The Palace of Versailles, eleven miles southwest of Paris in France. It was here that Philip of Anjou, later King Philip V of Spain, was born on 19th December, 1683. His grandfather Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) cultivated the image of the ‘Sun King’ with a magnificent court, invoking the Divine Right of Kings to rule as he pleased. Philip was to be his client king in Spain, and James Stuart, son of the deposed King James VII of Scotland and II of England, was the Sun King’s choice for the throne of Great Britain.
Part 1 of 2
SHORTLY before his death in 1700, King Charles II of Spain left his wide dominions to his nearest blood-relative, sixteen-year-old Philip of Anjou, a grandson of King Louis XIV of France – bitterly disappointing another family relative, Charles, younger son of the Holy Roman Emperor.*
To keep the peace, it was stipulated that Philip must never become King of France; but after he came into his Spanish inheritance on November 1st, 1700, King Louis restored Philip to the French succession, and sent French troops to Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands in Philip’s name.
Anxiety across Europe deepened when William III of England died on March 19th, 1702,* and Louis refused to recognise his successor Anne; Louis declared instead for Anne’s half-brother James Stuart, a French resident since the abdication of their father James II in 1688. The threat to sovereignty could not be ignored, and England joined the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire and Portugal in a bid to clip Louis’s wings.
The Holy Roman Empire was an alliance of Roman Catholic states in much of modern-day Austria and Germany, which traced its beginnings to Emperor Otto I in 962. It was dissolved in 1806, as Napoleon spread his armies across Europe. The Emperors during the War of the Spanish Succession were Leopold I (r. 1657-1705) followed by his sons Joseph I (r. 1705-1711) and Charles VI (1711-1740).
William had taken a great interest in the political ambitions of Spain and France in Europe, as he was also the Dutch Republic’s ‘Stadtholder’, the Head of State. He became King of England in 1689 by right of his wife Mary, a daughter of James II.
Précis
After French prince Philip of Anjou inherited the throne of Spain in 1700, his grandfather Louis XIV went back on a promise to take Philip out of the French line of succession. Other European powers, afraid Louis would become too powerful, allied against him, and they were joined by England after Louis backed a rival to Queen Anne. (57 / 60 words)
Part Two
Blenheim (pronounced ‘blen-em’) Palace was built amidst rolling Oxfordshire countryside between 1705 and 1722, for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and designed by Sir John Vanbrugh. It takes its name from the Bavarian town of Blindheim where Marlborough gained a famous victory in 1704. Sir Winston Churchill, chief architect of the downfall of a far worse threat to liberty in Europe and Britain, Nazi Germany, was of this family, and was born here at the Palace on 30th November, 1874.
JOHN Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, England’s commander on the Continent, won acclaim at home by driving the French from Bavaria at Blenheim on August 13th, 1704, and from the Spanish Netherlands at Ramillies on May 23rd, 1706. Gibraltar was captured in July 1704, and a French fleet carrying James Stuart from Dunkirk to England was intercepted by the Royal Navy in March 1708.
Some chastening defeats for the allies and a costly victory for Marlborough at Malplaquet near Mons in September 11th, 1709, at last brought all parties to the negotiating table at Utrecht in 1713, settling the dispute in keeping with the newly-minted principle of maintaining ‘the balance of power’ in Europe.
Queen Anne’s rights were recognised; Louis relinquished lands in Italy and the Netherlands to compensate Philip’s rival Charles, now Emperor Charles VI; and Philip himself was confirmed as King of Spain, but disqualified as King of France – a condition his counsellors soon persuaded him to break, triggering the War of the Quadruple Alliance.*
This involved another attempt to put James Stuart on the throne of Great Britain, which ended at The Battle of Glen Shiel.
Précis
After initial success for the allies, including defeat for a clumsy attempt to put James Stuart on the British throne, the War started to become bogged down. By 1713 all parties were ready for compromise. The Treaty of Utrecht aimed to share out European power in an even-handed manner, though Philip was soon causing trouble again. (55 / 60 words)
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