Peace of Westphalia
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The Peace of Westphalia is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire, closing a calamitous period of European history that killed approximately eight million people. Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their respective allies among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, participated in the treaties.
Dutch envoy Adriaan Pauw enters Münster around 1646 for the peace negotiations.
Sebastian Dadler undated medal (1648), Christina of Sweden, portrait with feathered helmet right. Obverse
The reverse of this medal: Christina of Sweden as Minerva holding an olive branch in her left arm and grasping the tree of knowledge with her right hand.
Ferdinand III was Archduke of Austria from 1621, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and of Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 to his death.
Christoph Simon von Thun (1582-1635), teacher of young Ferdinand III
Portrait of Ferdinand's wife Maria Anna of Austria, by Diego Velázquez
Emperor Ferdinand III with the electoral princes, Copperplate engraving by Abraham Aubry, Nuremberg 1663/64