Philip V (Spanish: Felipe V; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746.

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 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.

[1] Philip was born into the French royal family (as Philippe, Duke of Anjou) during the reign of his grandfather Louis XIV.

At birth, Philip was created Duke of Anjou, a traditional title for younger sons in the French royal family.

[citation needed] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

In colonial North America, the conflict became known to the English colonists who fought against French and Spanish forces as Queen Anne's War.

[13] 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 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 was strongly supported by politicians such as Joseph de Solís and the Sardinian political philosopher Vicente Bacallar.

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 the allies during the preliminary peace negotiations.

[15] To further ensure the removal of Philip and his heirs from 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.

Trying to overturn the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, he attempted to re-establish Spanish claims in Italy, triggering the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) in which Spain fought a coalition of four major powers.

The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, the Camarera mayor de Palacio ("chief of the household") of the king of Spain.

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 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.

Six days later, after much convincing, Philip was restored to the Spanish throne, so as to avoid a regency for his second son, Ferdinand, who was only 10 at the time.

Finally, at the end of his reign Spanish forces defended their American territories from a large British invasion during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748).

[23] In the last decade of his reign, Philip experienced bouts of manic depression and increasingly fell victim to a deep melancholia.

[25] Beginning in August 1737 his mental illness was eased by the castrato singer Farinelli, who became the "Musico de Camara of Their Majesties."

[26] 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.

During this Atlantic trade emerged important figures of the naval history of Spain, among which stands out the privateer Amaro Pargo.

[34] Philip married his double-second cousin Maria Luisa of Savoy (17 September 1688 – 14 February 1714) on 3 November 1701[36] and they had 4 sons, two of which reached adulthood and became kings of Spain, but they all died with no children: Philip married Elisabeth Farnese (25 October 1692 – 11 July 1766) on 24 December 1714,[37] they had 7 children, of whom all but one reached adulthood: