PHILIP V OF SPAIN

PHILIP V OF SPAIN

Philip V (1683-1746) was a Frenchman who was king of Spain. Philip was the first Bourbon king of Spain. His entire reign of 45 years and 21 days is the longest in Spanish history. 

Philip was born in 1683 in the Palace of Versailles because he was the grandson of Louis XIV (the Fourteenth).  His title was Duke of Anjou, and he was raised as French nobility.   However, in 1700, Charles II (the last Habsburg king of spain) died childless.  In his will, Charles said Philip should be the next king of Spain because he was the grandson of Charles’s sister, Maria Theresa, who married Louis XIV (the Fourteenth).   There was another claim to the throne by the Archduke Charles of Austria (who eventually became Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor).  They finally decided to make Philip king of Spain, but he had to renounce his claim to the French throne.

Many European countries were worried that France and Spain would join under the Bourbon King Philip.  This lead to the War of Spanish Succession from 1701-1704.  This war was fought in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and even in the American colonies, where it was called Queen Anne’s War (Anne was the Queen of England at the time).  Spain lost the war and had to give away some territory to its enemies.  This was the point of Spanish decline.

Philip V was rather dull and phlegmatic, so his wives mostly ran things   He had 11 children total and 2 marriages. In 1724, he abdicated to his son, Louis I of Spain, but he died of smallpox after only 7 months, so Philip resumed his throne.