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The enemy fleet was already entering the harbour of
Cadiz and occupying southern Spain, while in Madrid
Charles of Hapsburg was proclaimed Charles III King
of Spain.
Philip V |
In
1709 even Louis XIV began to leave his nephew
to his destiny, but Philip, also supported by
his loyal wife and by Princess Orsini and the
Castilians found the necessary inner strength
to resist and continue his fought for his Throne.
In the end also his grandfather helped him in
an active way.
However, he was also helped by the fact that,
since in the meanwhile Emperor Leopold and his
first-born Emperor Joseph I had both died (the
latter without heirs), the imperial crown went
to Charles of Hapsburg, who took the name of
Emperor Charles VI. At this point, the powers
that had supported him against Philip began
to withdraw: in fact, if Charles VI had obtained
also the Kingdom of Spain and its dominions,
the same situation of Charles V would have occurred
again, and Louis XIV could not allow this to
happen, even if he had to cause a total war
in Europe; anyway, nobody liked this prospect.
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The
war lasted until 1712, when the peace negotiations
began and Philip V had no other choice but to choose
between his rights to the French succession and the
Italian territories on one side, and the Kingdom of
Spain on the other side, by renouncing the Italian
territories in favour of the Empire (in this way the
viceroyalty of Naples and Sicily went back to the
Hapsburg of the Austrian line).
On the other hand, the heirs to the French Throne
committed themselves to renounce any right to the
Spanish Throne and by the Utrecht Treaty of 1713 signed
by France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Prussia
and Savoy, Philip V was recognised as founder of the
Bourbon-Spain dynasty; but only provided that he renounced
all his rights to the French crown and provided that
the main French branch renounced their rights to the
Spanish crown.
In this way, now the Bourbon family reigned over two
separate crowns: the French crown with the Roi Soleil
(still alive until 1715, when he died and his grandchild
Louis XV became king under the regency of the Duke
of Orleans) and the Spanish crown with Philip V.
In February 1714 Queen Maria Louise Gabriella died;
a year later, the King married Elisabeth Farnese,
heir to the Parma and Piacenza Duchy, a woman as clever
and skilful (and perhaps even more) as his first wife.
Tired of his long subjection to Louis XIV, Philip
V, of poor health and prone to depression, completely
entrusted his wife and Cardinal Giulio Alberoni (a
man of great intelligence) with the government.
The Italian influence replaced the French one at the
Court: Nino Cortese, who wrote the page on Philip
V in the "Enciclopedia Italiana" made the
following remark: «And
that was a time for revenge, since Spain then tried
to reconquer part of its old and now lost positions
in Europe». ». In fact, as we will
see here below, Elisabeth Farnese after a ten-year
policy succeeded in assuring the Kingdom of Naples
and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza to her two sons.
In the meanwhile, in January 1724 Philip V abdicated
in favour of his son, the Prince of the Asturias,
born 16 years before from Maria Louise Gabriella,
who had already married Elisabeth of Montpensier,
daughter of the Duke of Orléans. He was crowned
as Louis I King of Spain. Stroke by smallpox, the
young king gave back his crown to his father and died
after a few months, and Philip – against his
will - had to be king again.
However, the real protagonist now was Elisabeth, and
she had a very precise goal: assure the Italian States
to her children.
Philip died in 1746. the Throne went to his other
son, the one he had from his first wife, Ferdinand
VI, who had no heir, and then, in 1759, to Charles,
son of Elisabeth, already king of Naples with the
name of Charles III, who assured the succession of
the Spanish branch of the Bourbon Family to the Spanish
Crown.
The Masterpiece of Elisabeth
Farnese: another
Throne and a Duchy to the Bourbon
Elisabeth
Farnese |
In
1714, Cardinal Alberoni had arranged the marriage
between the then widower Philip V and Elisabeth
Farnese, born in Parma in 1692 (she would die
in Madrid in 1766). Elisabeth immediately showed
what stuff she was made of by bravely dismissing
Princess Orsini and looking for support from
Cardinal Alberoni.
She gave Philip three sons (one of them became
Archbishop of Toledo) and a daughter, and all
her policy as Queen was based upon her strong
desire to assure the Throne to her sons (in
Spain, the heir was Ferdinand, the son that
Philip had had from his first marriage, and
therefore Elisabeth’s policy aimed at
reconquering Naples) and the Duchies of Parma
and Piacenza (of which she was the heir due
to the fact that the Farnese Family was doomed
to die out with Duke Antonio, who died in 1731).
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The
War of Spanish Succession was over, after 14 years
of fights, and the Treaties of Utrecht (13 July 1713)
and Rastadt (7 March 1714) were signed with the following
purpose: "conservandum
in Europa equilibrium".
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