Phillip D. Fox is a Professor of History at Wayne State College.

He is a historian of the seventeenth and eighteenth century Spanish empire. His research focuses on the intersection of politics, religion, and culture in early modern Spain. He has published articles in national and international journals and presented papers on these topics at academic gatherings in North America and Europe.

His first book, tentatively entitled Forging Faithful Subjects: Dynastic State Formation in Early Modern Spain, examines the transition between the Habsburg and the Bourbon dynasties in Spain. Based on archival research funded by a Fulbright research grant, it challenges models of state formation in the early modern world by emphasizing the many successes of the personal nature of royal rule in Spain. This book will be published by Louisiana State University Press in fall of 2026.

He is currently working on his second book manuscript, tentatively entitled Negotiating the Borders of Church and State in Bourbon Spain, 1700-1759. This project examines the way in which the War of Spanish Succession redefined the relationship between the Catholic church and the Spanish state. It contributes to the literature on the Enlightenment and its impact on politics and religion by examining the practical application of enlightened thought on ecclesiastical privileges in Iberia.