text: Cities and territories, such as Luxembourg and Casale, were prized for their strategic 
  positions on the frontier and access to important waterways. Louis also sought 
  Strasbourg, an important strategic crossing on the left bank of the Rhine and theretofore 
  a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, annexing it and other territories in 
  1681. Although a part of Alsace, Strasbourg was not part of Habsburg-ruled Alsace and 
  was thus not ceded to France in the Peace of Westphalia. 
  
  **Silver coin of Louis XIV, dated**
  **1674**