Philip V of Spain

Maria Luisa proved very popular as Queen of Spain. She served as regent for her husband on several occasions. Her most successful term was when Philip was away touring his Italian domains for nine months in 1702, when she was just 14 years old. On entering Naples that year he was presented with Bernini's Boy with a Dragon. In 1714, Maria Luisa died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis, a devastating emotional blow to her husband.^[10]

War of the Spanish Succession

The actions of Louis XIV heightened the fears of the English, the Dutch and the Austrians, among others. In December 1700, Louis XIV issued Letters patent to Philip, prior to Philip leaving France, preserving his status as a régnicole (a natural Frenchman), and by extension his claim to the French throne, despite his permanent departure from France. The documents further granted Philip's male heirs status as régnicoles, and therefore as French dynasts, despite their births abroad.^[11]

Almost immediately the

Inside Spain, the Crown of Castile supported Philip of France. On the other hand, anti-French sentiment was strong in Aragon and some members of the nobility of the Crown of Aragon rallied behind Charles of Austria, son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and claimant to the Spanish throne by right of his grandmother Maria Anna of Spain. Their support swayed a significant portion of the population to support the archduke.^[13]

The war was centred in Spain and west-central Europe (especially the Low Countries), with other important fighting in Germany and Italy. Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Duke of Marlborough distinguished themselves as military commanders in the Low Countries. In colonial North America, the conflict became known to the English colonists who fought against French and Spanish forces as Queen Anne's War. Over the course of the fighting, some 400,000 people were killed.^[14]

It was with this war as a backdrop that, beginning in 1707, Philip issued the Nueva Planta decrees, which centralized Spanish rule under the Castilian political and administrative model and in the process abolished the charters of all independently administered kingdoms within Spain—most notably the Crown of Aragon, which was supporting Charles VI in the conflict—except for the Kingdom of Navarre and the rest of the Basque region, who had supported Philip in the war for the Spanish throne, and retained their semi-autonomous self-government. The policy of centralization had as model the French State under Louis XIV and was strongly supported by politicians such as Joseph de Solís and the Sardinian political philosopher Vicente Bacallar.^[15]

Philip agreed to relinquish his right of succession to France under one condition: the introduction of

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. Trying to overturn the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, he attempted to re-establish Spanish claims in Italy, triggering the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) in which Spain fought a coalition of four major powers. Phillip V was forced to sue for peace.^{[citation needed]}

Second marriage

Shortly after the death of Queen Maria Luisa in 1714, the King decided to marry again. His second wife was

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 defended their American territories from a large British invasion during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748).^[23]

During Philip's reign, Spain began to recover from the stagnation it had suffered during the twilight of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although the population of Spain grew, the financial and taxation systems were archaic and the treasury ran deficits. The king employed thousands of highly paid retainers at his palaces—not to assist with ruling the country but to look after the royal family. Meanwhile, the army and bureaucracy went months without pay. It was only the shipments of silver from the New World which kept the system going. Spain suspended payments on its debt in 1739 — effectively declaring bankruptcy.^[24]

Death

Philip experienced bouts of manic depression and increasingly fell victim to a deep melancholia.^[25] His second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, completely dominated her passive husband.^{[citation needed]} They had sons, including another successor, Charles III of Spain.^[25] Beginning in August 1737 his mental illness was eased by the castrato singer Farinelli, who became the "Musico de Camara of Their Majesties." Farinelli would sing eight or nine arias for the king and queen every night, usually with a trio of musicians.^[26]

Philip was struck by a

Historians have generally been unkind to the king. Lynch says Philip V advanced the government only marginally over that of his predecessors and was more of a liability than Charles II. When a conflict came up between the interests of Spain and France, he usually favored France. However, Philip did make some reforms in government, and strengthened the central authorities relative to the provinces. Merit became more important, although most senior positions still went to the landed aristocracy. Below the elite level, the inefficiency and corruption that had existed under Charles II was as widespread as ever. The reforms started by Philip V culminated in much more important reforms of Charles III.^[28] The economy, on the whole, improved over the previous half-century, with greater productivity, and fewer famines and epidemics. The government promoted industry, agriculture and shipbuilding.^[29] After the destruction of the main silver fleet at Vigo in 1702, the navy was rebuilt. Nevertheless, the new fleet was still too small to support the vast worldwide empire.^[30]

To commemorate the indignities the city of Xàtiva suffered after Philip's victory in the Battle of Almansa in the War of the Spanish Succession, in which he ordered the city to be burned and renamed San Felipe, the portrait of the monarch hangs upside down in the local museum of L'Almodí.^[31]

The province of the New Philippines, which occupied parts of what is now Texas in the United States, was named in 1716 in honor of Philip.^[32]

Philip V favored and promoted the Atlantic trade of Spain with its American possessions, ending the monopoly of

1. Louis I of Spain (25 August 1707 – 31 August 1724) married Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans but had no children.
2. Infante Philip of Spain (2 July 1709 – 18 July 1709) died young.
3. Infante Philip of Spain (7 June 1712 – 29 December 1719) died young.
4. Ferdinand VI of Spain (23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759) married Barbara of Portugal
   but had no children.

Philip married Elisabeth Farnese (25 October 1692 – 11 July 1766) on 24 December 1714,^[37] they had 7 children, of whom all but one reached adulthood:

1. Charles III of Spain (20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) married Maria Amalia of Saxony and had children.
2. Infante Francisco of Spain (21 March 1717 – 21 April 1717) died young.
3. Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain (31 March 1718 – 15 January 1781) married King Joseph I of Portugal
   and had children.
4. Louise Élisabeth of France
   and had children.
5. Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain (11 June 1726 – 22 July 1746) married Louis of France, Dauphin of France
   and had children.
6. Cardinal since 1735. In 1754, renounced his ecclesiastical titles and became Count of Chinchón. In 1776, he married morganatically María Teresa de Vallabriga
   and had children, but without royal titles.
7. Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia
   and had children.

• 
  1 Escudo as Philip IV of Sardinia
• 
  8 Escudos, Seville
• 
  Half escudo gold coin of Philip V, 1743
• 
  8 Escudos, Lima 1710
• 
  8 Reales, Mexico
• 
  2 Reales, Segovia
• 
  2 Reales, Segovia

Heraldry

Heraldry of Philip V of Spain
Coat of Arms as Duke of Anjou Coat of arms as King of Spain (Common Version)[42] Ornamented Version[43] Coat of arms as King of Naples (1700–1713)[44] Coat of arms as King of Sicily (1700–1713)[45] Coat of arms as Duke of Milan (1700–1706)[46] Lesser coat of arms of King of Spain Coat of arms as King of Galicia Great ornamented version as King of Navarre

See also

• Nueva Planta decrees
• Royal Madrilenian Academy of Medicine

References