces at the Battle of Denain combined
to end the war. The treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden,
signed in 1713–14, cost France its hegemony but left its ter-
ritory intact. Louis XIV died in 1715, ending the longest
reign in European history.