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| Colmar | Haguenau | Kaysersberg | Mulhouse | Munster |
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| Obernai | Rosheim | Sélestat | Turckheim | Wissembourg |
TheDécapole (French pronunciation:[dekapɔl]ⓘ;German:Zehnstädtebund[ˈtseːnʃtɛːtəˌbʊnt],Dekapolis orDekapole) was an alliance formed in 1354 by tenImperial cities of theHoly Roman Empire in theAlsace region to maintain their rights. It was disbanded in 1679.
In 1354 EmperorCharles IV of Luxembourg ratified the treaty uniting the towns ofHaguenau,Colmar,Wissembourg,Turckheim,Obernai,Kaysersberg,Rosheim,Munster,Sélestat andMulhouse.[1] Hagenau became its capital while the Imperial city ofStrasbourg, though venue of the league's diets, remained outside the alliance. The town ofSeltz joined the league when it receivedimmediate status in 1357, but had to leave it after itsmediatization to theElectorate of the Palatinate in 1414.
The affiliation at first discontinued after Charles' death in 1378, it was, however, re-established in the next year. The ten cities joined theUpper Rhenish Circle in 1500. In 1515, Mulhouse pulled out of the alliance in order to associate with theOld Swiss Confederacy. It was replaced in 1521 by the city ofLandau in northern Alsace.[1]
The alliance was strongly shaken by theThirty Years' War which ravaged the region, allowingLouis XIV of France to conquer the cities according to the 1648Peace of Westphalia. The signing of theTreaties of Nijmegen in 1679 finally brought an end to the Décapole, when Alsace was annexed by France. Mulhouse remained an independent city and exclave of the Swiss Confederation until in 1798 it was annexed to theFrench First Republic. Landau together with the Palatinate was given toBavaria after the 1815Congress of Vienna.
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