War of the Reunions well as the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 (which ended the Thirty Years War), ceded a number of towns to France. By tradition, when a town changed hands, so did the surrounding rural areas, which provided it with food and other such supplies. Often, the borders of these dependent regions were ill-defined. Thus, Louis and his court, from 1670, introduced several Chambers of Reunion to investigate whether France had been granted all the territory that it had been owed. The Chambers of Reunion, loyal to the king, ruled, after a review of conflicting medieval documents, that a number of outlying
Peace of Münster for approval; it was ratified by the Spanish and Dutch delegations on 15 May, with the States General narrowly approving the Treaty on 5 June 1648. The Peace of Münster together with the Treaty of Münster between the Holy Roman Emperor, France and their allies and the Treaty of Osnabrück involving the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and their allies were collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia. While European conflict continued, this marks a significant point in the transition to sovereignty based on states rather than individuals e.g. the Hapsburgs. Sovereignty has been defined by historian Harry Hinsley as "the