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Ferdinand II of Aragon

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75-513: Ferdinand II (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic , was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of Castile , he was also King of Castile from 1475 to 1504 (as Ferdinand V ). He reigned jointly with Isabella over a dynastically unified Spain ; together they are known as the Catholic Monarchs . Ferdinand

150-509: A Catalan noblewoman of Cervera, he had: With Joana Nicolaua: With Toda de Larrea: With Beatriz Pereira: Monarch of the Crown of Castille (with Isabella I) The Arms quarter the arms of Castile and León with the arms of Aragon and Aragonese Sicily , the last combining the arms of Aragon with the black eagle of the Hohenstaufen of Sicily . King of Aragon This is a list of

225-478: A dynastic union from which what modern historians call the Crown of Aragon was born. In the thirteenth century the kingdoms of Valencia , Majorca and Sicily were added to the Crown, and in the fourteenth the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica . The Crown of Aragon continued to exist until 1713 when its separate constitutional systems ( Catalan Constitutions , Aragon Fueros , and Furs of Valencia ) were swept away in

300-438: A highly effective sovereignty under equal terms. They utilised a prenuptial agreement to lay down their terms. During their reign they supported each other effectively in accordance to his joint motto of equality: "Tanto monta [or monta tanto], Isabel como Fernando" ("They amount to the same, Isabel and Ferdinand"). Isabella and Ferdinand's achievements were remarkable: Spain was united, or at least more united than it ever had been;

375-525: A large British invasion during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748). 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

450-575: A remote claim to the throne of France, Archduke Charles had an even more proximate claim to be Holy Roman Emperor , and his ascension to the throne would have also destabilized the European balance of power. After a long Royal Council meeting in France at which the Dauphin spoke up in favor of his son's rights, it was agreed that Philip would ascend the throne, and in doing so, forfeit his and his heirs' claim to

525-510: 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. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession began. Concern among other European powers that Spain and France united under

600-624: A section of the 1491 Treaty of Granada peace treaty in 1502 by dismissing the clearly guaranteed religious freedom for Mudéjar Muslims. Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert, converso Moriscos , to Catholicism, or else be expelled. Some of the Muslims who remained were mudéjar artisans, who could design and build in the Moorish style. This was also practised by the Spanish inquisitors on

675-644: A single Bourbon monarch would upset the balance of power pitted France and Spain against the Grand Alliance of England, the Dutch Republic and Austria. 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 Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and claimant to

750-469: Is considered the de facto first king of Spain , and was described as such during his reign, even though, legally, Castile and Aragon remained two separate kingdoms until they were formally united by the Nueva Planta decrees issued between 1707 and 1716. The Crown of Aragon that Ferdinand inherited in 1479 included the kingdoms of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca , Sardinia , and Sicily , as well as

825-514: The Nueva Planta decrees at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession . With the death of Sancho III of Pamplona , Aragon was inherited by his son Ramiro as an autonomous state. Nominally co-monarch of her son Charles I, Joanna I was confined for alleged insanity during her whole reign. During the Catalan Civil War , there were three who claimed his throne, though this never included

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900-472: The French throne after his father and his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy . Philip was not expected to become a monarch, but his great-uncle Charles II of Spain was childless. Philip's father had a strong claim to the Spanish throne, but since Philip's father and elder brother were expected to inherit the French throne, Charles named Philip as his heir presumptive in his will . Philip succeeded in 1700 as

975-535: The House of Trastámara ) by his second wife, Juana Enríquez . Ferdinand married Isabella , the half-sister and heir presumptive of Henry IV of Castile , on 19 October 1469 in Valladolid , Kingdom of Castile and Leon . Isabella also belonged to the royal House of Trastámara , and the two were second cousins by descent from John I of Castile . They were married with a clear prenuptial agreement on sharing power, and under

1050-413: The Kingdom of Navarre , ruling all the territories comprising modern-day Spain until his death in 1516. He was nominally succeeded by his daughter Joanna, but power was soon assumed by her son Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ). Ferdinand was born on 10 March 1452, in the town of Sos del Rey Católico , Kingdom of Aragon , as the son of John II of Aragon (whose family was a cadet branch of

1125-712: The Kingdom of Valencia . Aragon itself stayed loyal to Philip IV during the Reapers' War while Catalonia switched allegiance to Louis XIII and Louis XIV the Sun-King (see List of counts of Barcelona ). Portugal seceded in 1640. Charles II died without heirs. Austrian control of the Aragon between 1705 and 1707 determines the establishment of the Council of Aragon. After the Battle of Almansa in April 1707, Philip V of Spain recovered

1200-652: The Principality of Catalonia . His marriage to Isabella is regarded as the "cornerstone in the foundation of the Spanish monarchy". They played a major role in the European colonization of the Americas , sponsoring the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. That year the couple defeated Granada , the last Muslim state in Western Europe , thus completing the centuries-long Reconquista . Following Isabella's death in 1504,

1275-655: The Republic of Venice , in which all the other powers with interests on the Italian peninsula, including Louis XII, Ferdinand II, Maximilian, and Pope Julius II joined together in the League of Cambrai . Although the French were victorious against Venice at the Battle of Agnadello , the League of Cambrai soon fell apart, as both the Pope and Ferdinand II became suspicious of French intentions. Instead,

1350-484: The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) in which Spain fought a coalition of four major powers. France, under the regency of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans later joined this coalition, as the House of Orléans had a strong interest in keeping Philip and his descendants out of the line of succession. Lacking allies, Phillip V was forced to sue for peace. Shortly after the death of Queen Maria Luisa in 1714,

1425-510: The converso Marrano Jewish population of Spain. The latter part of Ferdinand's life was largely taken up with disputes with successive kings of France over control of Italy, the Italian Wars . In 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and expelled Alfonso II , who was Ferdinand's first cousin once removed and step nephew, from the throne of Naples . Ferdinand allied with various Italian princes and with Emperor Maximilian I to expel

1500-514: The 'Holy League' was formed, in which now all the powers joined together against Louis XII and France. In November 1511 Ferdinand and his son-in-law King Henry VIII of England signed the Treaty of Westminster , pledging mutual aid between the two against Navarre and France ahead of the Spanish invasion of Navarre as of July 1512. After the fall of Granada in 1492, he had manoeuvred for years to take over

1575-572: The Aragon, but imposed the Nueva Planta decrees in June 1707, by which the territory lost its privileges. During the war (officially in 1707) Philip V of Spain , the first of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain, disbanded the Crown of Aragon. After this time, there are no more Aragonese monarchs. Nevertheless, Spanish monarchs up to Isabella II , while styling themselves king/queen of Spain on coins, still used some of

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1650-483: The Crown of Aragon were united in a personal union . The various states were not formally administered as a single unit, but as separate political units under the same monarchs. (The legal merging of Aragon and Castile into a single Spain occurred under Philip V in 1707–1715.) The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella's joint rule saw the Spanish conquest of the Emirate of Granada , the last Islamic al-Andalus entity on

1725-412: The French and Ferdinand taking Apulia and Calabria . The agreement soon fell apart and, over the next several years, Ferdinand's great general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba fought to take Naples from the French, finally succeeding by 1504. The King of France complains that I have twice deceived him. He lies, the fool; I have deceived him ten times and more. Some time before 1502 Andreas Palaiologos ,

1800-564: The French by 1496 and install Alfonso's son, Ferdinand II , on the Neapolitan throne. In 1500, following Ferdinand II's death and accession of his uncle Frederick , Ferdinand signed an agreement with Charles VIII's successor, Louis XII , who had just successfully asserted his claims to the Duchy of Milan , to partition Naples between them, with Campania and the Abruzzi , including Naples itself, going to

1875-484: The French from Milan, which was restored to its Sforza dukes by the peace treaty in 1513. The French were successful in reconquering Milan two years later, however. Ferdinand II died on 23 January 1516 in Madrigalejo , Extremadura , Kingdom of Castile and Leon. He is entombed at Capilla Real , Granada . His wife Isabella, daughter Joanna, and son-in-law Philip rest beside him there. Ferdinand and Isabella established

1950-725: The French succession, the letters patent issued to preserve their claim to the throne despite their absence from the country , were repealed by the Parlement of Paris . 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

2025-625: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and by Pope Leo X . Consequently, after Ferdinand II's funeral on 14 March 1516, Charles I was proclaimed King of Castile and of Aragon jointly with his mother. Finally, the Castilian Regent , Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros accepted the fait accompli , and the Castilian and Aragonese Cortes paid homage to him as King of Aragon jointly with his mother. Ferdinand's grandson and successor Charles,

2100-811: The Iberian peninsula, completed in 1492. The completion of the Reconquista was not the only significant act performed by Ferdinand and Isabella in that year. In March 1492, the monarchs issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews, also called the Alhambra Decree , a document which ordered all Jews either to be baptised and convert to Christianity or to leave the country. It allowed Mudéjar Moors (Islamic) and converso Marrano Jews to stay, while expelling all unconverted Jews from Castile and Aragon (most Jews either converted or moved to

2175-536: The Indies". The widowed Ferdinand made an alliance with France in July 1505 and married Germaine of Foix , cementing the alliance with France. She was the granddaughter of his half-sister Queen Eleanor of Navarre and niece of Louis XII of France. Had Ferdinand's son with Germaine, John, Prince of Girona, born on 3 May 1509, survived, "the crown of Aragon would inevitably been separated from Castile" and denied his grandson Charles

2250-677: The King decided to marry again. His second wife was Elisabeth of Parma , daughter of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma , and Dorothea Sophie of the Palatinate . At the age of 22, on 24 December 1714, she was married to the 31-year-old Philip by proxy in Parma . The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Giulio Alberoni , with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins , the Camarera mayor de Palacio ("chief of

2325-547: The King of Spain. Since Philip's older brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy , was second in line to the French throne after his father, there was little expectation that either he or his younger brother Charles, Duke of Berry , would ever rule over France. Philip lived his first years under the supervision of the royal governess Louise de Prie and after that was tutored with his brothers by François Fénelon , Archbishop of Cambrai . The three siblings were also educated by Paul de Beauvilliers . In 1700, King Charles II of Spain ,

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2400-433: 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

2475-552: The Ottoman Empire). 1492 was also the year in which the monarchs commissioned Christopher Columbus to find a westward maritime route for access to Asia, which resulted in the Spanish arrival in the Americas. In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the entire world beyond Europe between Portugal and Castile (Spain) for conquest and dominion purposes – by a north–south line drawn down the Atlantic Ocean. Ferdinand abrogated

2550-618: 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. 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 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough distinguished themselves as military commanders in those theatres. In colonial North America,

2625-584: The Spanish throne, because his Spanish grandmother and great-grandmother were older than the ancestors of the Archduke Charles of Austria. However, the Austrians maintained that Philip's grandmother had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and her descendants as part of her marriage contract. That renunciation was contingent on her dowry being paid. The French claim to Spain was due to the dowry having never been paid. In addition to this, while Philip did have

2700-587: The Treaty of Utrecht, which forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, therefore allowing him to claim the former should his young nephew perish without sons of his own. However, the actual reason for the abdication was that Philip, who exhibited many elements of mental instability during his reign, no longer wished to rule due to his increasing mental decline. Louis would die on 31 August in Madrid of smallpox , though, having reigned only seven months and leaving no issue. Six days later, after much convincing, Philip

2775-435: The allies during the preliminary peace negotiations. The purpose of this may have been to ensure that Philip and his male heirs, who under normal circumstances would inherit the French throne should the male line of Louis, Duke of Burgundy be extinguished, would always have a throne to occupy in its place. It was not until this was successfully accomplished (10 May 1713) that Spain and Great Britain made their own peace terms at

2850-572: 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

2925-454: 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. 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

3000-680: 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. In the last decade of his reign, Philip experienced bouts of manic depression and increasingly fell victim to a deep melancholia . During this period his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, seems to have dedicated herself exclusively to caring for his health. Beginning in August 1737 his mental illness

3075-400: The couple's daughter Joanna became queen of the Crown of Castile . That year, after a war with France, Ferdinand conquered the Kingdom of Naples . In 1507 he became regent of Castile on behalf of Joanna, who was alleged to be mentally unstable. In 1506, as part of a treaty with France, Ferdinand married Germaine of Foix , with whom he had no surviving children. In 1512 he conquered most of

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3150-603: The crown of Aragon. But the infant Prince John died within hours and was buried in the convent of Saint Paul in Valladolid , Kingdom of Castile and Leon , and later transferred to Poblet Monastery , Vimbodí i Poblet , Principality of Catalonia ( Crown of Aragon ), traditional burial site of the kings of Aragon. Ferdinand had no legal position in Castile, with the cortes of Toro recognizing Joanna and her children as heirs and Ferdinand left Castile in July 1506. After his son-in-law Philip's untimely death in September 1506, Castile

3225-450: The crown power was centralised, at least in name; the reconquista was successfully concluded; the groundwork for the most dominant military machine of the next century and a half was laid; a legal framework was created; the church was reformed. Even without the benefit of the American expansion, Spain would have been a major European power. Columbus' discovery set the country on the course for

3300-403: 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. 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

3375-628: The first Spanish monarch of the House of Bourbon . In 1701, the new king married his second cousin Maria Luisa of Savoy , with whom he had four sons. Their two surviving sons were the future Spanish kings Louis I and Ferdinand VI . Maria Luisa died in 1714, and Philip remarried to Elisabeth Farnese . Philip and Elisabeth had seven children, including the future Charles III of Spain ; Infanta Mariana Victoria , who became Queen of Portugal ; Infante Philip , who became Duke of Parma ; and Infanta María Antonia Fernanda , who became Queen of Sardinia . It

3450-430: The first modern world power. During the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain pursued alliances through marriage with Portugal, Habsburg Austria , and Burgundy . Their first-born daughter Isabella was married to Manuel I of Portugal , and their first-born son John was married to Margaret of Austria. However, the deaths of these children, and the death of Isabella, altered the succession plan forcing Ferdinand to yield

3525-452: The government of Castile in favor of Philip but also the lordship of the Indies, withholding half of the income of the "kingdoms of the Indies". Joanna and Philip immediately added to their titles the kingdoms of Indies, Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea. But the Treaty of Villafáfila did not hold for long because of the death of Philip; Ferdinand returned as regent of Castile and as "lord of

3600-702: The government of Castile to Philip of Habsburg the husband of his second daughter Joanna. In 1502, the members of the Aragonese Cortes gathered in Zaragoza , and Parliaments of the Kingdom of Valencia and the Principality of Catalonia in Barcelona , as members of the Crown of Aragon, swore an oath of loyalty to their daughter Joanna as heiress, but Alonso de Aragón , Archbishop of Saragossa, stated firmly that this oath

3675-461: The household") of the king of Spain. They had sons, including another successor, Charles III of Spain . On 14 January 1724, Philip abdicated the Spanish throne to his eldest son, the seventeen-year-old Louis . As the abdication occurred just over a month after the death of the Duke of Orléans, who had been regent for Louis XV of France, many at the time believed it was an attempt by Philip to circumvent

3750-410: The joint motto " tanto monta, monta tanto ". He became jure uxoris King of Castile when Isabella succeeded her deceased brother in 1474. The two young monarchs were initially obliged to fight a civil war against Joanna , the purported daughter of Henry IV, and were swiftly successful. When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the Crown of Castile and the various territories of

3825-595: The kings and queens of Aragon . The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon , which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in accordance with the will of King Sancho III (1004–35). In 1164, the marriage of the Aragonese princess Petronila ( Kingdom of Aragon ) and the Catalan count Ramon Berenguer IV ( County of Barcelona ) created

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3900-429: 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. 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. After

3975-464: The last Habsburg to rule Spain, died childless. His will named as successor Philip, grandson of Charles' half-sister Maria Theresa , the first wife of Louis XIV. Upon any possible refusal, the crown of Spain would be offered next to Philip's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, then to the Archduke Charles of Austria , later Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. Philip had the better genealogical claim to

4050-423: The last exiled claimant to the Byzantine throne of his house, sold his titles and royal and imperial rights to Ferdinand. Those, however, had never been made use of, due to the doubtful nature of the deal. Isabella made her will on 12 October 1504, in advance of her 26 November 1504 death. In it she spelled out the succession to the Crown of Castile, leaving it to Joanna and then to Joanna's son Charles. Isabella

4125-406: The monarch hangs upside down in the local museum of L'Almodí. 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. Philip V favored and promoted the Atlantic trade of Spain with its American possessions, ending the monopoly of Seville on colonial trade. During this Atlantic trade emerged important figures of

4200-409: The monarchy and the suppression of regional privileges, via the Nueva Planta decrees , and restructuring of the administration of the Spanish Empire on the Iberian Peninsula and its overseas regions. Philip was born into the French royal family (as Philippe, Duke of Anjou ) during the reign of his grandfather Louis XIV . He was the second son of Louis, Grand Dauphin , and was third in line to

4275-407: The naval history of Spain, among which stands out the privateer Amaro Pargo . Philip V frequently supported the privateer in his commercial incursions: he granted a royal order given at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Madrid in September 1714, in which he appointed him captain of a commercial ship bound for Caracas . The Monarch also interceded in the liberation of Amaro during his detention by

4350-443: The parents of Princess Marie Adélaïde of Savoy , Duchess of Burgundy, Philip's sister-in-law. There was a proxy ceremony at Turin , the capital of the Duchy of Savoy , and another one at Versailles on 11 September. 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

4425-432: The second Treaty of Utrecht (annexing the new law to the Treaty). By the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht that concluded the war, Philip was recognized as king of Spain but was forced to cede Menorca and Gibraltar to Great Britain ; the Spanish Netherlands , Naples , Milan , and Sardinia to the Austrian Habsburgs ; and Sicily and parts of Milan to Savoy . To further ensure the removal of Philip and his heirs from

4500-444: The throne of France. The Royal Council decided to accept the provisions of the will of Charles II naming Philip king of Spain. 2 November 1701, the almost 18-year-old Philip married the 13-year-old Maria Luisa of Savoy , as chosen by his grandfather King Louis XIV. She was the daughter of Victor Amadeus II , Duke of Savoy, and his wife Anne Marie d'Orléans , Philip's first cousin once removed. The Duke and Duchess of Savoy were also

4575-432: The throne of Spain. It also removed the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish-controlled territories in Italy from the Spanish monarchy. In 1724, Philip abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Louis I. Louis died later that year, and Philip took the throne again. As a result of his depression, Queen Elisabeth held control over the Spanish government. When Philip died in 1746, he was succeeded by his second son, Ferdinand VI. Philip

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4650-402: The throne of the Basque kingdom, ruled by Queen Catherine of Navarre and King John III of Navarre , also lords of Béarn and other sizeable territories north of the Pyrenees and in Gascony . Ferdinand annexed Navarre first to the Crown of Aragon, but later, under the pressure of Castilian noblemen, to the Crown of Castile. The Holy League was generally successful in Italy, as well, driving

4725-628: The traditional nomenclature of the defunct Crown of Aragon in their official documents: King/Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon , both Sicilies , Jerusalem, Navarra, Granada, Toledo, Valencia , Galicia, Majorca , Sevilla, Sardinia , Cordova, Corsica , Murcia, Jaen, the Algarve, Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, the Eastern & Western Indias, the Islands & Mainland of the Ocean sea; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Milan; Count of Habsburg, Flanders, Tyrol, Barcelona ; Lord of Biscay, Molina . Philip V of Spain Philip V ( Spanish : Felipe ; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746)

4800-417: Was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy , surpassing Philip IV . Although his ascent to the throne precipitated the War of the Spanish Succession , Philip V instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of

4875-458: Was born on 19 December 1683 at the Palace of Versailles in France, the second son of Louis, Grand Dauphin , the heir apparent to the throne of France, and his wife Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria . Philip was a younger brother of Louis, Duke of Burgundy , the father of Louis XV of France. At birth, Philip was created Duke of Anjou , a traditional title for younger sons in the French royal family. He would be known by this name until he became

4950-407: Was dubious of Joanna's ability to rule and was not confident of Joanna's husband Archduke Philip . Ferdinand moved quickly after his wife's death to continue his role in Castile. On the day of his wife's death, he formally renounced his title as King of Castile and instead became governor ( gobernador ) of the kingdom, as a way to become regent. Philip deemed his wife sane and fit to rule. A compromise

5025-530: 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. Philip was struck by a stroke and died on 9 July 1746 in El Escorial , in Madrid, but was buried in his favorite Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso , near Segovia . Ferdinand VI of Spain, his son by his first queen Maria Luisa of Savoy , succeeded him. Historians have generally been unkind to

5100-414: Was forged between Philip and Ferdinand, which gave Ferdinand a continued role in Castile. Ferdinand had served as Joanna's regent during her absence in the Netherlands , ruled by her husband Archduke Philip. Ferdinand attempted to retain the regency permanently, but was rebuffed by the Castilian nobility and replaced with Joanna's husband. In the Treaty of Villafáfila of 1506, Ferdinand renounced not only

5175-507: Was in crisis. Joanna was allegedly mentally unstable, and Joanna's and Philip's son, Charles, the future Emperor Charles V , was only six years old. Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros , the Chancellor of the Kingdom, was made regent, but the upper nobility reasserted itself. Ferdinand led an army against Pedro Fernández de Córdoba y Pacheco , the marquis of Priego of Córdoba , who had seized control there by force. By 1508 Ferdinand had triumphed and war resumed in Italy, this time against

5250-414: Was invalid and did not change the law of succession which could only be done by formal legislation by the Cortes with the King. So, when King Ferdinand died on 23 January 1516, his daughter Joanna inherited the Crown of Aragon , and his grandson Charles became Governor General (regent). Nevertheless, the Flemish wished that Charles assume the royal title, and this was supported by his paternal grandfather

5325-464: Was just 14 years old. On entering Naples that year he was presented with Gian Lorenzo 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. 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

5400-609: Was restored to the Spanish throne, so as to avoid a regency for his second son, Ferdinand , who was only 10 at the time. 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

5475-459: Was strongly supported by politicians such as Joseph de Solís and the Sardinian political philosopher Vicente Bacallar . Philip agreed to relinquish his right of succession to France under one condition: the introduction of semi-Salic law in Spain. Under this law, the succession to the Spanish crown was limited to his entire male line before it could pass to any female, a requirement made clear to

5550-854: Was to inherit not only the Spanish lands of his maternal grandparents, but the Austrian and Burgundian lands of his paternal family, which would make his heirs the most powerful rulers on the continent and, with the discoveries and conquests in the Americas and elsewhere, of the first truly global empire. With his wife Isabella I the Catholic (whom he married 19 October 1469), King Ferdinand had seven children: With his second wife, Germaine of Foix (whom he married on 19 October 1505 in Blois , Kingdom of France ), King Ferdinand had one son: He also left several illegitimate children, two of them were born before his marriage to Isabella: With Aldonça Ruiz d'Ivorra i Alemany ,

5625-411: Was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, and that other European powers would take steps to prevent it. Philip's accession in Spain provoked the 13-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while confirming his accession to

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