Philip V, a younger brother of Louis, …
Years: 1724 - 1724
Philip V, a younger brother of Louis, Duke of Burgundy and an uncle of Louis XV of France, on January 14, 1724, abdicates the throne to his eldest son, the seventeen-year old Louis, for reasons still subject to debate.
One theory suggests that Philip, who had exhibited many elements of mental instability during his reign, did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline.
A second theory puts the abdication in context of the Bourbon dynasty.
The French royal family recently had lost many legitimate agnates to diseases, making the lack of an heir and another continental war of succession a possibility.
Philip V is a legitimate descendant of Louis XIV, but matters are complicated by the Treaty of Utrecht, which forbids a union of the French and Spanish crowns.
In any case, Louis dies on August 31, 1724 in Madrid of smallpox, having reigned only seven months and leaving no issue.
Philip is forced to return to the Spanish throne as his younger son, the later Ferdinand VI, is not yet of age.
