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Why did Philip V renounce his claim to the French throne?

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Illustration of the Battle of Blenheim showing cavalry and infantry in combat, fallen soldiers, and smoke rising from cannon fire across a hilly battlefield. — War of the Spanish Succession The Battle of Blenheim (August 13, 1704), was the most famous victory of John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, and Eugene of Savoy during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Philip V renounced his claim to the French throne primarily due to intense pressure from England during the peace negotiations that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession.1

The necessity for this renunciation arose from a series of deaths within the French royal family between 1711 and 1712, which left Philip V next in line to the French throne after his young nephew, the future Louis XV. European powers, particularly England, feared that a potential union of the French and Spanish crowns would create a superpower that threatened the balance of power in Europe.142

To secure peace and ensure the Spanish throne remained separate from the French, Philip formally renounced his claims to the French succession before the Spanish Cortes in November 1712. While French legal experts argued that such a renunciation could not override hereditary rights based on divine right, the act was a critical diplomatic requirement to finalize the treaties of Utrecht and end the conflict.1