Philip V of Spain

Philip V of Spain
King of Spain, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, Duke of Milan and Sovereign of the Netherlands Style: His Catholic Majesty Other titles: Duke of Anjou (1683–1700)
Portrait of Philip V, by Jean Ranc (c. 1723). Oil on canvas, 144 × 115 cm, Museo del Prado (Madrid).
King of Spain
Reign	November 16, 1700 – January 15, 1724
Predecessor	Charles II
Successor	Louis I
King of Spain
Reign	September 6, 1724 – July 9, 1746
Predecessor	Louis I
Successor	Ferdinand VI
King of Sicily
Reign	November 16, 1700 – August 13, 1713
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Victor Amadeus II
King of Naples
Reign	November 16, 1700 – September 30, 1707
Predecessor	Charles V
Successor	Charles VI
King of Sardinia
Reign	November 16, 1700 – August 13, 1708
Predecessor	Charles II
Successor	Charles III
Duke of Milan
Reign	November 16, 1700 – September 24, 1706
Predecessor	Charles II of Spain
Successor	Charles of Habsburg
Sovereign of the Netherlands
Reign	November 16, 1700 – June 22, 1711
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Maximilian II Emanuel
Born	(1683-12-19)December 19, 1683 Palace of Versailles Versailles, France
Died	July 9, 1746(1746-07-09) (aged 62) Buen Retiro Palace Madrid, Spain
Burial	Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso
Spouse	Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (1701–1714) Elisabeth Farnese (1714–1746)
Issue	See Marriages and children
House	Bourbon
Father	Louis of France
Mother	Maria Anna of Bavaria
Religion	Catholic
Signature
Military career
Conflicts	War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1715) War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729) War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738) War of the Asiento (1739–1748) War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)

Philip V of Spain, called "the Spirited" (Versailles, December 19, 1683 – Madrid, July 9, 1746), was King of Spain from November 16, 1700, until his death in 1746, with a brief interruption (between January 16 and September 5, 1724) due to his abdication in favor of his son Louis I, who died prematurely on August 31, 1724.

As great-grandson of Philip IV, he was the successor of the last Monarch of the House of Austria, his great-uncle Charles II, and thus became the first King of the House of Bourbon in Spain. His reign of 45 years and 3 days (split, as already noted, into two separate periods) is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy.

Reign

Main article: Reign of Philip V

Accession to the throne and arrival in Spain

Proclamation of Philip V as King of Spain at the Palace of Versailles (France) on November 16, 1700.

Philip of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, was born at Versailles as the second of the sons of Louis, Grand Dauphin of France and Maria Anna of Bavaria. He was therefore the grandson of the French King Louis XIV and of Maria Theresa of Austria, born an Infanta of Spain, and great-grandson of Philip IV of Spain, of the House of Austria.

As he was not the firstborn, his chances of inheriting the throne of France seemed slim, as did his chances of inheriting that of Spain through his Spanish ancestry. His paternal grandmother Maria Theresa (daughter of Philip IV—by his first marriage, to Elisabeth of Bourbon—and therefore half-sister of King Charles II of Spain—born of the former's second marriage to Mariana of Austria) had renounced her rights to the Spanish throne in order to marry the King of France (who, moreover, was also her first cousin, on both her father's and her mother's side). In fact, Louis XIV and the other European kings had already agreed that the heir to the throne of Spain would be Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, in view of the foreseeable death without heirs of Charles II. This First Treaty of Partition of Spain, signed at The Hague in 1698, awarded Joseph Ferdinand all the peninsular kingdoms—except Gipuzkoa—as well as Sardinia, the Spanish Netherlands and all the American territories. For its part, France would keep Gipuzkoa, Naples and Sicily, while Austria would keep the Milanese.

Philip V of Spain by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)

The death of Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria in 1699 thwarted that partition, whereupon a new Treaty of Partition was negotiated—behind the back of Spain—and of whoever was to be its king, and so the Second Partition Treaty was signed in 1700. This treaty recognized as heir the Archduke Charles, himself a great-grandson of Philip III of Spain, and assigned him all the peninsular kingdoms, the Spanish Netherlands and the Indies; in exchange, Naples, Sicily and Tuscany would go to the Dauphin of France, while the Emperor Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, would receive the Milanese in exchange for ceding Lorraine and Bar to the Dauphin of France. But while France, Holland and England were satisfied with the agreement, the Emperor was not, and he claimed the entirety of the Spanish inheritance, since he believed that Charles II himself would name the Archduke universal heir. However, Charles II named his grandnephew Philip as heir, in the hope that Louis XIV would prevent the division of his empire, since his own grandson would be King of Spain. Shortly afterwards, on November 1, 1700, Charles II died, and Philip of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, accepted the Crown on November 16.

The news of the death of Charles II on November 1 in Madrid reached Versailles on November 6. On November 16, 1700, Louis XIV announced before the Spanish tribunal that he accepted the will of his cousin, brother and nephew. He then presented his seventeen-year-old grandson to the Court with these words: "Gentlemen, behold the King of Spain." He then said to his grandson: "Conduct yourself well in Spain, which is your first duty now, but remember that you were born in France, so as to maintain the union between our two nations; this is the way to make them happy and to preserve the peace of Europe."

After this, the Spanish Empire and all the European monarchies—with the exception of the House of Austria—recognized the new King. Philip V left Versailles on December 4, entered Spain through Irún on January 22, 1701, and made his triumphal entry into Madrid on February 18. But after a few months of reign, political errors piled up:

• On February 1, 1701, the Parlement of Paris preserved Philip V's letters patent, maintaining his right to the throne of France.

• In February 1701, Louis XIV, at the request of the Spanish Council of Regency, sent French troops alongside the Spanish garrisons of the Spanish Netherlands, on the border with the United Provinces, stationed in accordance with a bilateral treaty signed with Spain in 1698.

• After the death in exile of James II of England, in September 1701, Louis XIV recognized his son James Stuart, the Old Pretender, as King of England and Scotland, to the great indignation of King William III of England.

• The French installed themselves in the high offices in Madrid and decided the new direction of Spanish policy.

Greater arms of Philip V with royal mantle, royal crest of Castile and the motto "A solis ortu usque ad occasum" (From the rising of the sun to its setting), derived from the famous phrase attributed to Philip II: "In my dominions the sun never sets", referring to the fact that the sun never set on the Spanish territories, since they spanned both hemispheres. Also included is the word Santiago, in reference to the Patron Saint of Spain, James the Great, and more specifically to the traditional motto "Santiago y cierra España". They were used by Louis I and later by Ferdinand VI, after the death of his father. When the latter died without issue, his brother Charles VII of Naples ascended the throne as Charles III and modified the central shield and, consequently, the banners carried by the angels.

Although most countries accepted the new King, Emperor Leopold refused to do so, considering that the Archduke Charles of Austria, his second son, had greater rights to the throne. Shortly afterwards Louis XIV recognized that the succession rights to the Crown of France of his second grandson, the new King of Spain, remained intact. Although the possibility of Philip inheriting the French throne was remote, since the son of Louis XIV, the Grand Dauphin, enjoyed excellent health, and the latter's son and Philip's elder brother was also of age to reign and married, the prospect of a union of the Crowns of Spain and France under the House of Bourbon, steered from the court of Versailles, was feared by the rest of the powers. In view of this situation, England-Scotland and the United Provinces (both countries under the authority of William III of England, King of England and Scotland and stadtholder of the United Provinces), together with the Austrian Habsburgs, signed the Treaty of The Hague in September 1701. Previously the French King had established a formal alliance with the Elector of Bavaria in the Treaty of Versailles of March 1701, and in September 1701 Louis XIV arranged for Philip V to marry Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, who would become his greatest support in the difficult moments that would soon take place; his brother, the Duke of Burgundy, had already married the sister of Maria Luisa, so the marriage of the two sisters to two brothers was aimed at securing an alliance with Savoy and facilitating the French entry into Italy.

In May 1701 the Austrian armies entered Italy without a prior declaration of war, with the intention of occupying the Spanish possessions. In September, the Emperor, England and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of The Hague, and an Alliance was established with which to oppose France and Spain. Finally, in May 1702 this "Grand Alliance" declared war on France and Spain, which formally began the War of the Spanish Succession.

War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713)

Main article: War of the Spanish Succession

The War of Succession was an international conflict, but also a civil conflict, for while the Crown of Castile and Navarre remained loyal to the Bourbon candidate, most of the Crown of Aragon, especially out of the fear of the bourgeoisie and the nobility of losing their enormous economic privileges, lent its support to the Austrian candidate. In the interior the fighting was favorable to the Philippist troops, who after the victory of Almansa (1707) gained control over Aragon and Valencia.

In 1713 the Archduke Charles was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The European powers, now fearful of the excessive power of the Habsburgs, withdrew their troops and that same year signed the Treaty of Utrecht, under which Spain lost its possessions in Europe and kept its metropolitan territories (with the exception of Gibraltar and Menorca, which passed to Great Britain) and its overseas ones. Nevertheless, Philip was recognized as legitimate King of Spain by all countries, with the exception of the Archduke Charles, by then already emperor, who continued to claim the Spanish throne for himself.

Domestic policy

Philip V of Spain

2 maravedís of Philip V of Spain dated 1744 from the Segovia Mint

Volume V of the edition of the Diccionario de la lengua castellana in 1737

Despite his personal conditions and his illness, which plunged him into intermittent and long bouts of dementia, he knew how to choose his ministers: from the first French governments, followed by that of Julio Alberoni and, after the adventure of the Baron of Ripperdá, by the Spanish ministers, among whom José Patiño stood out for his program of domestic government and his diplomatic action. They acted from the secretariats of State and of the Office, the closest equivalent to the later ministries, which supplanted the councils of the polysynodial regime of the Austrias, reserved for honors and considerations but emptied of power, with the exception of the Council of Castile, whose powers grew. For this reason, opposition to the governments of Philip V always came from the sidelined nobles.

During his long reign he achieved a certain internal reconstruction with respect to the Treasury, the Army and the Navy, practically recreated due to the demands of the rational exploitation of the Indies, and as an inevitable means to confront the maritime and colonial rivalries of England. His fundamental achievement, however, was administrative centralization and unification and the creation of a modern State, without the difficulties formerly posed by the historic kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon, which were incorporated into the fiscal system and had their fueros and public law (though not their private law) abolished with the application of the Nueva Planta decrees. Historians today draw attention to the reasons why Philip V remains a reviled Monarch despite the fact that during his reign he "promoted the rationalization of the administration in order thereby to promote economic development in a kingdom sunk in a severe economic crisis. Philip V also set in motion a process of agrarian reform to overcome the age-old backwardness of the countryside. No less important was his interest in fostering trade, industrial production and communication routes, and thus making possible the formation of a national market".

Spain was governed from Madrid.

Title page of the Nueva Planta decree of the Real Audiencia of the Principality of Catalonia

The Nueva Planta decrees (Decree of 1707 for Aragon and Valencia, of 1715 for Majorca and of 1716 for Catalonia) imposed the Castilian legal, political and administrative model on the territories of the Crown of Aragon, which had tended, especially in Catalonia, to support the claims of the Austrian candidate. Only the Basque Provinces and Navarre, as well as the Val d'Aran, kept their traditional fueros and foral institutions because of their proven loyalty to the new king during the War of the Spanish Succession. Thus, the State was organized into provinces governed by a Captain General and an audiencia, which took charge of the administration with complete loyalty to the government in Madrid. In addition, for economic and financial administration provincial Intendancies were established, following the French model, which brought about the appearance of the figure of the intendants.

For the central government the secretariats of State were created, forerunners of the present ministries, whose posts were held by officials appointed by the king. The Councils of the territories that had disappeared legally or physically from the Catholic Monarchy were abolished (the Councils of Aragon, Italy and Flanders). There remained, then, that of Navarre, that of the Indies, that of the Inquisition, that of the Orders (the only one that has survived to our day), etc. In fact, everything was concentrated in the Council of Castile. Likewise the Cortes of Castile were organized, into which representatives of the former Aragonese states were progressively integrated. Nevertheless, the decline of the Castilian Cortes continued as in previous centuries, with a merely ceremonial role (such as the oaths of the Princes of Asturias).

Philip V confronted the ruinous economic and financial situation of the State, fighting corruption and establishing new taxes to make the tax burden more equitable. He fostered State intervention in the economy, favoring agriculture and creating the so-called royal manufactories. By the end of his reign the revenues of the Treasury had multiplied and the economy had improved substantially.

Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso

Following the example of his grandfather Louis XIV, who considered culture and art a means of demonstrating royal greatness, Philip V fostered artistic and cultural development. He ordered the construction of the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, inspired by the French style whose paradigmatic model was Versailles, to which he would retire to hunt and recover from his depression. Even so, Italian influence on the court art of the reign is notable, due mainly to the strong personality of Queen Elisabeth Farnese. To decorate La Granja, Philip V acquired important Roman sculptures from Christina of Sweden. His other great artistic project was the Royal Palace of Madrid, which he ordered built after the fire of the Alcázar of Madrid, which had always displeased him. During his reign the palace of Aranjuez was considerably enlarged and renovated. His reign coincided with the introduction of the Rococo style into Spain. Philip V was also the founder of such prestigious cultural bodies as the Royal Spanish Academy and the Royal Academy of History, following the French model.

Likewise, in the field of dynastic law Philip V introduced French practices into Spain. Thus, after an attempt to introduce the Salic law thwarted by the opposition of the Cortes, on May 10, 1713 he promulgated a new succession regulation, which constituted the Fundamental Law of Succession, under which women could only inherit the throne if there were no male heirs in the main line (sons) or the lateral line (brothers and nephews), the aim being to block the access of foreign dynasties to the Spanish throne.

As a consequence of the needs of the war and following the French model, Philip V carried out a thorough reorganization of the army, replacing the old tercios with a new military model based on brigades, regiments, battalions, companies and squadrons. Innovations such as uniforms, muskets and the bayonet were introduced, and the artillery was improved. During the reign of Philip V the reconstruction of the Spanish navy began: more modern ships and new shipyards were built and the various flotillas and fleets were organized into the Armada Española (1717). This policy would be continued by his sons, and until the end of the century Spanish naval power remained one of the most important in the world.

It should be noted that, although Philip V held absolute power, he never governed as such. The illness he had suffered since adolescence, which caused the king transitory attacks of depression (Elisabeth Farnese sought to cure the king's melancholy with the singing of the castrato Farinelli), prevented Philip V from regularly fulfilling his tasks of government. For this reason, real power was exercised by his prime ministers, some courtiers such as the Princess of the Ursins, and later his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese, whom he had married in 1714.

Political and administrative reforms

Painting of Philip V in the Almudín of Xàtiva displayed upside down as punishment for ordering the burning of the city in 1707

Philip V would make the public administration run directly at the expense of the State, and the intendancies were established. Administration would henceforth be exercised by the Crown and by public officials specially appointed for such purposes. All the functions of public administration were to fall into the hands of professionals. The appointment of officials would take into account solely their training and competence. They would be promoted only on their merits and were to receive a good salary to prevent corruption.

Philip V carried out a complete modernization of administrative techniques. This would be possible thanks to the professionalism of public officials and the drafting of clear laws and instructions. Accountability to the authorities would be regular and periodic, and oversight would be carried out permanently, with the possibility of replacing any official who did not fulfill his duties.

The mandatory and immediate observance of the law was established. During the 16th and 17th centuries many ordinances sent from the metropolis were "acknowledged, but not complied with" by the colonial authorities. According to the historian Céspedes del Castillo, the reforming goal consisted in replacing that formula with another such as this: "I obey, I comply, and I report having done so with speed and exactness." Finally, the power of the archdiocese and the functions of the bishops were limited, thus reducing the power of the church.

Economic reforms

Economic activities were strengthened and regulated. Spain was to recover trade with its overseas possessions, wresting it from the French and the English, and combat smuggling. The fiscal system was improved. Taxes were also raised and customs houses were created, charged with collecting the taxes on domestic and foreign trade.

Philip V ratified mercantilist measures, such as the ban on importing textile manufactures or on exporting grain; and an attempt was made to revive colonial trade through the creation of privileged trading companies (in the style of the Netherlands or the Kingdom of Great Britain), although they were not very successful. The clauses of the Treaty of Utrecht, which gave England the right to a navío de permiso and the asiento de negros, made it easier for English merchants than for Spanish ones (subject to the monopolistic regulations of the Cádiz fleet and the Casa de Contratación).

During this Atlantic trade important figures in the naval history of Spain emerged, among whom the privateer from Tenerife Amaro Pargo stands out. Philip V frequently favored this privateer in his commercial and privateering raids: he granted him a Royal order given at the Palace of El Pardo in Madrid in September 1714 in which he named him captain of a merchant ship bound for Caracas. The monarch himself also interceded in the release of Amaro during his detention by the Casa de Contratación of Cádiz and authorized him to build a ship bound for Campeche, which was fitted out as a privateer.

Educational reforms

Control of education passed into the hands of the State. Instruction was also the subject of reform; primary education remained in the hands of the religious orders owing to the lack of competent teachers. However, university education was thoroughly reformed. New institutions of higher education called "colegios mayores" were created, which were administered by the State, such as the Colegio de Minería; in them the system of scholarship provision was introduced. The scientific academies completed the reforms in this field.

Portrait of Elisabeth Farnese, by Louis-Michel van Loo (c. 1739). Oil on canvas, 150 × 110 cm, Museo del Prado (Madrid)

Foreign policy (1715–1724)

The protagonists of this period were Elisabeth Farnese and the prime minister Giulio Alberoni, an agent of the court of Parma who had negotiated her marriage and who acted as the strongman at Court. The death of his grandfather Louis XIV of France brought about the rise as regent of France of the Duke of Orléans, a personal enemy of Philip V, which thwarted any possible aspiration to intervene in any way at Versailles. This caused a shift in foreign policy, which added to the one produced in domestic affairs.

Notable in this phase is the foreign policy, which started from the rejection of the treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt and had as its objective the recovery of the Italian territories in order to place the sons of Elisabeth Farnese in them and create satellite kingdoms of Spain.

In 1717 Spanish troops conquered Sardinia and invaded Sicily the following year. For this reason, Great Britain, France, Holland and Austria signed the Quadruple Alliance against Spain. An English squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet at Cape Pesaro and the allies demanded the dismissal of Giulio Alberoni, the promoter of this policy, as a condition for peace.

Abdication, reign of Louis I and recovery of the throne (1724)

Main article: Louis I of Spain

Painting of Philip V in the Almudín of Xàtiva displayed upside down as punishment for ordering the burning of the city in 1707

On January 10, 1724, King Philip V signed a decree by which he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, seventeen years old, married to Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, two years younger than he. The prince received the documents on the 15th, and the provision was published the following day. The reasons for this abdication are a matter of debate. At the time it was said that the monarch hoped to accede to the throne of France in the event of a possible premature death of Louis XV that would make him his successor, provided that he did not occupy the Spanish throne (since the Treaty of Utrecht forbade Spain and France from being ruled by the same person). Or it is also possible that the abdication of Philip V was the action of a sick, demented man who is aware that he is not in a condition to govern and chooses to step away from the responsibilities of Government. This last point of view is the one defended by the historian Pedro Voltes: Philip V abdicated because of the severe depression he suffered in those years.

The king and queen parents Philip and Elisabeth retired to the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, but the queen was always perfectly informed of what was happening at the court in Madrid.

Louis I reigned for only eight months. In mid-August he fell ill with smallpox and died on the 31st of that month. Since Philip V had abdicated, his successor should have been the other son Ferdinand, ten years old, but the swift action of Queen Elisabeth Farnese prevented it. She had to confront certain sectors of the Castilian nobility who supported the option of Ferdinand, arguing that there was no going back on a king's abdication. "The king's own confessor, Father Bermúdez, considered it a mortal sin to resume a crown which he had renounced with all solemnities. The confessor then convened, at the monarch's request, a council of theologians at the Jesuit convent, which opposed Philip V's return to the throne and was only willing to approve his exercising power as regent for his son and heir, Ferdinand. Neither as regent nor as king nor as anything, Philip V replied angrily, eager to brood over his depression in peace." To counter the opinion of the theologians, the queen pressured the Council of Castile to ask Philip V to recover the throne. On September 6, 1724, one week after the death of his son Louis, Philip V once again held the Crown of the Monarchy of Spain, and his son Ferdinand was proclaimed the new Prince of Asturias and shortly afterwards sworn in by the Cortes of Castile, convened for that purpose.

Foreign policy (1725–1746)

Territorial losses as a consequence of the Treaty of Utrecht

In 1725 treaties of peace and alliance were signed with Charles VI of Austria, and the following year the Spanish-British war began. This rivalry, arising from the advantages England had obtained in the Treaty of Utrecht, marked the rest of the reign with incessant maritime incidents (from 1739 the one known by the name of the War of the Asiento). The organization of the League of Hanover among the European powers suspicious of the Spanish-Austrian treaty forced Spain to denounce it and to sign the Convention of El Pardo (1728), which definitively recognized the validity of the Treaty of Utrecht. Under the direction of Patiño foreign policy was reoriented, seeking alliance with France by means of the First Family Compact (1733), in the context of the War of the Polish Succession.

The ambivalent position regarding the Treaty of Utrecht and the European policy of France also had as their objective the recovery of the Italian territories in order to place the sons of Elisabeth Farnese in them and create satellite kingdoms of Spain. The task was entrusted to Charles, the future Charles III of Spain, who began with Piacenza, Parma and Tuscany (1732) and then occupied the throne of Naples in 1734 (the three duchies had to be returned to Austria, to be later recovered, except Tuscany, by the infante Philip). Spain once again became a naval power, dominating the Atlantic, and one to be reckoned with in the Western Mediterranean (although England continued to control Gibraltar and Menorca). The new minister José del Campillo y Cossío, in the context of the War of the Austrian Succession, led to the Second Family Compact (1743).

Holy Roman Empire

Spain

Holy Roman Empire

Main article: Treaty of Vienna (1725)

The Treaty of Vienna of 1725 was signed by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Philip V of Spain. Under the terms of the agreement, Charles VI renounced his aspirations to the Spanish throne maintained during the War of the Spanish Succession, while Philip V renounced the territories of the Empire in Italy and the Netherlands.

At the signing of the treaty Eugene of Savoy, Philip Louis and Gundaker Thomas appeared on behalf of Charles VI, and Juan Guillermo Ripperdá on behalf of Philip V.

Denmark

Spain

Denmark

Main article: Treaty of San Ildefonso (1742)

The Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1742, signed between Philip V (Spain) and Christian VI (Denmark), was a treaty of friendship, navigation and commerce establishing the conditions that would govern commercial relations between the two countries.

At the signing of the treaty José del Campillo y Cossío appeared on behalf of Philip V and Frederick Louis, Baron of Dehn, on behalf of Christian VI, who concluded the agreement at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso on July 18, 1742. The agreement would be annulled in 1753.

France, Naples and the Republic of Genoa

Spain

France

Kingdom of Naples

Republic of Genoa

Main article: Treaty of Aranjuez (1745)

The Treaty of Aranjuez of 1745 was a military alliance agreed between the kingdoms of Spain, France and Naples and the Republic of Genoa, to support the latter against the attacks of Sardinia and Austria, within the framework of the War of the Austrian Succession.

The drafting and signing of the treaty, concluded at Aranjuez on May 1, 1745, were attended by Sebastián de la Cuadra, on behalf of Philip V of Spain; Louis Guido Guerapin Baureal, representing King Louis XV of France; Esteban Reggio y Gravina, envoy of Charles VII of Naples; and Jerónimo Grimaldi on behalf of the Republic of Genoa.

Family Compacts

Main article: Family Compact

The Family Compacts were three alliances agreed on different dates in the 18th century between the monarchies of Spain and France. They owe their name to the kinship between the kings who signed the compacts, all of them belonging to the House of Bourbon. Spain realized that a policy of friendship with France was in its interest, and so an agreement was signed by which they were bound militarily. Two of them were signed in the time of Philip V, and the compacts led Spain into a series of European wars of the period:

• First compact: signed in 1734, it led Spain to intervene in the War of the Polish Succession, which ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1738. In this treaty, Prince Charles obtained Naples and Sicily.

• Second compact: Spain entered the War of the Austrian Succession in 1743, and when this war ended in 1748, Philip V had died, and by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Prince Philip obtained the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla.

Death

Detail of the painting The Family of Philip V by Van Loo (1743), in which the Prince of Asturias Ferdinand appears standing, next to his father King Philip V and his stepmother, Queen Elisabeth Farnese, both seated.

During the last years of his reign, the mental illness and physical deterioration of Philip V grew more pronounced; the king can be seen in famous works by French painters such as Jean Ranc and Van Loo, in which one observes the weariness he displays, the product of dietary problems and psychological ailments, until on the night of July 9, 1746 he died of a stroke. Barely a week after his father's death, the new king Ferdinand VI—the only son of his first marriage who had survived him—ordered his stepmother, the queen dowager Elisabeth Farnese—who had subjected the Princes of Asturias to a sort of "house arrest" for almost fifteen years—to leave the royal palace of the Buen Retiro and go to live in a house of the Duchess of Osuna, accompanied by her children, the infantes Luis and María Victoria. The following year she was banished from Madrid and her residence was fixed at the palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. When the queen dowager protested by means of a letter in which she told the king that she "would like to know whether I have failed in anything, so as to amend it", Ferdinand VI replied with another missive in which he said: "what I determine in my kingdoms admits no consultation with anyone before being executed and obeyed."

Tomb of Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese in the Royal Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, in the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Province of Segovia)

At the express wish of Philip V, his body was not buried in the royal crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial, as the kings of the House of Austria had been and as his Bourbon successors would also be (except, likewise, Ferdinand VI), but in the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, located in the town of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Province of Segovia), which he had preferred in life, as an architectural caprice much more to his liking and which reminded him of the French court he longed for.

The remains of Philip V rest together with those of his second wife Elisabeth Farnese in a mausoleum located in the Royal Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, in the so-called Hall of Relics, within the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a few kilometers from Segovia.

Personality of Philip V

The French nobleman Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon gave a brief general description of the first King of Spain of the House of Bourbon when he was ambassador of France in Madrid:

Philip V, King of Spain, possesses a great sense of rectitude, a great foundation of fairness, is very religious, has a great fear of the devil, is without vices and does not permit them in those around him.

— Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon

However, the French historian Janine Fayard states:

Office work bored him, he did not know how to enjoy himself, and at the end of his life this boredom would lead him to sink into total inertia, prey to a deep pathological melancholy. Only war drew him for brief moments out of his congenital apathy, which earned him the nickname "the spirited". All his life he was dominated by his relatives. Allusive caricatures soon appeared. One of them shows him guided by Cardinal Portocarrero and the ambassador of France, the Duke of Harcourt, with this inscription: "Walk, child, walk, because the cardinal commands it."

Along the same lines as the French historian, the historian Pedro Voltes highlighted the mental deterioration of Philip V during his life. He thus recounts one of the many crises he suffered:

Prince Ferdinand was admitted now and then into the presence of his father, who had shut himself away at El Pardo. There he could witness with his own eyes the tragicomic follies of the sovereign: he had insisted on always wearing a shirt previously worn by the queen, because he feared they would poison him with a shirt; at other times he did without that garment and went about naked in front of strangers; he spent whole days in bed amid the greatest filth, made faces and bit himself, sang and shouted wildly, on occasion struck the queen, with whom he quarreled at the top of his voice, and repeated his attempts to escape so often that it was necessary to post guards at his door to prevent it. Worse still: at a certain moment when he was able to get hold of paper and pen, he quickly composed a letter of abdication and sent it to the president of the Council of Castile, the supreme organ of government, so that he would assemble the councillors and inform them that he was ceding the crown to Prince Ferdinand, his heir. The president, the Archbishop of Valencia, was devoted to the queen and held back the letter until he had informed her. Elisabeth Farnese was horrified and enraged and ordered the watch over her husband to be tightened.

A similar assessment is made by the historian Ricardo García Cárcel as well:

Philip V reigned twice. There is certainly a first Philip, before 1724, who wanted to be king... But after the death of his son Louis, the Philip V who returns to act as king will no longer be the same. Kamen saw the abdication not only as guided by religious motives—the official version—but as produced by the impact of the depressive illness that was already manifesting itself at a galloping pace. [...] The second Philip is a king who is, above all, consort of his wife, Elisabeth Farnese, who frequently used the phrase "the king and I", as the emblem of a singular dual monarchy in which the one who made the decisions was the queen. Philip's psychopathological state throughout these years was calamitous—although the illness went back a long way—and Kamen's certain boldness must be valued positively in breaking with the prudish assessments of the king's psychology by Romantic historiography, which always preferred to believe in a king held captive in the bedchamber by his wife—as Macanaz believed—rather than a king mentally unfit to reign.

Honors

Spanish honors

• Grand Master of the Order of the Golden Fleece
• Grand Master of the Order of Montesa
• Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara
• Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava
• Grand Master of the Order of Santiago

Foreign honors

• Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit (Kingdom of France)
• Knight of the Order of Saint Michael (Kingdom of France)

Marriages and children

First marriage

Philip V of Spain married his cousin, Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy (September 17, 1688 – February 14, 1714), on November 2, 1701, and they had four children:

Issue of Philip V and Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy

Image	Name	Lifespan	Notes
	Louis I of Spain Queen consort Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans	August 25, 1707 August 31, 1724	King of Spain (January 14, 1724 – until his death). His reign of 229 days is the shortest in Spanish history; he married Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans and they had no issue.
	Infante Philip of Spain	July 2, 1709 July 29, 1709	Died in infancy.
	Infante Philip Peter Gabriel of Spain	June 7, 1712 December 28, 1719	Died in infancy.
	Ferdinand VI of Spain Queen consort Barbara of Braganza	September 23, 1713 August 10, 1759	King of Spain (July 9, 1746 – until his death). He married Barbara of Braganza and they had no issue.

Second marriage

He married secondly Elisabeth Farnese (October 25, 1692 – July 11, 1766) on December 24, 1714; they had seven children:

Issue of Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese

Image	Name	Lifespan	Notes
	Charles III of Spain Queen consort Maria Amalia of Saxony	January 20, 1716 December 14, 1788	King of Spain (August 10, 1759 – until his death). He married Maria Amalia of Saxony; they had thirteen children.
	Infante Francisco	March 21, 1717 April 21, 1717	Died in infancy.
	Mariana Victoria of Bourbon Consort Joseph I of Portugal	March 31, 1718 January 15, 1781	Queen Consort of Portugal and the Algarve (July 31, 1750 – February 24, 1777). She married Joseph I of Portugal; they had four children.
	Philip I of Parma Spouse Louise Élisabeth of France	March 15, 1720 July 18, 1765	Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (1748 – until his death). He founded the house of Bourbon-Parma (also known as the Bourbons of Parma); he married Louise Élisabeth of France; they had three children.
	Maria Teresa Antonia Rafaela Spouse Louis, Dauphin of France	June 11, 1726 July 22, 1746	Dauphine of France (February 23, 1745 – until her death). She married Louis of France (son of Louis XV of France); they had one child.
	Luis Antonio Jaime Spouse María Teresa de Vallabriga y Rozas	July 25, 1727 August 7, 1785	Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain (1735), Cardinal of Santa Maria della Scala (1735), at only eight years of age, and Archbishop of Seville (1741). In 1754 he renounced his ecclesiastical titles, finally becoming the 13th Count of Chinchón (1761 – until his death). He contracted a morganatic marriage with María Teresa de Vallabriga y Rozas; they had three children excluded from the succession.
	Maria Antonia Ferdinanda Consort Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia	November 17, 1729 September 19, 1785	Queen Consort of Sardinia (February 20, 1773 – until her death). She married Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia; they had twelve children.

Portrait of the family of Philip V, by Louis-Michel van Loo (c. 1743). Oil on canvas, 408 × 520 cm, Museo del Prado (Madrid); the portrait shows the Infante Ferdinand of Spain (future Ferdinand VI), his wife, Barbara of Braganza, the King and Queen Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese, the Infante Philip (future Duke of Parma) with his wife Louise Élisabeth of Bourbon, the Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, the Infante Don Charles (future Charles III), with his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony, and the Infantas Maria Antonia, Maria Teresa Rafaela and Isabel.

Bibliography

War of the Spanish Succession

• Calvo, José. La guerra de Sucesión. Madrid: Anaya, 1988.
• Fayard, Janine (1980). "La Guerra de Sucesión (1700-1714)". In Jean-Paul Le Flem; Joseph Pérez; Jean-Marc Perlorson; José Mª López Piñero y Janine Fayard (ed.). La frustración de un Imperio. Vol. V de la Historia de España, dirigida por Manuel Tuñón de Lara (in español). Barcelona: Labor. ISBN 84-335-9425-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Graullera Sanz, Vicente. Los notarios de Valencia y la guerra de Sucesión. Valencia: Colegio Notarial de Valencia and Universitat de Valencia, 1987.
• Kamen, Henry. La guerra de Sucesión en España, 1700–1715. Barcelona: Ediciones Grijalbo, 1974.
• León Sanz, Virginia. Entre Austrias y Borbones. El archiduque Carlos y la Monarquía de España (1700-1714). Madrid: Sigilo, 1993.
• Voltes, Pedro. La guerra de Sucesión. Barcelona: Planeta, 1990.

Philip V

• Antonio Béthencourt. Patiño en la política de Felipe V. Valladolid: CSIC, 1954.
• Fernández Durán Reyes. Gerónimo de Uztáriz (1670–1732).
• García Cárcel, Ricardo (2002). Felipe V y los españoles. Una visión periférica del problema de España (in español). Barcelona: Plaza & Janés. ISBN 84-01-53056-3.
• Gómez Molleda, D. Gibraltar: una contienda diplomática en el reinado de Felipe V. Madrid: CSIC, 1953.
• Kamen, Henry. Felipe V. El Rey que reinó dos veces. Madrid: Editorial Temas de Hoy, 2000.
• John Lynch, El siglo XVIII, Crítica, Barcelona, 1991 (1989)
• Voltes, Pedro (1998). La vida y la época de Fernando VI (in español). Barcelona: Planeta. ISBN 84-08-02617-8.

External links

• Diccionario Biográfico. Real Academia de la Historia Felipe V

• Biography of Philip V provided by the Biblioteca M. Cervantes
• «Felipe V, un rey moderno» (special feature on the occasion of the third centenary of the beginning of his reign), ABC Cultural, October 28, 2000.