Philip V of Spain

16 November 1700 in the Hall of Mirrors

At Versailles on 16 November 1700, Louis XIV publicly announced that his grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou, would succeed Charles II as ruler of the Spanish monarchy. He presented the new king formally in the Hall of Mirrors, where Philip assumed the identity Philip V of Spain.

Philip was seventeen. The Marquis of Castel dos Ríos, Spain's ambassador in France, saluted him as his sovereign and presented the Spanish dignitaries accompanying him.

The ambassador's remembered reaction was that there were "no more Pyrenees" — enthusiasm for a dynastic union rather than the abolition of any border, and a phrase that helped alarm Europe.

The decision behind the ceremony

The public act implemented a decision Louis had taken on 12 November: to accept Charles II's will on his grandson's behalf. The will offered the intact Spanish monarchy to Philip and passed to other candidates if France refused.

Louis therefore had to choose between accepting it and adhering to a partition agreement that risked placing Spain under an Austrian Habsburg. His foreign minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Torcy, helped argue that Austria would probably fight either way.

The wrong date, and the war that did not start

November 15, the date usually attached to this event, is not the best-supported one. The private acceptance was 12 November; the public presentation and proclamation were 16 November.

The announcement created a new diplomatic situation but did not itself produce an Anglo-Dutch declaration of war. Both maritime powers initially considered recognizing Philip, and English stock prices rose on news of the proclamation.