Historedia
EuropeEvent

Treaty of Ryswick

When
1697
Where
outside Brussels; Rijswijk
Episodes
2

The Peace of Ryswick, signed in Rijswijk between September and October 1697, ended the Nine Years' War. Driven by financial exhaustion and famine, the treaties restored pre-war territorial positions, though the peace was widely viewed as a temporary truce.

Episodes

  1. June 1697 · outside BrusselsPreliminary Negotiations in Brussels

    Personal representatives of William III and Louis XIV met privately in June 1697 to finalize terms, overruling the Spanish delegate to secure a broader peace.

  2. 20-21 September 1697 · RijswijkSigning of Treaties in Rijswijk

    France signed peace treaties with Spain, England, and the Dutch Republic, and a ceasefire with the Holy Roman Empire, in Rijswijk in September 1697.

Background and detail

Background. By 1695, the Nine Years' War had become financially crippling for all participants. Widespread famine and economic dislocation, exacerbated by failed harvests across Europe, forced both France and the Grand Alliance to seek peace despite the conflict's inconclusive nature.

Negotiations. William III and Louis XIV appointed the Earl of Portland and Marshal Boufflers as personal representatives. They met privately outside Brussels in June 1697, quickly finalizing terms and overruling the Spanish representative, de Quiros, to facilitate a broader settlement.

Terms. The treaties essentially restored the territorial positions prevailing before the war. In Europe and North America, belligerents returned captured territories, though Spain recognized French control of Tortuga and the western portion of Hispaniola, marking a significant colonial concession.

People involved

Sources

  1. Peace of Ryswick Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-01

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.