Le rôle de Monseigneur dans l’accession de Philippe d’Anjou au trône d’Espagne

On 1 November 1700 Charles II of Spain died without direct descendants, specifying in his will: “ […] We do name [the Duke of Anjou] heir to all Our Realms and all Our Domains without any exception whatever.” Anjou was the second son of Monseigneur, the legitimate successor to the late King of Spain: his mother, in fact, was the elder half-sister of Charles II, the Infanta Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV. In excluding the Dauphin and his eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, Charles II proclaimed his rejection of France and Spain ever being united under one king. However, although the choice of the Duke of Anjou had deprived the Monseigneur of his incontestable rights to Spain, he was of the opinion, when the will became known, to accept it in the hopes of avoiding an international war.