A great emigration took place, no less than twelve thousand families
fleeing to Rome alone. Excepting the four principal towns, Besancon,
Salins, Dole, and Gray, the country was almost depopulated. Orders were
given to mow down the unripe harvests, in order to subdue the people by
famine. At Richelieu's death, neutrality was again accorded to the
province, on condition of forty thousand crowns being paid yearly to the
crown of France, and French garrisons being maintained at Joux and other
places. In the words of a French writer of the period, "The country, at
this time, resembled a desert." On the peace of Westphalia, Besancon
lost its autonomy, being again placed under the dominion of Spain. Louis
XIV. however, having married the daughter of Philip IV. of Spain,
claimed Franche-Comte as the dowry of his wife. The great Conde was
dispatched on a mission of conquest, the King, in person, headed a
besieging army at Gray, and in fifteen days the entire province
submitted. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Franche-Comte again
reverted to Spain, and again had to be conquered. On the declaration of
war against France by Spain, the German Empire, Holland, and Lorraine,
it put itself on the defensive.
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