Conde was victorious.  But he was at feud with Mazarin, made himself personally unpopular, and found himself arrested when he might have made himself master of the government.  A year later the tables were turned; Mazarin had to fly, and the Fronde released Conde.  The civil war was renewed; a war in which no principles were at stake, in which the popular party of yesterday was the unpopular party of to-day; in which there were remarkable military achievements, much bloodshed, and much suffering, and which finally wore itself out in 1653, when Mazarin returned to undisputed power.  Louis XIV. was then a boy of fifteen.

Mazarin had achieved a great diplomatic triumph by the peace of Westphalia in 1648; but Spain had remained outside that group of treaties; and, owing to the civil war of the Fronde, Conde’s successes against her had been to a great extent made nugatory—­and now Conde was a rebel and in command of Spanish troops.  But Conde, with a Spanish army, met his match in Turenne with a French army.

At this moment, Christina of Sweden was the only European sovereign who had any personal prestige.  But Cromwell’s achievements in England now made each of the European statesmen anxious for the English alliance; and Cromwell chose France.  The combined arms of France and England were triumphant in Flanders, when Cromwell died; and his death changed the position of England.  France was financially exhausted, and Mazarin now desired a satisfactory peace with Spain.  The result, was the Treaty of the Pyrenees, by which the young King Louis took a Spanish princess in marriage, an alliance which ultimately led to the succession of a grandson of Louis to the Spanish throne.  Immediately afterwards, Louis’ cousin, Charles II., was recalled to the throne of England.  This closing achievement of Mazarin had a triumphant aspect; his position in France remained undisputed till his death in the next year (1661).  He was a successful minister; whether he was a great statesman is another question.  His one real legacy to France was the acquisition of Alsace.

II.—–­The French Supremacy in Europe

On Mazarin’s death Louis at once assumed personal rule.  Since the death of Henry the Great, France had been governed by ministers; now she was to be governed by the king—­the power exercised by ministers was precisely circumscribed.  Order and vigour were introduced on all sides; the finances were regulated by Colbert, discipline was restored in the army, the creation of a fleet, was begun.  In all foreign courts Louis asserted the dignity of France; it was very soon evident that there was no foreign power of whom he need stand in fear.  New connections were established with Holland and Portugal.  England under Charles II. was of little account.

To the king on the watch for an opportunity, an opportunity soon presents itself.  Louis found his when Philip IV. of Spain was succeeded by the feeble Charles II.  He at once announced that Flanders reverted to his own wife, the new king’s elder sister.  He had already made his bargain with the Emperor Leopold, who had married the other infanta.