With Part 6, which covers the years 1710 to 1714, we conclude our series of posts on the War of the Spanish Succession.

In 1710, Louis XIV’s luck began to turn.  He sent a new army into Spain to help Felipe V.  In command was the Duc de Vendôme, this time without the Duc de Bourgogne to get in his way.  Left to his own lights, the old duke defeated the Anglo-Austrian forces and drove them out of Spain by the end of the year.  He returned to Versailles covered in glory and left Felipe V firmly on the Spanish throne once and for all.

When we last left Felipe V, he had just arrived in Madrid, his new capital, on 22 January, 1701, carrying a letter of advice from his grandfather, Louis XIV.  At first, his accession went smoothly, with no war imminent.

The portrait of Felipe V at left hangs in a state room at Versailles, where he was proclaimed King of Spain on 16 November, 1700.

All of the Spanish dominions accepted him as their king.  The nations of Europe did, too, except for Austria.  At the beginning of 1701 it seemed that Felipe V’s accession was a fait accompli.  The calm was not to last, however.

Reader M. Reginald O’Toole (a splendid name) has written via a private message to ask a question about Louis XIV’s letter of advice to his teenaged grandson, the newly-minted Felipe V of Spain.  Did Felipe take his august grandfather’s advice?

I can’t give give an exhaustive, point-by-point answer, but in general, I would say the answer is both yes and no.  Of course, some of Louis XIV’s advice, as mentioned in the last post, is in the spirit of ‘Do as I say, rather than as I do.’  For instance, Louis enjoins his grandson not to have favourites.  This is amusing coming from the monarch who made the role of mistress to the King of France almost an official position.

Felipe is not known to have had any mistresses, so he can be said, in that sense, to have taken his grandfather’s advice.  The Bourbon men were highly sexed.  Even when they were both in their seventies, Louis XIV “honoured” Mme de Maintenon, his second, secret wife, twice a day.  In this regard, Felipe also took Louis’ advice.

A Letter of Advice from Louis XIV to His Grandson, Felipe V of Spain

Having been declared King of Spain on 16 November 1700, Felipe V, formerly Philippe d’Anjou, left Versailles for Spain on 4 December.  He didn’t reach Madrid until 22 January 1701.  Along the way, he would have had plenty of time to read and ponder the letter handed to him by his grandfather on his departure.

Louis XIV had composed a 33-point letter of advice for his teenaged grandson, bringing to bear the experience of his then nearly 6 decades on the French throne, 4 of them as sole ruler.  Some of his advice is in the spirit of ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’  It also reveals some of the Sun King’s notions of kingship.

Felipe V as Philippe d’Anjou, probably just before his accession.

The War of the Spanish Succession was one of the defining events of the Versailles Century (1682-1789).  Today on the blog we’ll examine the background of the conflict.

In the late 1690s, Europe was preoccupied by the question of who was to succeed Spain’s childless king, Carlos II, who was feeble of both mind and body.  Still only in his 30s, he was nonetheless thought to be on his last legs.  Unfortunately for him, his house, the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, was the most inbred dynasty in the history of Europe.  His own parents, for instance, were uncle and niece.  The most visible outcome of this inbreeding in Carlos II was his deformed jaw, which made it difficult for him to speak and eat.

Charles II of Spain (1661-1700).  Credit: Wikipedia.