Henri II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville Henri II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville or Henri de Valois-Longueville (6 April 1595 – 11 May 1663), a legitimated prince of France (of royal descent) and peer of France, was a major figure in the civil war of France, the Fronde, and served as governor of Picardy, then of Normandy. He was the only son of Henri I d'Orléans, duc de Longueville and Princess Catherine Gonzaga. Longueville headed the French delegation in the talks that led to the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years War (1648). In his role as sovereign prince
History of the Catholic Church in Germany for predominance in Europe. The war resulted in large areas of Germany being laid waste, a loss of approximately a third of its population, and in a general impoverishment. The war ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, signed in Münster and Osnabrück: Imperial territory was lost to France and Sweden and the Netherlands left the Holy Roman Empire after having de facto seceded 80 years earlier. The imperial power declined further as the states' rights were increased. "Aided by the personal charm of its young king Louis XIV, who had assumed the government in 1661, France appeared to