Pacte de Famille
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The Pacte de Famille (French pronunciation: [pakt də famij], Family Compact; Spanish: Pacto de Familia) is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain. As part of the settlement of the War of the Spanish Succession that brought the House of Bourbon of France to the throne of Spain, Spain and France made a series of agreements that did not unite the two thrones, but did lead to cooperation on a defined basis.
The first Pacte de Famille, 1733
The first of the three Pacto de Familia was agreed on November 7, 1733, between Philip V of Spain and his nephew Louis XV of France, in the Treaty of the Escorial.
The
Louis's wife,
Philip, now married to his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese, wanted to regain Spanish territories in Naples and Sicily, ceded to Austria in 1714, in part so that Elisabeth's first-born son Charles, unlikely to succeed to the throne of Spain because he had two older half-brothers in line before him, would have territories to rule as king. Elisabeth Farnese had strong influence over her husband and tenaciously sought concessions from France that benefited Charles. Philip demanded that previous treaties affecting Italy would be abrogated and that a new treaty would cede Naples, Sicily, and the State of the Presidi to Spain for Charles's benefit. The Spanish negotiator with Fleury, José Patiño, was successful, leading to the signing of the First Family Pact. Charles received the future Italian possessions, Elisabeth Farnese retained her patrimonial rights in Italy. In the event that Spain's restriction of British trade was attacked in response, France pledged to come to its defense. France received important trading rights with Spain, whose overseas empire in Spanish America was the source of vast amounts of silver flowing to the world and a lucrative market.[2] This led to their participation in the War of the Polish Succession in 1733.[3]
In the treaty, France also agreed to help Spain retake Gibraltar, which was captured by Britain in the War of the Spanish Succession, while Spain agreed to end commercial concessions given to Britain in 1714 at the expense of France. Neither of these conditions were fulfilled at this point but the tensions would eventually lead to the War of Jenkins' Ear and the War of the Austrian Succession. Although Stanisław failed to regain the Polish throne, France acquired the strategic Duchy of Lorraine, while Philip won back Naples and Sicily for his son Charles.[4]
The second Pacte de Famille, 1743
The second Family Compact was made on October 25, 1743, again by King Philip V of Spain and King Louis XV of France in the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
This pact was signed in the middle of the
The third Pacte de Famille, 1761
The third Family Compact was made on 15 August 1761 by King Charles III of Spain and Louis XV in the Treaty of Paris, during the Seven Years' War, which had up to this point involved France but not Spain.
Charles III was the son of Philip V, making him Louis's first cousin. Charles's alliance reversed the policy of his predecessor,
The Seven Years' War was going badly for the French, so the chief minister,
For Spain, the third Pacte was a complete disaster and did not bring much aid to the French. In 1762, the British captured two vital ports for trade in the
Later Franco-Spanish Pacts
- On April 12, 1779, France and Spain signed the This treaty was seen as a renewal of the third Pacte de Famille and so was not named the fourth Pacte de Famille.
- In August 1796, Manuel Godoy, first minister of Charles IV of Spain negotiated and signed the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso with France, which required Spain to declare war on Great Britain. This treaty can not be considered a Family Compact since all French Bourbons had either fled France or been executed or killed during the French Revolution.
See also
Notes
- Carlos III against Britain (April 1779 to September 1782) overlapped the six-years-and-a-half years of British conflicts against the American revolutionaries (April 1775 to September 1781). Scholar Richard B. Morris notes that at Aranjuez, France broke its Treaty of Alliance (1778) from a year earlier with the Americans. The Bourbons agreed that if necessary, they would continue to maintain war against Britain after it granted American independence, so the French altered its American treaty Article 8 and Article 10 without consent from Congress.[10]
References
- ^ Lodge 1931, pp. 146–147.
- ^ John Lynch, Bourbon Spain, 1700-1808. Blackwell 1989, pp.137-38
- ^ Ward, 1909, p. 63
- ^ Ward, 1909, p. 64
- ^ Lynch, Bourbon Spain, pp. 140-41.
- ^ Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein, Apogee of Empire: Spain and New Spain in the Age of Charles III, 1759-1789. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2003, p.9
- Parry, J.H., Trade and Dominion: The European Overseas Empires in the Eighteenth Century. London: Phoenix Press 1971, pp. 124-126.
- ^ Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of British North America, 1754-1766. New York: Vintage Books 2000, p.484.
- ISBN 1376158531.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Morris, Richard B. “The Great Peace of 1783” (Proc. of the Mass. Hist. Soc. III, Vol. 95, 1983)
- ISBN 1376158531.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
Further reading
- Lodge, Richard (1931). "English Neutrality in the War of the Polish Succession". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 14. S2CID 155803033.
- Ward, AW; Prothero, GW, eds. (1909). The Cambridge Modern History; Volume VI The 18th century. Cambridge University Press.
External links
- François Velde, The Pacte de Famille of 1761. Discussion in English, includes French-language text of the Pact.