Bourbon Dynasty in Spain: War of Succession & 18th Century

The Bourbon Dynasty in Spain and the War of Succession

The War of Spanish Succession (1700-1713)

Charles II died in 1700 appointing Philip of Bourbon as his successor. The other European countries did not accept Charles's will and the War of Spanish Succession began. This was an international conflict as well as an internal conflict.

Castile and France supported Philip V whereas the rest of European countries (Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, and Austria) and the Crown of Aragon defended Archduke Charles of Habsburg.

Philip V defeated Valencia and Aragon in the battle of Almansa (1707) and took Catalonia in 1714 and Mallorca in 1715.

The international conflict changed when Charles of Habsburg became the German emperor and lost interest in Spain. On the other hand, the other European countries were threatened by the idea of Spain and Austria ruled by the same king.

The international conflict finished with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) which recognized Philip V as king of Spain. In exchange, Spain lost all its possessions in Europe (Flanders and Italian kingdoms).

Spain in the 18th Century

Domestic Policy

After the war, Philip V decided the unification of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. He suppressed the laws and privileges of the kingdom of Aragon and imposed new laws common to all the country.

Between 1702 and 1716, Decretos de Nueva Planta were issued to abolish old privileges of Aragon, Catalonia, Mallorca, and Valencia imposing the Castilian administrative system.

Spain was divided into provinces ruled by a captain general, Audiencias were the tribunals, corregidores governed the municipalities, and intendentes collected taxes.

The first Bourbons, Philip V, Fernando VI, and Charles III, centralized administration. The King had absolute power and had secretaries and ministers help the king to rule the country.

Fernando VI and Charles III introduced economic reforms to modernize the country and could be considered as enlightened despots due to their reforms.

When Philip V died, his second son, Fernando, succeeded him. Fernando died without children in 1759 and his half-brother Charles, who was king of Sicily and Naples at the same time, became king of Spain (Charles III).

Foreign Policy

After the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain lost all the territories in Europe, Gibraltar became a British colony, and the asiento (license to trade with America) was ceded to Britain.

However, Spain and France were ruled by the Bourbon dynasty and they signed several different alliances called Family Compacts.

Participating in several wars was very profitable for Spain as the country recovered possessions in Italy that were ruled by Philip V's sons of his second marriage.

Foreign policy during Fernando VI's reign was pacifist, and Charles III signed the Third Family Compact and participated in several wars with different results.