New Orleans has a complex colonial history and has belonged to three different sovereign nations: France, Spain, and the United States. Founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, it was originally a French colony named La Nouvelle-Orléans. In 1762, under the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau, France ceded the territory to Spain to prevent it from falling into British hands during the Seven Years' War. Spanish rule lasted for nearly 400 years, during which time much of the iconic architecture of the French Quarter (which is ironically Spanish in style) was built. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte re-acquired Louisiana for France through the Treaty of San Ildefonso, though the French only took actual control for a few weeks in 1803. Finally, later that same year, Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, and the city officially became part of the United States. This "three-flag" history is what gives New Orleans its unique legal system (based on Napoleonic Civil Law), its Catholic traditions, and its world-famous multicultural cuisine that blends French, Spanish, African, and Caribbean influences into a single, cohesive identity.