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Why did the First Partition Treaty name Joseph Ferdinand as heir to Spain?

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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.

The First Partition Treaty of 1698 named Joseph Ferdinand, the electoral prince of Bavaria, as the heir to the Spanish throne primarily because his claim was viewed as superior to the competing Bourbon and Habsburg candidates.1

At the time, the European powers—specifically England and the United Provinces—were deeply concerned with maintaining the balance of power and preventing the massive Spanish inheritance from falling entirely under the control of either France or the Austrian Habsburgs. Because Joseph Ferdinand was a member of the Bavarian house of Wittelsbach, his succession was considered an acceptable compromise that would avoid the aggrandizement of French power or the reunification of the vast empire once held by Charles V.12

Louis XIV, seeking to avoid a general European coalition against France, agreed to this partition to ensure that the Spanish possessions did not pass to a Habsburg. Under the treaty, Joseph Ferdinand was designated to receive Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Indies.1