Philip (, ; 15 March 1720 – 18 July 1765) was

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese, Du ...

from 18 October 1748 until his death in 1765. A Spanish infante by birth, he was born in Madrid as the second son of King Philip V and Queen Elisabeth. He became Duke of Parma as a result of the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

had earlier been ruled by Philip's elder brother, the future

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

, and by their maternal ancestors. Philip founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet line of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

. He was a first cousin and son-in-law of the French king

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

Life

Born at the Royal Alcazar in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as ''Felipe de Borbón y Farnesio'', he was the third child and second son of Philip V of Spain and his wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He was raised in

and as a child showed more interest in art than in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. He was also the 12th Count of Chinchón and Grandee of Spain First Class with a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Bourbon after the alienation with royal authorization in 1738 of the 11th Count of Chinchón, Don Jose Sforza-Cesarini, Duke of Canzano, a title he later ceded to his brother Louis in 1754. His mother came from the family of Farnese, which had ruled the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla for many generations. The duchy had been ruled between 1731 and 1736 by his elder brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, but was exchanged with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

for The Two Sicilies after the War of Polish Succession. Twelve years later, in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), Austria lost the duchy and Philip became the new duke, founding the House of Bourbon-Parma. As part of the Second Treaty of Versailles (1757) between Austria and France, it was intended that Philip would become king of the Southern Netherlands in a deal that would see French troops occupy key positions in the country – however this arrangement was repudiated by the subsequent Third Treaty of Versailles and Philip continued in Parma. The Duchy of Parma was ruined by many years of warfare, and in 1759 Philip named the able Frenchman Guillaume du Tillot as his minister to restore the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. Philip was an enlightened ruler who stimulated

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, attracting personalities like

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac Étienne Bonnot de Condillac ( ; ; 30 September 1714 – 2 August or 3 August 1780) was a French philosopher, epistemologist, and Catholic priest, who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind. Biography He was born a ...

and Alexandre Deleyre.

Marriage

Philip married his first cousin once removed

Princess Louise Élisabeth of France Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

, Spain on 25 October 1739. They had three children. # Princess Isabella of Parma (31 December 1741 – 27 November 1763) – she married

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

's older brother, the Austrian emperor, Archduke Joseph of Austria. She had issue, but all her children died in childhood. # Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma (20 January 1751 – 9 October 1802) – he succeeded his father as Duke of Parma and married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria and left issue. # Princess Luisa Maria of Parma (9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) married Charles IV of Spain and left issue. Their marriage was an unhappy one, and Louise Elisabeth died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

at the age of 32 in 1759. Philip died unexpectedly on 18 July 1765 in Alessandria,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, after having accompanied his daughter Maria Luisa on her way to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, where she sailed for Spain to marry Infante Charles. Through Philip's daughter Maria Luisa, he is an ancestor of the Bourbons of Spain, the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, and the House of Orléans.

Honours

* : Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit (22 March 1736)

Ancestors

Heraldry

File:Coat of Philip, Duke of Parma as Spanish Infante.svg, Coat of arms as Infante of Spain File:Ducal Coat of Arms of Parma (1748-1802).svg, Coat of arms as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philip, Duke Of Parma 1720 births 1765 deaths 18th-century Spanish nobility 18th-century dukes of Parma House of Bourbon-Parma Dukes of Guastalla Princes of Parma and Piacenza Spanish infantes Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Spanish generals House of Bourbon Spanish people of the War of the Austrian Succession Burials at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata Grandees of Spain Sons of kings Children of Philip V of Spain Sons of counts