Battle of Fleurus, 1690
Louis in 1690
Louis XIV at the siege of
Namur (1692)
The Nine Years' War, which lasted from 1688 to 1697, initiated a period of decline in
Louis's political and diplomatic fortunes. It arose from two events in the Rhineland. First,
in 1685, the Elector Palatine Charles II died. All that remained of his immediate family
was Louis's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte. German law ostensibly barred her from
succeeding to her brother's lands and electoral dignity, but it was unclear enough for
arguments in favour of Elizabeth Charlotte to have a chance of success. Conversely, the
princess was demonstrably entitled to a division of the family's personal property. Louis
pressed her claims to land and chattels, hoping the latter, at least, would be given to her.[76]
Then, in 1688, Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, Archbishop of Cologne, an ally of France,
died. The archbishopric had traditionally been held by the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria, but the
Bavarian claimant to replace Maximilian Henry, Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, was at
that time not more than 17 years old and not even ordained. Louis sought instead to install
his own candidate, Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, to ensure the key Rhenish state
remained an ally.[77]
In light of his foreign and domestic policies during the early 1680s, which were perceived
as aggressive, Louis's actions, fostered by the succession crises of the late 1680s, created
concern and alarm in much of Europe. This led to the formation of the 1686 League of
Augsburg by the Holy Roman Emperor, Spain, Sweden, Saxony, and Bavaria. Their stated
intention was to return France to at least the borders agreed to in the Treaty of
Nijmegen.[78] Emperor Leopold I's persistent refusal to convert the Truce of Ratisbon into
a permanent treaty fed Louis's fears that the Emperor would turn on France and attack the
Reunions after settling his affairs in the Balkans.[79]
Another event Louis found threatening was England's Glorious Revolution of 1688.
Although King James II was Catholic, his two Anglican daughters, Mary and Anne,
ensured the English people a Protestant succession. But when James II's son James Francis
Edward Stuart was born, he took precedence in succession over his sisters. This seemed to
herald an era of Catholic monarchs in England. Protestant lords called on the Dutch Prince
William III of Orange, grandson of Charles I of England, to come to their aid. He sailed for England with troops despite Louis's
warning that France would regard it as a provocation. Witnessing numerous desertions and defections, even among those closest
to him, James II fled England. Parliament declared the throne vacant, and offered it to James's daughter Mary II and his son-in-
law and nephew William. Vehemently anti-French, William (now William III of England) pushed his new kingdoms into war, thus
transforming the League of Augsburg into the Grand Alliance. Before this happened, Louis expected William's expedition to
England to absorb his energies and those of his allies, so he dispatched troops to the Rhineland after the expiry of his ultimatum to
the German princes requiring confirmation of the Truce of Ratisbon and acceptance of his demands about the succession crises.
This military manoeuvre was also intended to protect his eastern provinces from Imperial invasion by depriving the enemy army
of sustenance, thus explaining the preemptive scorched earth policy pursued in much of southwestern Germany (the "Devastation
of the Palatinate").[80]
French armies were generally victorious throughout the war because of Imperial commitments in
the Balkans, French logistical superiority, and the quality of French generals such as Condé's
famous pupil, François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg.[81] He triumphed
at the Battles of Fleurus in 1690, Steenkerque in 1692, and Landen in 1693, although, the battles