Abdication of Philip V

Date: January 14, 1724 • Location: Madrid, Spain

Philip V (pictured), the first Bourbon king of Spain, abdicated in favour of his seventeen-year-old eldest son, who became Louis I.

Philip V, known as "the Spirited", was king of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy, surpassing Philip IV. 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.