In the 16th century the country was disturbed by the preaching of Protestant doctrines, which gained adherents especially in the district of Montbeliard, and later by the wars between France and Spain. In 1595 the armies of Henry IV. levied contributions on Besancon and other towns; but the people of Franche-Comte succeeded in obtaining special terms of neutrality in order to shelter themselves from injury from either of the parties in the war, and enjoyed a period of calm under the government of the infanta Isabella Clara Eugenie and the archduke Albert (1599-1621). But the country suffered greatly from the ravages of the Thirty Years' War, from the presence of the army of the Condes, which besieged Dole, from the devastation of the troops of Gallas, and later of those of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. The peace of Westphalia (1648) confirmed Spain in the possession of Franche-Comte. In 1668 the French again entered it, and the conquest, of which the foundations had been laid by the intrigues of the abbot of Watteville and the French party constituted by him, was easily accomplished by Conde and Luxemburg, Louis XIV. directing the army in Franche-Comte for some time in person. None the less, the country was restored to Spain at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), but in 1674 Louis headed another expedition there. Besancon capitulated after a siege of twenty-seven days, and Dole and Salins also fell into the hands of the invaders. In 1678 the treaty of Nijmwegen gave Franche-Comte to France (the principality of Montbeliard remaining in the possession of the house of Wuerttemberg, which had acquired it by marriage), and it was in celebration of this conquest that the Arc de Triomphe of the Portes Saint Denis and Saint Martin at Paris was erected. Franche-Comte became a military government (_gouvernement_). The estates ceased to meet, and the old "_don gratuit_" was replaced by a tax which became increasingly heavy. Louis made Besancon, which Vauban fortified, into the capital of the province, and transferred to it the parliament and the university, the seat of which had hitherto been Dole. For purposes of administration, the county was divided among the four great _bailliages_ of Besancon, Dole, Amont (chief town Vesoul) and Aval (chief town Salins). At the Revolution were formed from it the departments of Jura, Doubs and Haute-Saone. See Dunod, _Histoire des Sequanois; Hist. du comte de Bourgogne_ (Dijon, 1735-1740); E. Clerc, _Essai sur l'histoire de la Franche-Comte_ (2nd ed., Besancon, 1870). (R. Po.)