WikiPortallus: Philip V of Spain.html

In the year 1700^[4], the King of Spain, Charles II, died. Charles' will named the 17-year old Philip, the grandson of Charles' sister Maria Theresa of Spain, as his successor^[5]. Upon any possible refusal the Crown of Spain would be offered next to Philip's younger brother Charles, duc de Berry, or, next, to Archduke Charles of Austria^[6].

Both claimants had a legal right due to the fact that Philip's grandfather, King Louis XIV of France and Charles's father, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, were both the husbands of Charles' older half sisters and sons of Charles' aunts.

Philip had the better claim because his grandmother and great-grandmother were older than Leopold's. However, the Austrian branch claimed that Philip's grandmother had renounced the Spanish throne for her descendants as part of her marriage contract. This was countered by the French branch's claim that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid^[7].

After a long council meeting where the Dauphin spoke up in favour of his son's rights, it was agreed that Philip would ascend the throne but would forever renounce his claim to the throne of France for himself and his descendants^[8], . It was not difficult to see whether Louis would have refused, as a Habsburg ruler in Spain would have put a possible enemy on three frontiers.

After the Royal Council decided to accept Charles' will naming Philip King of Spain, the Spanish ambassador was called in and introduced to his new King. The ambassador, along with his son, kneeled before Philip and made a long speech in Spanish which Philip did not understand, although Louis XIV did. Ironically, Philip had only begun taking Spanish lessons that day.

War of Spanish Succession

These losses greatly diminished the Spanish Empire in Europe, which had already been in decline. Throughout his reign, Philip sought to reverse the decline of Spanish power as Great Britain increasingly began to dominate at sea.

Marriages

First Marriage

Second Marriage

Abdication

On January 14, 1724, Philip abdicated the throne to his eldest son, Louis I, but resumed it later that year when Louis died of smallpox.

Philip helped his Bourbon relatives to make territorial gains in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession by reconquering Naples and Sicily from Austria and Oran from the Ottomans. Finally, at the end of his reign Spanish forces also successfully defended their American territories from a large British invasion during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

Philip was afflicted by fits of manic depression^{citation needed} and increasingly fell victim to a deep melancholia. His second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, completely dominated her passive husband. She bore him further sons, including another successor, Charles III of Spain. He was later helped with his affliction by the castrato singer Carlo Broschi, famously known as Farinelli, who, for twenty years, sang the same four arias each night to the king before he went to sleep^{citation needed}.

Legacy

Ancestry

Notes

^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.6. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ "The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography", p.1203. Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2003 ISBN 061825210X.
^ "The New International Encyclopædia", p.14. Published by Dodd, Mead and Company, 1903.
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.6. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.6. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.6. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ Durant, Will. "The Age of Louis XIV", p.699. Simon and Schuster, New York 1963.
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain:: The King who Reigned Twice", p.158. Published by Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ Durant, Will. "The Age of Louis XIV", p.715. Simon and Schuster, New York 1963.
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain: The King who Reigned Twice", p.12. Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187
^ Kamen, Henry. "Philip V of Spain: The King who Reigned Twice", p.97. Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN 0300087187

Philip V of Spain.html

Contents

Early life

Claims to the Spanish Throne