Louis XIV undertook to instill French culture in Alsace at the end of the 17th century. His minister Colbert declared that the Holy Spirit would obey the king in the region. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. He drove the Protestants out of the kingdom, except in Alsace, where the Peace of Westphalia guaranteed religious freedom since 1648. The Reformed religion, therefore, persisted in Riquewihr. It was not until 1774, under King Louis XV, that unions between Protestants and Catholics were authorized, on condition that the children became Catholics.