146 HISTORY OF FRANCE. [chap. the right of the Duke of Nauburg, his male heir ; but Lewis set up a claim on the part of his sister-in-law to lands and fortresses necessary to the security of the Pala- tinate, and lying in the very heart of Germany. Louvois, who is said to have advised this war in order to remain important to Lewis, gave orders to Marshal Duras to ravage, even in the Palatinate, all that he could not keep. Three days' notice was given to the inhabitants, and their villages, fai-ms, and fields were set on fire in the depth of winter, and the misery and horror were beyond all con- ception. Heidelberg was plundered and the castle walls blown up, and the famous city of Speyc>-viS treated in the same way, but the French failed in their attempt to blow up the cathedral. The electoral city of Trier had been condemned to the same fate, when Madame de Maintenon succeeded in making Lewis understand something of the real effect of orders easily given at Versailles. He for- bade the destruction, and when Louvois pretended to have already sent off the order, he flew at him in a passion and had almost struck him, nor did he ever thoroughly trust the minister, though he retained office till his sudden death in 1691. Lewis had, as usual, the Empire, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Savoy against him ; and his only ally in this war was the Turkish Sultan, Ma- homet IL The deposition of James II. of England in 1688 gave the English crown to William Prince of Orange, Lewis's most determined enemy, so that all Europe was arrayed against him. The Marshal Duke of Ltixemburg and Marshal Catinat were his best generals, the. one commanding tlie army of the north, the other that which had invaded Savoy, where the Duke, Victor Ama- deiis, was assisted in his defence by his cousin, the famous Prince Eugene of Savoy. Eugene had been bred up in the French court, but he had not only fled to Vienna to fight the Turks, but had presumed to laugh at the majesty of Lewis XIV. He had thus erred beyond forgiveness, and became Lewis' bitterest enemy. The terrible strain on the resources of France was now felt as it never had been felt under Colbert, and the expedients for raising money led to extreme distress. Luxemburg was still c:irrying all before him, and Lewis appeared in person at the siege of Alons, in 1691, while Luxemburg gained the victory at Lifize. The next year Nainur was taken, and the battle of Steenkirk fought. William IIL was always beaten in every engagement with the French ; but his indomitably
