Category Archives: Sardinia Royals

Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on January 17, 1779, at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy, Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily was the wife of Carlo Felice, King of Sardina. She was the fifth of the seventeen children and the fourth of the ten daughters of Ferdinando IV, King of Naples and Sicily (later Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies) and Maria Carolina of Austria. Maria Cristina’s paternal grandparents were Carlos III, King of Spain (reigned 1759 – 1788), King of Naples and Sicily (1734 – 1759), and Duke of Parma and Piacenza (reigned 1731 – 1735) and his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. Her maternal grandmother was Maria Theresa, the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories from 1740 until her death in 1780, and was the only female to hold the position. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este’s paternal grandfather was Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Emperor.

The Royal Family of Naples and Sicily in 1783 (L-R) Maria Theresa; the future King Francesco I; King Ferdinando IV; Queen Maria Carolina with Maria Cristina; Gennaro; Maria Amelia in the arms of Maria Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina had sixteen siblings, but only six survived childhood. Eight of her siblings died from smallpox.

Carlo Felice, Maria Cristina’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

In the Kingdom of Sardinia, there was a succession crisis. Carlo Emanuele IV who had been King of Sardinia but abdicated because he was despondent after the sudden death of his wife, was childless. His brother, the current King of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele I, had five surviving daughters who could not succeed to the throne and his only son had died at the age of three from smallpox. Three other brothers had all died unmarried. It was up to the unmarried Carlo Felice to provide an heir. On March 7, 1807, in the Palatine Chapel at the Royal Palace in Palermo, Sicily, Maria Cristina married Carlo Felice. However, the marriage of Maria Cristina and Carlo Felice remained childless.

In March 1821, liberal revolutions were occurring throughout Italy. However, Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of his brother Carlo Felice on March 13, 1821, but remained Duke of Savoy until his death. Because Carlo Felice was in the Duchy of Modena at the time, Vittorio Emanuel I temporarily appointed Carlo Alberto, Prince of Carignano, the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano, a cadet branch of the House of Savoy, as regent. Carlo Alberto made concessions to the rebels and put a liberal constitution into effect. However, when Carlo Felice returned, he abolished the new constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.

Maria Cristina at the Castle of Agliè; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina and Carlo Felice spent their time between the Castle of Agliè and the Castle of Govone, both in Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, and at the Villa Tuscolana in Frascati, a district in Rome, now in Italy. In 1820, Maria Cristina received the Villa Tuscolana as a bequest from her sister-in-law Maria Anna of Savoy, Duchess of Chablais.

The Roman theater at Tusculum – Maria Cristina financed its excavation; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1825 – 1840, Maria Cristina financed and followed with great interest the archaeological excavations of Tusculum, a ruined Roman city famous for luxurious patrician country villas. She first engaged the archaeologist Luigi Biondi, whose excavation work initially uncovered Tusculum. From 1839 – 1840, the architect and archaeologist Luigi Canina was engaged to excavate the theater area of Tusculum.

In 1824, Carlo Felice purchased Hautecombe Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery, then in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France, where many of his ancestors were buried and began a restoration project. Hautecombe Abbey had been sold in 1792 after the French had invaded the Duchy of Savoy and it was turned into a china factory. After Hautecombe Abbey was re-constructed, it was given back to the Cistercian Order. When Carlo Felice died, aged 66, on April 27, 1831, he was buried at Hautecombe Abbey. Upon the death of Carlo Felice, the main line of the House of Savoy became extinct. He was succeeded by the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano who reigned as Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia.

Sculpture of Maria Cristina on her tomb; Credit – By Zairon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105536979

After the period of mourning, Maria Cristina spent a long period with her family in Naples and then she returned to Turin, alternating stays between Agliè, Frascati, Naples, and Hautecombe Abbey where she supervised further the restoration work. Maria Cristina survived her husband by eighteen years, dying on March 11, 1849, aged 70, in Savona, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy. She was buried with her husband at Hautecombe Abbey.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_the_Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 1 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_of_Naples_and_Sicily> [Accessed 1 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-felice-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 1 July 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina di Borbone-Napoli – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_di_Borbone-Napoli> [Accessed 1 July 2021].

Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy was the son of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain to become King of Sardinia. Born on April 6, 1765, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, he was the fifth but the third surviving of the six sons and the eleventh of the twelve children. His paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Felipe V, King of Spain, who was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma were his maternal grandparents.

Carlo Felice had eleven siblings including two brothers who were also Kings of Sardinia. Two of his sisters were married to younger brothers of King Louis XVI of France and later were also Kings of France.

Carlo Felice as a child; Credit – Wikipedia

As the third son, Carlo Felice was not expected to succeed to the throne. The three youngest children in the family, Carlo Felice, his elder sister Maria Carolina, and his younger brother Giuseppe were raised together at the Castle of Moncalieri in Moncalieri, Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

In the years between the French Revolution and the Napoleonic campaign in Italy, Carlo Felice, his brother Vittorio Emanuele and his wife Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, and his brothers Maurizio and Giuseppe formed a parallel court in opposition to the court of the eldest brother Carlo Emanuele who succeeded to the throne of Sardinia in 1796. During this period, Carlo Felice began to keep a personal diary which has become an important primary source of the events and conflicts within the Savoy court.

When Napoleon‘s troops invaded the Duchy of Savoy in 1798, the entire royal family fled first to Tuscany, and then to the island of Sardinia. In 1802, Carlo Felice’s brother Vittorio Emanuele became King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his brother Carlo Emanuele who was despondent after the death of his wife. Carlo Felice served as Viceroy of Sardinia from 1799 – 1806 and 1817 – 1821. During his time as Viceroy, Carlo Felice successfully took action against crime and poverty. An office for the administration of crown mines and forests was established. The farming of olives was encouraged and commercial contracts were granted to encourage local production.

Carlo Felice’s wife Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily; Credit – Wikipedia

There was a succession crisis in the Kingdom of Sardinia. The abdicated Carlo Emanuele was childless. The current king Vittorio Emanuele I had five surviving daughters who could not succeed to the throne and his only son had died at the age of three from smallpox. The three other brothers of Carlo Felice, Vittorio Emanuele, and Carlo Emanuele had all died unmarried. It was up to Carlo Felice to provide an heir. On March 7, 1807, in the Palatine Chapel at the Royal Palace in Palermo, Sicily, Carlo Felice was married to Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, daughter of Ferdinando IV, King of Naples and Sicily (later Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies) and Maria Carolina of Austria. However, their marriage was childless.

Carlo Felice in his coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

In March 1821, liberal revolutions were occurring throughout Italy. However, Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of his brother Carlo Felice on March 13, 1821, but remained Duke of Savoy until his death.

Because Carlo Felice was in the Duchy of Modena at the time, Vittorio Emanuele temporarily appointed Carlo Alberto, 7th Prince of Carignano, the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano, a cadet branch of the House of Savoy, as regent. Carlo Alberto made concessions to the rebels and put a liberal constitution into effect. However, when Carlo Felice returned, he abolished the new constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.

Hautcombe Abbey; Credit – By Martin Leveneur – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21171623

In 1824, Carlo Felice purchased the Hautecombe Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery, then in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France, where many of his ancestors were buried, and began a restoration project. Hautecombe Abbey was sold in 1792 after the French invaded the Duchy of Savoy and converted into a china factory. The abbey was re-constructed by Ernesto Melano, (link in French) an architect from the Duchy of Savoy, in a Gothic-Romantic style and then given back to the Cistercian Order.

Death of Carlo Felice; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Felice died, aged 66, on April 27, 1831, at the Palazzo Chablais in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, which had been given to him by his sister Maria Anna, Duchess of Chablais. He was buried at Hautecombe Abbey where his wife was also buried when she died in 1849. Upon the death of Carlo Felice, the main line of the House of Savoy became extinct. He was succeeded by the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano who reigned as Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia.

Tomb of Carlo Felice, King of Sardina at Hautcombe Abbey; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Bild-frei, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3354520

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Karl Felix (Sardinien-Piemont) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Felix_(Sardinien-Piemont)> [Accessed 30 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Felix of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Felix_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 30 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Hautecombe Abbey – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hautecombe_Abbey> [Accessed 30 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-emanuele-i-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 30 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Carlo Felice di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Felice_di_Savoia> [Accessed 30 June 2021].

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este was the wife of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. Born on November 1, 1773, at the Royal Palace of Milan in the Duchy of Milan, now in Italy, she was given the names Maria Theresa Josefa Johanna. Maria Theresa was the eldest of the four daughters and the second but the eldest surviving of the ten children of Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este. At the time of Maria Theresa’s birth, the Duchy of Milan was under Austrian Habsburg rule and Maria Theresa’s father was the Governor of Milan.

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este’s paternal grandmother and her namesake was Maria Theresa, the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories from 1740 until her death in 1780 and was the only female to hold the position. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este’s paternal grandfather was Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Emperor. The maternal grandparents of Maria Theresa of Austria-Este were also two sovereigns, Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, reigning Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara.

Maria Theresa’s parents Ferdinand Karl of Austria and Maria Beatrice d’Este, her sister Maria Leopoldine on her mother’s lap, and Maria Theresa standing; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este had nine siblings:

Vittorio Emanuele, Maria Theresa’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

In the Kingdom of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele, Duke of Aosta, the second son of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and the next brother of the childless heir to the throne Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, had reached the age of 29 and was still unmarried. Fifteen-year-old Maria Theresa of Austria-Este was chosen as his bride. She successfully demonstrated that she had met all the prerequisites. Information had been collected on her appearance, health, teeth, character, culture, piety, manners, and lifestyle. Most important was that she had already either contracted the deadly disease smallpox or had been vaccinated. The proxy wedding took place on June 29, 1788, in Milan. On April 25, 1789, in Novara, Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa were married in person.

Maria Theresa at the time of her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

At the time of the marriage, Vittorio Emanuele was the Duke of Aosta and so Maria Theresa was styled as Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Aosta until she became Queen of Sardinia. Maria Theresa and Vittorio Emanuele had a happy marriage. She became good friends with her sisters-in-law: Maria Clotilde of France, the childless wife of her husband’s brother Carlo Emanuele, and her husband’s sister Maria Anna of Savoy who had married her uncle Prince Benedetto of Savoy, Duke of Chablais and therefore remained in her homeland.

Vittorio Emanuele, Maria Theresa, and their daughters: twins Maria Teresa and Maria Anna and Maria Cristina; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Theresa and Vittorio Emanuele had six daughters and one son:

When Napoleon‘s troops invaded the Duchy of Savoy in 1798, the royal family fled first to Tuscany, and then to the island of Sardinia. On June 4, 1802, Maria Theresa’s husband Vittorio Emanuele became King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his brother Carlo Emanuele who was despondent after the death of his wife. Maria Theresa and Vittorio Emanuele stayed in Sardinia until the fall of Napoleon and did not return to Turin until 1814.

Castle of Moncalieri, the main home of Maria Theresa and Vittorio Emanuele during the latter part of their lives; Credit – By Vinzseventyfive – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39788820

In March 1821, liberal revolutions were occurring throughout Italy. However, Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of his brother Carlo Felice on March 13, 1821, but remained Duke of Savoy until his death. Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa lived for a while in Nice, now in France but then in the Duchy of Savoy. They then moved to Lucca in the Duchy of Parma, now in Italy, and then to the Duchy of Modena, also now in Italy. In 1822, Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa returned permanently to Piedmont in the Duchy of Savoy where they lived at the Castle of Moncalieri. Vittorio Emanuele died on January 10, 1824, aged 64, at the Castle of Moncalieri.

Maria Theresa was accused of trying to convince her childless brother-in-law Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia to name her brother Francesco IV of Austria-Este, Duke of Modena, the husband of her eldest daughter Maria Beatrice, as the heir to the throne of Sardinia. However, Carlo Felice named Carlo Alberto, Prince of Carignano, the senior male member of the House of Savoy-Carignano, a cadet branch of the House of Savoy, as his heir. Tensions arose as a result of this incident, forcing Maria Theresa to live in Genoa at the Palazzo Doria-Tursi. In 1831, she was allowed to return to Turin for the proxy marriage of her daughter Maria Anna to the future Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria.

Basilica of Superga, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy; Credit – By Konstantin Dacosta – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71467776

Maria Theresa survived her husband by eight years. She died unexpectedly, aged 58, on March 29, 1832, in Geneva, Switzerland, and was buried next to her husband at the Basilica of Superga, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Theresia von Österreich-Este (1773–1832) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresia_von_%C3%96sterreich-Este_(1773%E2%80%931832)> [Accessed 29 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Karl,_Archduke_of_Austria-Este> [Accessed 29 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Beatrice_d%27Este,_Duchess_of_Massa> [Accessed 29 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria-Este,_Queen_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 29 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2021. Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-emanuele-i-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 29 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Teresa d’Austria-Este – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Teresa_d%27Austria-Este> [Accessed 29 June 2021].

Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Emanuele I reigned as King of Sardinia from the abdication of his elder brother Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia in 1802 until his own abdication in 1821 in favor of his younger brother Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia. He was also the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland from 1819 – 1824 (see below). Born on July 24, 1759, at Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Vittorio Emanuele was the third but the second surviving of the six sons and the seventh of the twelve children of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. His paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Felipe V, King of Spain, who was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma were his maternal grandparents.

Vittorio Emanuele had eleven siblings including two brothers who were also Kings of Sardinia. Two of his sisters were married to younger brothers of King Louis XVI of France and later were also Kings of France.

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Emanuele had reached his late 20s and was still unmarried. Fifteen-year-old Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, named after her paternal grandmother Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, by marriage Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress, was chosen to marry the 29-year-old Vittorio Emanuele. Maria Theresa was the eldest daughter of Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este, Governor of the Duchy of Milan and Maria Beatrice d’Este, heir to the Duchy of Modena. The proxy wedding took place on June 29, 1788, in Milan. On April 25, 1789 in Novara, Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa were married in person.

Vittorio Emanuele, Maria Theresa, and their daughters: twins Maria Teresa and Maria Anna and Maria Cristina; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa had six daughters and one son:

Vittorio Emanuele’s elder brother Carlo Emanuele IV succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Vittorio Amedeo III in 1796. The new king inherited an economically damaged kingdom because of the results of the 1796 Treaty of Paris. During Napoleon‘s Italian campaign, Vittorio Amedeo III’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Millessimo. Vittorio Amedeo III was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris which stipulated that he recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy

Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia in his coronation robes; Credit- Wikipedia

In 1798, the French occupied Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and forced Carlo Emanuele IV to give up all his territories on the Italian mainland. Carlo Emanuele IV withdrew to the island of Sardinia in 1799. When his beloved wife Marie Clotilde died from typhoid fever on March 7, 1802, Carlo Emanuele IV was so upset by her death that he decided to abdicate. He left the throne of Sardinia to his brother who reigned as Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. However, Carlo Emanuele IV retained the Duchy of Savoy and settled in Rome and the nearby town of Frascati, both now in Italy.

In 1814, during the reign of Vittorio Emanuele I, two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia following Napoleon’s abdication. In addition, in 1815, the Congress of Vienna annexed the territory of the Republic of Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia. After the death of his brother Carlo Emanuele in 1819, the Duchy of Savoy, which had been retained by Carlo Emanuele when he abdicated the Kingdom of Sardinia, was restored to Vittorio Emanuele.

Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, Vittorio Emanuele’s great-great-grandmother; Credit – Wikipedia

As the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, daughter of King Charles I of England and sister of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, Vittorio Emanuele I became the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of his brother Carlo Emanuele in 1819. James II had been deposed by the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic heirs of King James II of England/VII of Scotland to the thrones of England and Scotland. However, unlike the Stuart Jacobite pretenders – James II’s son James Edward Francis Stuart and James II’s grandsons Charles Edward Stuart and Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart – none of the later Jacobite pretenders ever claimed the title.

James II’s last legitimate Stuart descendant Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart died in 1807. There were no surviving siblings of King James II/VII, son of King Charles I of England, or their legitimate descendants, except for the descendants of his youngest sister Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans. Henrietta married Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and they had one son who died in infancy and two daughters. Only their daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, who married Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, had children and so the Jacobite line of succession proceeded in the House of Savoy. See how the Jacobite succession arrived in the House of Savoy via Henrietta of England below.

Charles I of England → his daughter Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans → her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia → her son Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia → his son Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia → his son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia → his brother Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia

Basilica of Superga, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy; Credit – By Konstantin Dacosta – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71467776

In March 1821, liberal revolutions were occurring throughout Italy. However, Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of his brother Carlo Felice on March 13, 1821, but remained Duke of Savoy until his death. Vittorio Emanuele and his wife Maria Theresa lived for a while in Nice, now in France but then in the Duchy of Savoy. They then moved to Lucca in the Duchy of Parma, now in Italy, and then to the Duchy of Modena, also now in Italy. In 1822, Vittorio Emanuele and Maria Theresa returned permanently to Piedmont in the Duchy of Savoy where they lived at the Castle of Moncalieri. Vittorio Emanuele died on January 10, 1824, aged 64, at the Castle of Moncalieri. He was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, the traditional burial place of the House of Savoy.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Viktor Emanuel I. – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Emanuel_I.> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria-Este_(1773%E2%80%931832)> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_I_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/the-jacobite-succession-pretenders-to-the-british-throne/> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vittorio Emanuele I di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Emanuele_I_di_Savoia> [Accessed 28 June 2021].

Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde of France was the wife of Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia. Given the names Marie Adélaïde Clotilde Xavière, she was born at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on September 23, 1759. She was the second but the eldest surviving of the three daughters and the seventh of the eight children of Louis, Dauphin of France and his second wife Maria Josepha of Saxony. Louis XV, King of France and Marie Leszczyńska of Poland were her paternal grandparents. Her maternal grandparents were Augustus III, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Maria Josepha of Austria.

Marie Clotilde and her brother Charles; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde had seven siblings including three Kings of France:

Marie Clotilde’s father Louis, Dauphin of France was the heir to the throne of France but he never became king. He died of tuberculosis in 1765 at the age of 36. Maria Josepha, who had cared for her husband during his last illness, also contracted tuberculosis. She died on March 13, 1767, at the age of 35. By the time, Marie Clotilde was eight years old, she had lost both her parents. Upon the death of her grandfather King Louis XV in 1774, Marie Clotilde’s brother succeeded him as Louis XVI, King of France.

Marie Clotilde was raised with her younger sister Élisabeth by Marie Louise de Rohan, also known as Madame de Marsan, who held the title Governess of the Children of France. Because she tended to be overweight, Marie Clotilde was nicknamed Gros-Madame. From an early age, Marie Clotilde was very religious. She wanted to become a nun like her paternal aunt Louise-Marie of France and join the Order of the Carmelites. However, for political reasons, her brother Louis XVI arranged for her to marry Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Piedmont, the eldest son and heir of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. There had already been two marriages between France and Sardinia. Carlo Emanuele’s sister Maria Giuseppina had married Marie Clotilde’s older brother Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, the future King Louis XVIII of France, and another sister Maria Teresa had married her brother Charles, Count of Artois, the future King Charles X of France.

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, Marie Clotilde’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

The proxy marriage took place at the Palace of Versailles in France on August 21, 1775, with Marie Clotilde’s brother Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, standing in for the groom. Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were married in person on September 6, 1775, at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry now in France. Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were devoted to each other. They shared a strong faith in Roman Catholicism and studied religious texts together. Marie Clotilde played the guitar while Carlo Emanuele sang. However, their marriage remained childless. Concerns were raised that her difficulty to conceive was due to her weight and she was subjected to several fertility treatments of the time. In 1783, after eight years of attempting to have children, Marie Clotilde asked Carlo Emanuele to end sexual relations and live in chastity as brother and sister, and he willingly agreed. Marie Clotilde lived a very pious life. She avoided the customary pleasures at court, was reluctant to wear expensive clothing and jewelry, practiced charitable and pious works, and was the patron of charitable associations.

Marie Clotilde playing the guitar; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Clotilde was deeply affected by the effects of the French Revolution. At the start of the French Revolution, her father-in-law Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia allowed his two daughters who had married Marie Clotilde’s brothers and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. This act most likely saved their lives. However, Marie Clotilde’s brother King Louis XVI of France, sister-in-law Marie Antoinette and sister Élisabeth were beheaded via the guillotine. Her nephew Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son and heir of Louis XVI, died at the age of ten from tuberculosis while imprisoned.

Carlo Emanuele IV succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Vittorio Amedeo III in 1796 and Marie Clotilde became Queen of Sardinia. In 1798, the French occupied Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, where Marie Clotilde and Carlo Emanuele lived. This forced Carlo Emanuele to give up all his territories on the Italian mainland and withdraw to the island of Sardinia in 1799. The couple attempted to return to Turin but were unable to because of the French military. Marie Clotilde and Carlo Emanuele lived in Florence, Rome, and finally Naples. In Naples, Marie Clotilde gave self-sacrificing support to her husband, attended church, and helped the needy and sick.

Tomb of Marie Clotilde, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Di Miguel Hermoso Cuesta – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27091078

Marie Clotilde died from typhoid fever on March 7, 1802, aged 42, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was buried at the Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia in Naples. Pope Pius VII, who had personally known Marie Clotilde, declared her The Venerable Marie Clotilde of France in 1808. In the Catholic Church, after a deceased Catholic has been declared a Servant of God by a bishop and proposed for beatification by the Pope, they may next be declared Venerable (“heroic in virtue”) during the investigation and process leading to possible canonization as a saint.

Carlo Emanuele praying as a Jesuit novice; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele was so upset by Marie Clotilde’s death that he decided to abdicate. He left the throne of Sardinia to his brother who reigned as Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. However, Carlo Emanuele IV retained the Duchy of Savoy and settled in Rome and the nearby town of Frascati, both now in Italy. Like his wife, Carlo Emanuele was very pious and devout. In 1815, he took simple vows in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He was never ordained as a priest but lived as a novice until his death on October 6, 1819, at the age of 68. Carlo Emanuele was buried in the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Marie Clothilde von Frankreich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Clothilde_von_Frankreich> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Clotilde of France – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde_of_France> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iv-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Louis, Dauphin of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-dauphin-of-france/> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Clotilde di Borbone-Francia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Clotilde_di_Borbone-Francia> [Accessed 27 June 2021].

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele IV abdicated the throne of Sardinia, was the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland, although he never claimed the title, and ended his life as a novice in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Born at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on May 24, 1751, Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia was the eldest of the twelve children of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. His paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Felipe V, King of Spain, who was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma were his maternal grandparents. From birth, Carlo Emanuele was styled Prince of Piedmont, the traditional title of the heir.

Vittorio Amedeo III and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda with their family in 1760, Carlo Emanuele is holding his father’s hand; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele IV had eleven younger siblings including two brothers who were also Kings of Sardinia. Two of his sisters were married to the younger brothers of King Louis XVI of France.

Marie Clotilde of France, wife of Carlo Emanuele IV; Credit – Wikipedia

After two years of negotiations, Carlo Emanuele IV married Marie Clotilde of France, the sister of King Louis XVI of France. and the daughter of  Louis, Dauphin of France (son of King Louis XV) and Maria Josepha of Saxony. The proxy marriage took place at the Palace of Versailles in France on August 21, 1775, with Marie Clotilde’s brother Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, standing in for the groom. Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were married in person on September 6, 1775, at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry now in France.

Carlo Emanuele and Marie Clotilde were devoted to each other. They shared a strong faith in Roman Catholicism and studied religious texts together. Marie Clotilde played the guitar while Carlo Emanuele sang. However, their marriage was childless.

Marie Clotilde playing the guitar; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele was deeply affected by the effects of the French Revolution. At the start of the French Revolution, Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia allowed his two French sons-in-law, brother of King Louis XVI, and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. This act most likely saved their lives. However, Carlo Emanuele’s brother-in-law King Louis XVI of France, along with Louis XVI’s wife Marie Antoinette and sister Élisabeth were beheaded via the guillotine. His nephew by marriage, Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XVI, died at the age of ten from tuberculosis while imprisoned.

Carlo Emanuele IV succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Vittorio Amedeo III in 1796. The new king inherited an economically damaged kingdom because of the results of the 1796 Treaty of Paris. During Napoleon‘s Italian campaign, Vittorio Amedeo III’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Millessimo. Vittorio Amedeo III was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris which stipulated that he recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy. In 1814, during the reign of Vittorio Emanuele I, the second surviving son of Vittorio Amedeo III, two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia following Napoleon’s abdication.

In 1798, the French occupied Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and forced Carlo Emanuele to give up all his territories on the Italian mainland. Carlo Emanuele withdrew to the island of Sardinia in 1799. When Marie Clotilde died from typhoid fever on March 7, 1802, Carlo Emanuele was so upset by her death that he decided to abdicate. He left the throne of Sardinia to his brother who reigned as Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. However, Carlo Emanuele IV retained the Duchy of Savoy and settled in Rome and the nearby town of Frascati, both now in Italy.

Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, Carlo Emanuele’s second cousin twice removed; Credit – Wikipedia

In Frascati, Carlo Emanuele was a frequent guest of his second cousin twice removed Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic heirs of King James II of England/VII of Scotland to the thrones of England and Scotland. Henry Benedict was the younger of the two sons of James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender, son of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots who had been deposed by the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

Henry Benedict died childless in 1807 and there were no surviving siblings of King James II/VII, son of King Charles I of England, or their legitimate descendants, except for the descendants of his youngest sister Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans. Henrietta married Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and they had one son who died in infancy and two daughters. Only their daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, who married Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, had children. Carlo Emanuele IV was the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans who was the youngest sister of James II/VII and the daughter of King Charles I. Therefore, after the death of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, Carlo Emanuele IV, Duke of Savoy, former King of Sardinia became the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland although he never publicly claimed the title. See the descent below.

Charles I of England → his daughter Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans → her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia → her son Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia → his son Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia → his son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia

Carlo Emanuele in Jesuit dress; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1815, Carlo Emanuele took simple vows in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He was never ordained as a priest but lived as a novice until his death on October 6, 1819, at the age of 68. Carlo Emanuele was buried in the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill.

The tomb of Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia in the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale; Credit – Di Sailko – Opera propria, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44399966 

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Karl Emanuel IV. (Savoyen) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Emanuel_IV._(Savoyen)> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Emmanuel_IV_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Clotilde of France – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotilde_of_France> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/the-jacobite-succession-pretenders-to-the-british-throne/> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 26 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Carlo Emanuele IV di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Emanuele_IV_di_Savoia> [Accessed 26 June 2021].

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain was born on November 17, 1729, at the Royal Alcázar in Seville, Spain. She was the youngest of the three daughters and the youngest of the six children of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma.

Maria Antonia’s father was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou at the Palace of Versailles in France. He was the second of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. At the time of Philippe’s birth, his grandfather Louis XIV was King of France. In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain, in his will, named 16-year-old Philippe of Anjou, Duke of Anjou as his successor. He took the Spanish version of his name Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Spanish King of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in Spain.

Maria Antonia’s mother Elisabeth Farnese of Parma was the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg. Because of the lack of male heirs to succeed to the Duchy of Parma, changes were legally made for the succession of the Duchy of Parma in the female line through Elisabeth Farnese. Her second son Felipe became the Duke of Parma and founded the House of Bourbon-Parma.

“The Family of Felipe V”; (L-R) Mariana Victoria, Barbara, Princess of Asturias; Fernando, Prince of Asturias; King Felipe V; Luis, Count of Chinchón; Elisabeth Farnese; Infante Felipe; Louise Élisabeth of France; Infanta Maria Teresa; Infanta Maria Antonia (Queen of Sardinia); Maria Amalia, Queen of Naples and Sicily; Carlo, King of Naples and Sicily. The two children in the foreground are Princess Maria Isabella Anne of Naples and Sicily and Infanta Isabella of Spain (daughter of the future Duke of Parma); Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia had five siblings:

Maria Antonia had four half-brothers from her father’s first marriage to Maria Luisa of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie d’Orléans. Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Only two of Maria Antonia’s half-brothers survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain.

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda married the future Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. The marriage was arranged by Maria Antonia’s half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain to strengthen relations between Spain and Sardinia/Savoy as they had fought on opposing sides during the War of the Austrian Succession. As a wedding gift from her father-in-law, Maria Antonia’s apartments at the Royal Palace of Turin were remodeled by the architect Benedetto Alfieri. Her half-brother Ferdinand VI, King of Spain provided a dowry of 3,500,000 Piedmontese Lires and Spanish possessions in Milan. Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1750, and then they were married in person on May 31, 1750, at Oulx, near Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo with their family in 1760; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo had twelve children:

Upon the death of her father-in-law Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia in 1773, Maria Antonia’s husband succeeded him as Vittorio Amedeo III. She was the first Queen Consort of Sardinia since the death of Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine in 1741. In 1773 her son Carlo Emanuele married Maria Clotilde of France, the sister of King Louis XVI of France. Maria Clotilde and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda had a very close relationship.

Basilica of Superga in Turin; Credit – By Incola – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32157893

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda died on September 19, 1785, aged 55, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. Vittorio Amedeo III survived her by eleven years, dying from a stroke, aged 70, on October 16, 1796, also at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. They were both buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Farnese – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Farnese> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_Ferdinanda_of_Spain> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Felipe V, King of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia di Borbone-Spagna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_di_Borbone-Spagna> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Мария Антония Испанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%98%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 21 June 2021].

Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy was born at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy on June 26, 1726. He was the eldest of the two sons and the eldest of the six children of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. Vittorio Amedeo’s paternal grandparents were Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans.  Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg and Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort were his maternal grandparents. His maternal grandmother Anne Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, son of King Louis XIII of France, and his first wife Princess Henrietta of England, daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France.

Vittorio Amedeo with his three sisters Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III had five younger siblings:

Vittorio Amedeo III had one elder half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Anna Christine of Sulzbach, who died giving birth to her son:

Vittorio Amedeo with his sister Eleanora and his mother Polyxena; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo’s mother Polyxena fell seriously ill in June 1734 and died at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on January 13, 1735, aged 28. Her eldest son Vittorio Amedeo was only eight years old. Two years after Polyxena’s death, Vittorio Amedeo’s father married Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte.

Vittorio Amedeo III had three half-siblings from his father’s third marriage to Elisabeth. Sadly, like Carlo Emanuele III’s first two wives, Elisabeth Therese also died young, dying in 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to her third child Benedetto:

Vittorio Amedeo’s wife Maria Antonia Ferdinanda; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese. The marriage was arranged by Maria Antonia Ferdinanda’s half-brother Ferdinand VI, King of Spain to strengthen relations between Spain and Sardinia/Savoy as they had fought on opposing sides during the War of the Austrian Succession. Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1750, and then were married in person on May 31, 1750, at Oulx, near Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

Vittorio Amedeo III was a great-great-grandson of King Charles I of England from the House of Stuart. After King James II, a son of King Charles I, lost his throne via the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland. When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out in 1807, the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of his sister Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans. In 1807, Vittorio Amedeo’s son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia became the Jacobite heir from the House of Savoy.

Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda with their family in 1760; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda had twelve children:

Vittorio Amedeo III became King of Sardinia in 1773 following the death of his father. His wife Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain died on September 19, 1785, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. Vittorio Amedeo survived her by eleven years. In 1786, he moved the remains of many of his ancestors and relatives to the Basilica of Superga, which became the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy.

Battle of Millesimo; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo III’s daughters Maria Giuseppina and Maria Teresa married French princes and at the start of the French Revolution, Vittorio Amadeo III allowed his two sons-in-law and their families to stay in the Kingdom of Sardinia under his protection. During Napoleon‘s Italian campaign, Vittorio Amedeo’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Milessimo. Vittorio Amedeo was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris, abandoning the First Coalition against the French Republic. The treaty stipulated that Vittorio Amedeo recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Paris Orlando – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

Five months after signing the devastating Treaty of Paris, Vittorio Amadeo III died from a stroke, aged 70, on October 16, 1796, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. He was buried in the Hall of the Kings at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. Vittorio Amedeo III was succeeded by his eldest son Carlo Emanuele IV, leaving him an economically damaged kingdom because of the results of the 1796 Treaty of Paris. In 1814, during the reign of Vittorio Emanuele I, the second surviving son of Vittorio Amedeo III, two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia following Napoleon’s abdication.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_Ferdinanda_of_Spain> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Amadeus_III_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vittorio Amedeo III di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Amedeo_III_di_Savoia> [Accessed 21 June 2021].

​Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine was the third of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. She was born on October 15, 1711, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France. Elisabeth Therese was the eleventh of fourteen children and the seventh of the nine daughters of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans. Her paternal grandparents were Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and Eleonora of Austria. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatine, known as Liselotte, were her maternal grandparents.

Elisabeth Therese had thirteen siblings but ten of her siblings did not survive to adulthood. Three of her siblings died from smallpox in 1711, within a week. Her father Leopold, Duke of Lorraine is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of Austria.

  • Léopold, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1699 – 1700) died in infancy
  • Élisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine (1700 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
  • Louise Christine of Lorraine (born and died 1701), died in infancy
  • Marie Gabrièle Charlotte of Lorraine (1702 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox.
  • Louis, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1704 – 1711) died in childhood from smallpox
  • Joséphine Gabrièle of Lorraine (1705 – 1708) died in childhood
  • Gabrièle Louise of Lorraine (1706 – 1710), died in childhood
  • Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine (1707 – 1723), died in his teens
  • Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708 – 1765), married Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, had sixteen children including Archduchess Maria Antonia who married King Louis XVI of France, became Queen Marie Antoinette of France
  • Eléonore of Lorraine (born and 1710 – 1710), died in infancy
  • Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712 – 1780), married Maria Anna of Austria, no children
  • Anne Charlotte of Lorraine (1714 – 1773), Abbess of Remiremont Abbey in Remiremont, Vosges, France
  • Marie Louise of Lorraine (1716 – 1723), died in childhood

Elisabeth Therese’s mother first attempted to marry her to the 15-year-old King Louis XV of France. Louis XV had been engaged to marry 7-year-old Mariana Victoria of Spain, but she was sent back to Spain because she was too young to have children. A marriage with Elisabeth Therese was opposed by Louis XV’s chief minister Louis Henri I, Prince of Condé, Duke of Bourbon who said that the House of Lorraine was too closely related to the House of Habsburg and marriage with Elisabeth Therese cause conflict with the French nobility. In 1729, marriage negotiations with Elisabeth Therese’s recently widowed first cousin Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Orléans fell apart when her father died.

Elisabeth Therese’s husband Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1736, Elisabeth Therese’s brother Francis, who had succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine, married the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter and heiress apparent of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor’s territories of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. This marriage between the House of Lorraine and the House of Habsburg allowed a more prestigious marriage for Elisabeth Therese. In late 1736, the twice-widowed 35-year-old Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia asked to marry the 25-year-old Elisabeth Therese. Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese were half-first cousins as their mothers were half-sisters. After a proxy marriage on March 5, 1737, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese married in person on April 1, 1737, in Lyon, France.

Carlo Emanuele’s four surviving children from his second marriage to Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg were Elisabeth Therese’s stepchildren:

Elisabeth Therese with her eldest son Carlo Francesco: Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese and Carlo Emanuele III had three children but only the third child Benedetto survived childhood. Sadly, Elisabeth Therese died at the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on July 3, 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to Benedetto.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Bruce The Deus at Italian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75926656

Elisabeth Therese was first buried in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. In 1786, her remains were moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin by her stepson Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Therese_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold,_Duke_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 19 June 2021].

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Given the names Polyxena Christina Johanna, she was born on September 21, 1706, in Langinswalbach, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now Bad Schwalbach in the German state of Hesse. Polyxena was the eldest of the six daughters and the second of the ten children of Ernst II Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg and Eleonore Maria Anna von Löwenstein-Wertheim.

Polyxena had nine siblings:

Polyxena’s husband Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1723, Carlo Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, the future Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, proposed marriage with Polyxena. Carlo Emanuele’s first wife Anna Christine of Sulzbach, a cousin of Polyxena, had died of childbirth complications on March 12, 1723, shortly after the birth of her only child Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro of Savoy. After a proxy marriage on July 23, 1724, in Rotenburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany, Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele were married in person on August 20, 1724, in Thonon-les-Bains, Chablais, then a province of the Duchy of Savoy, now in France. When her husband became King of Sardinia in 1730, Polyxena became Queen of Sardinia.

Polyxena was entrusted with the care of her stepson Prince Vittorio Amedeo Teodoro. She became very attached to him and greatly mourned his death on August 11, 1725. Polyxena had had a close relationship with her mother-in-law, Anne Marie d’Orléans. The two often stayed at the Villa della Regina outside the capital of Turin, where Anne Marie died in 1728.

Polyxena with her two eldest children, Eleonora (left) and Vittorio Amedeo (right); Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele had six children:

The children of Carlo Emanuele and his second wife Polyxena; (L-R) Eleonora; Vittorio Amedeo; Maria Felicita and Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Polyxena was active in charity work, founding a home for young mothers in Turin in 1732. She worked with Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, the architect of the great Basilica of Superga in Turin, to remodel and renovate buildings including the Villa della Regina and the Palazzina di Stupinigi. She was also the patroness of the painter Giovanni Battista Crosato.

In 1733, Polyxena gave birth to her last child Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais, who lived a little over five months. She fell seriously ill in June 1734, and died at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, on January 13, 1735, aged 28. Polyxena was first buried in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin and was moved to the Basilica of Superga in Turin in 1786.

Basilica of Superga; Credit – By Paris Orlando – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

Two years after Polyxena’s death, her widower married Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, the daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. Sadly, like Carlo Emanuele III’s first two wives, Elisabeth Therese also died young, dying in 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to her third child, her only child who survived childhood.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ernst II. Leopold (Hessen-Rotenburg) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_II._Leopold_(Hessen-Rotenburg)> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyxena_of_Hesse-Rotenburg> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlo-emanuele-iii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polissena d’Assia-Rheinfels-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polissena_d%27Assia-Rheinfels-Rotenburg> [Accessed 19 June 2021].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Поликсена Гессен-Рейнфельс-Ротенбургская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81-%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 19 June 2021].