ABSTRACT
The process of reconciliation was to be formally sealed by a double marriage treaty, under the terms of which the Spanish Infanta would wed the young king Louis XIII, Madame Elizabeth, would become the wife of the heir to the Spanish throne, Philip, Prince of Asturias, three years her junior. The Franco-Spanish peace treaty of 1598 constituted part of a phased withdrawal from Spain's heavy commitments in northern Europe. Thereby, a withdrawal planned by a dying Philip II in the hope of leaving his son with a more manageable legacy until such time as the crowns shattered finances could be restored. Henri IV of France was anxious to restore domestic tranquillity and counter the aggressive activities of Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, who had profited from the internal troubles of France to invade the French. With the help of papal mediation, France and Savoy agreed a peace treaty in 1601 that were widely regarded as unfavourable to French interests.
