DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47347#0051
THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.
35
above respecting the right of the cognatie claimants, in
favour of the descendants of the elder Infanta, and that in
exact conformity with the laws of the Siete Partidas. After
his death, when Philip V. ascended the throne, in 1701,
this decision was sanctioned by the Cortes assembled at
Madrid, who spontaneously did homage, in the name of
the nation, to the new sovereign of the Spanish monarchy;
and it was definitively confirmed at Utrecht in 1713, after
a great and sanguinary European war, by an authority
without appeal, in the treaty of peace of the great powers
of Europe, who made it a permanent right. We see, there-
fore, that it was a European fundamental law, a treaty of
the nations, which anew confirmed the validity of this very
ancient law of the order of succession in Spain, since the
treaty of peace of Utrecht secured the crown in a legitimate
and irrevocable manner to the family of the Bourbons, which
had ascended the throne in the person of Philip V.1 in con-
sequence of the will of Charles II., grounded on the pro-
visions of the fundamental laws of las Siete Partidas.
1 It would be wrong to suppose that the war of the Spanish succession was
a consequence of the accession of Philip V., by virtue of the will of Charles II.
That war was rather a consequence of the insincerity and presumption with
which Louis XIV. treated the great powers of the continent. England and
Holland had already acknowledged Philip V. in 1701, and had entered into
negociations with him at the Hague. The occasion of this European war was,
that Louis XIV. insisted (December, 1700,) on reserving to the duke Anjou,
on his accession to the throne of Spain, his title of French prince, and member
of the house of Anjou, and that against the express injunctions of the will of
Charles II.; that he drove the Dutch garrison from the Netherlands, in spite of
the clauses of the treaty of Ryswick ; that he acknowledged as heir to the
throne of England the son of James II., an exile from that country, and who
died at St. Germain on the 18th of September, 1701, which incensed the Eng-
lish nation ; and lastly, that he refused to fulfil the conditions stipulated in the
second partition treaty, secretly concluded with England and Holland. In
truth, this was quite sufficient to urge the great powers into war with France,
a war to which the question of the succession to the throne of Spain gave its
name.
i) 2
35
above respecting the right of the cognatie claimants, in
favour of the descendants of the elder Infanta, and that in
exact conformity with the laws of the Siete Partidas. After
his death, when Philip V. ascended the throne, in 1701,
this decision was sanctioned by the Cortes assembled at
Madrid, who spontaneously did homage, in the name of
the nation, to the new sovereign of the Spanish monarchy;
and it was definitively confirmed at Utrecht in 1713, after
a great and sanguinary European war, by an authority
without appeal, in the treaty of peace of the great powers
of Europe, who made it a permanent right. We see, there-
fore, that it was a European fundamental law, a treaty of
the nations, which anew confirmed the validity of this very
ancient law of the order of succession in Spain, since the
treaty of peace of Utrecht secured the crown in a legitimate
and irrevocable manner to the family of the Bourbons, which
had ascended the throne in the person of Philip V.1 in con-
sequence of the will of Charles II., grounded on the pro-
visions of the fundamental laws of las Siete Partidas.
1 It would be wrong to suppose that the war of the Spanish succession was
a consequence of the accession of Philip V., by virtue of the will of Charles II.
That war was rather a consequence of the insincerity and presumption with
which Louis XIV. treated the great powers of the continent. England and
Holland had already acknowledged Philip V. in 1701, and had entered into
negociations with him at the Hague. The occasion of this European war was,
that Louis XIV. insisted (December, 1700,) on reserving to the duke Anjou,
on his accession to the throne of Spain, his title of French prince, and member
of the house of Anjou, and that against the express injunctions of the will of
Charles II.; that he drove the Dutch garrison from the Netherlands, in spite of
the clauses of the treaty of Ryswick ; that he acknowledged as heir to the
throne of England the son of James II., an exile from that country, and who
died at St. Germain on the 18th of September, 1701, which incensed the Eng-
lish nation ; and lastly, that he refused to fulfil the conditions stipulated in the
second partition treaty, secretly concluded with England and Holland. In
truth, this was quite sufficient to urge the great powers into war with France,
a war to which the question of the succession to the throne of Spain gave its
name.
i) 2