King Philip V

Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; French: Philippe de France; 19 December 1683 to 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Luis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son’s death, to his own death. Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. However, since the Grand Dauphin and Philip’s older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could not be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne, King Charles II of Spain named Philip as his heir in his will. It was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, such that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns, 45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history(The above from Wikipedia).

LECTURE NOTES:

The Spanish Bourbons, at right.

PART TWO: PICTURES

The family of Philip V.

REQUIRED READING:

Mark Williams, Chapter Seven: “The French Century”
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe’s Most Fascinating Country