 Alsace was sold to France within the greater context of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).Beset by enemies and to gain a free hand in Hungary, the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2 million Thalers.Prisoners were set free in Paris in September 1719 and later, under the condition that they marry prostitutes and go with them to Louisiana.