Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Christina of Hesse, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp was the second wife of Karl IX, King of Sweden. Born on April 13, 1573, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, she was the fourth of the ten children and the second of the five daughters of Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and Christine of Hesse. Her father was the third son of King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Sophie of Pomerania. In 1544, Adolf, his brother Johann, and their half-brother King Christian III of Denmark divided the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein which belonged to Denmark. Adolf, as the youngest, got the first choice. Since he selected the part with the Gottorp Castle, the line of the House of Oldenburg founded by him was called the House of Holstein-Gottorp.

Christina had nine siblings:

Christina’s husband the future Karl IX, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria of Palatinate-Simmern, the first wife of the future Karl IX, King of Sweden died in 1589 at the age of 28. Three years later, forty-two-year-old Karl married nineteen-year-old Christina, the first cousin of his first wife. The couple was married on August 27, 1592, at Nyköping Castle in Nyköping, Södermanland, Sweden. At the time of the marriage, Karl was a Prince of Sweden and the Duke of Södermanland and so Christina became a Princess of Sweden and the Duchess of Södermanland. Karl was a staunch Lutheran and Sweden was then ruled by Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden who, although Protestant, was married to a Catholic Polish princess and had Catholic sympathies. Karl’s marriage with Christina created a stronger alliance with the German Protestants.

Karl had six children with his first wife Maria but five of them died in infancy or childhood before his second marriage. Christina became the stepmother of Karl’s only surviving child:

Christina and Karl had four children of their own:

In 1592, Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden died and he was succeeded by his Roman Catholic son Sigismund III Vasa, who was already King of Poland. Eventually, because of religious issues, the Riksdag (legislature) gained control of the Swedish government and appointed the Lutheran Karl Regent of Sweden. Finally, on February 24, 1604, the Swedish Riksdag declared that Karl’s nephew Sigismund abdicated the Swedish throne and he was recognized as the sovereign – Karl IX, King of Sweden. After a delay of three years, Karl and his wife Christina were crowned King and Queen of Sweden on March 15, 1607, at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden.

In 1604, Christina was appointed to be regent in the event that Karl should die before their sons reached the age of majority. As the potential guardian, Christina held an important leadership position. Although Karl did not allow Christina to dictate policy, he did ask for her advice. She did prevent the potential election of her son Karl Filip as Tsar of Russia. Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie, a Swedish statesman had proposed ten-year-old Karl Philip as a candidate for Tsar of Russia. When her husband Karl died in 1611, Christina refused to allow Karl Philip to leave for Russia. However, in 1613, Karl Filip went to Denmark to discuss the terms of a potential tsardom. When he got to Denmark, Karl Philip found out that Russian nobles had rejected several candidates, including him, and that Michael Romanov became the consensus candidate and had been elected the first Romanov ruler of Russia. Christina was relieved that the Russian affair was finally over.

Christina’s elder son Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden in his youth

On October 30, 1611, at Nyköping Castle in Nyköping, Södermanland, Sweden, 61-year-old Karl IX, King of Sweden died. He was buried at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Södermanland, Sweden. After the death of Karl IX, Christina and Johan, Duke of Östergötland, the son of Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden, shared the short regency of Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden. The regency lasted from October 1611 to December 1611, when Christina’s elder son was declared of age. However, Christina remained the guardian of her younger son Karl Philip and was regent for his Duchies of Södermanland, Närke, and Värmland. Despite the short regency for her elder son, Christina was considered the real power behind the throne during the early years of Gustav II Adolf’s reign. She prevented the marriage of his marriage to Ebba Magnusdotter Brahe because she feared the complications of marriage with a noble and because she realized a dynastic marriage could have substantial political benefits.

Christina’s younger son Karl Filip; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1621, Christina’s younger son Karl Philip accompanied his brother Gustav II Adolf on his military campaign in the Baltic States. During the campaign, Karl Philip became seriously ill and traveled to Narva, then a Swedish possession, now in Estonia for treatment and rest. However, Karl Philip did not recover, dying on January 25, 1622, at the age of only 20. Christina was heartbroken after the death of her younger son, and she retired from public life and lived in seclusion. After Karl Philip’s death, his morganatic, secret marriage to Elisabet Ribbing was discovered, and Christina became the guardian of his posthumous daughter Elisabet Gyllenhielm.

Christina survived her husband by fourteen years, dying at the age of 52, on December 8, 1625, at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. She was buried in the family crypt at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Sweden, below her husband’s most unusual grave monument – a rider on a horse wearing gold armor placed over the family crypt. The gold armor had been made by twelve of Stockholm’s most prominent goldsmiths.

Karl IX’s grave monument; Credit – Av Kigsz – Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71076804

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.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Christine von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_von_Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf,_Duke_of_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Christina of Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_of_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Karl IX, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-ix-king-of-sweden/> [Accessed 14 July 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kristina av Holstein-Gottorp – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristina_av_Holstein-Gottorp> [Accessed 14 July 2021].

Berthold, Margrave of Baden

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Berthold, Margrave of Baden was the Head of the House of Zähringen and Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Baden from 1929 until his death in 1963.

Prince Berthold Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst August Heinrich Karl of Baden was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on February 24, 1906. He was the only son of Prince Maximilian of Baden, Margrave of Baden and Princess Marie Luise of Hanover. Berthold had one older sister:

Berthold, his wife and two elder children, c1936. source: private collection

On August 17, 1931 in Baden-Baden, Berthold married Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, the second daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg (as well as the elder sister of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh). The couple were second cousins through their mutual great-grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark. Berthold and Theodora had three children:

 

The last reigning Grand Duke of Baden, Friedrich II, had no children. Although the Headship of the House would pass to Berthold’s father Max, the Grand Duke’s assets would not. As part of an agreement following the end of the monarchy, Friedrich’s assets and estates would pass to the Republic of Baden if he had no legal children. To avoid this from happening, Friedrich and his wife, Hilda, legally adopted Berthold in August 1927. When Friedrich died the following year, his father became Head of the House, but it was Berthold who actually inherited all of the family’s assets.

 

Berthold, Margrave of Baden died suddenly on October 27, 1963 in Spaichingen, Germany, from an apparent heart attack. He is buried in the Mimmenhausen Cemetery in Salem, along with his wife, his parents, and his daughter.

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Baden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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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.

Maria of Palatinate-Simmern, Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Södermanland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Karl IX, King of Sweden with his first wife Maria and second wife Christina, 1598 by Hieronymus Nützel; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern was the first wife of the future Karl IX, King of Sweden but she died before he became king. She was born in Heidelberg, Electorate of the Palatinate, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, on July 24, 1561. Maria was the eldest of the twelve children and the eldest of the seven daughters of Ludwig VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse.

Maria had eleven younger siblings but only two siblings survived childhood:

  • Elisabeth (born and died 1562), died in infancy
  • Dorothea Elisabeth (born and died 1565), died in infancy
  • Dorothea (1566 – 1568), died in early childhood
  • Friedrich Philip (1567- 1568), died in infancy
  • Johann Friedrich (born and died 1569), died in infancy
  • Ludwig (1570 – 1571), died in infancy
  • Katharina (1572 – 1586), died in childhood
  • Christine (1573 – 1619), unmarried
  • Friedrich IV, Elector Palatine (1574 – 1610), married Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, had eight children
  • Philip (born and died 1575), died in infancy
  • Elisabeth (1576 – 1577), died in infancy

Maria was raised as a fervent Lutheran. Her father gave preference to Lutheranism over Calvinism, removing Calvinists from positions at Heidelberg University. In 1578, Prince Karl of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland traveled throughout the German monarchies looking for a suitable Protestant bride. Eighteen-year-old Karl visited Heidelberg in the Electorate of Palatinate and proposed to fifteen-year-old Maria. Her father accepted the marriage proposal on the condition that she be allowed to practice Lutheranism in Sweden which was then ruled by Karl’s brother Johan III, King of Sweden who, although Protestant, was married to a Catholic Polish princess and had Catholic sympathies. Maria and Karl were married on May 11, 1579, in Heidelberg. The newlyweds remained in Heidelberg until September 1579. In Sweden, they had the use of several castles in Karl’s Duchy of Södermanland.

Maria’s husband Karl; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria and Karl had six children but only one daughter survived childhood:

  • Margareta Elisabeth of Sweden (1580 – 1585), died in childhood
  • Elisabeth Sabina of Sweden (1582 – 1585), died in childhood
  • Ludwig of Sweden (born and died 1583), died in infancy
  • Katharina of Sweden (1584 – 1638), married Count Palatine Johann Kasimir von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg, had eight children including Carl X Gustav, King of Sweden
  • Gustav of Sweden (born and 1587), died in infancy
  • Maria Sweden (1588 – 1589), died in infancy

Marieholm, the former royal estate named after Maria; Credit – By (WT-shared) Riggwelter at wts.wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22603872

Maria and Karl had a happy marriage. She accompanied Karl on his travels when she was not prevented by her pregnancies. Maria had a mild and conciliatory nature and was able to control her husband’s hot temper. No portrait of Maria survives but she was described as beautiful. The town Mariestad, founded in 1583, and the royal estate Marieholm (link in Swedish) in Mariestad are named for her.

On July 29, 1589, Maria died after a long illness, aged 28, at Eskilstuna Castle in Eskilstuna, Södermanland, Sweden, and was greatly mourned by Karl. She was buried at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Södermanland, Sweden. Her husband Karl married again in 1592 to Maria’s first cousin Christina of Holstein-Gottorp and had four children. Karl became King of Sweden in 1604. He died in 1611 at the age of 61 and was also buried at Strängnäs Cathedral.

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.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Maria von der Pfalz – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_von_der_Pfalz> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Louis VI, Elector Palatine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VI,_Elector_Palatine> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria of the Palatinate, Swedish princess – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_of_the_Palatinate,_Swedish_princess> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Karl IX, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-ix-king-of-sweden/> [Accessed 13 July 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria av Pfalz – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_av_Pfalz> [Accessed 13 July 2021].

Prince Maximilian of Baden, Margrave of Baden

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Prince Maximilian of Baden was the heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and served briefly as Chancellor of the German Empire.

photo: By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R04103 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5367974

Prince Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm of Baden was born in Baden-Baden on July 10, 1867. He was the only son of Prince Wilhelm of Baden (a younger son of Grand Duke Leopold of Baden), and Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenburg (a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia). Max had one older sister:

After his initial education, Max studied law and cameralism at Leipzig University before training as an officer in the Prussian Army. In 1907, upon the death of his uncle, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, Max became heir-presumptive to his childless cousin, Friedrich II. In addition to his new position, he also became President of the upper house of parliament in Baden. Four years later, he left the Prussian army with the rank of Major General.

Prince Max with his wife and children, c.1910. source: Wikipedia

On July 10, 1900 in Gmunden, Austria, Max married Princess Marie Luise of Hanover. She was the daughter of Ernst August, Crown Prince of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark. The couple had two children:

Max returned to military service in 1914 at the beginning of World War I, serving as a general staff member, representing his cousin Friedrich II. However, he soon retired due to ill health. He became honorary president of Baden’s chapter of the German Red Cross, using his family connections to help prisoners of war. Staunchly liberal, he remained out of politics and spoke out against military policies he didn’t agree with. Despite maintaining a relatively low profile, it was through his friendship with Kurt Hahn that Max would later be appointed Chancellor of Germany. He was initially considered for the job in July 1917, and once again in September 1918 – the second time being turned down by Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, later that same month, when it was clear that the German front was soon to fall, the entire cabinet of Chancellor Georg von Hertling resigned. Von Hertling himself recommended Prince Max to succeed him. This time the Kaiser agreed, and Max was formally appointed on October 3, 1918.

Just a month later, it was clear that the German Empire was going to end. At noon on November 9, 1918, Prince Max announced the Kaiser’s abdication, as well as the formal renunciation of the Crown Prince. Max also resigned as Chancellor. Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SPD, asked Max to remain in Berlin as Regent, but Max refused and returned to Baden.

With no further role in politics, Prince Max retired to Baden. He wrote and published several books, and in 1920, he helped Kurt Hahn establish the Schule Schloss Salem – a boarding school in Salem (later attended by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh).

On August 9, 1928, the last reigning Grand Duke of Baden, Friedrich II, died, and Max became the pretender to the former throne and the Head of the House of Zähringen. At that time, he assumed the historic title of Margrave of Baden. Just over a year later, on November 6, 1929, Prince Max, Margrave of Baden died of kidney failure following several strokes. He is buried in the Mimmenhausen Cemetery in Salem.

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Baden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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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.

Franz, Duke of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Franz, Duke of Bavaria, is the current Head of the House of Wittelsbach and Pretender to the former throne of Bavaria. He is also the current heir to the Jacobite Succession.

photo: By Christoph Wagener – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22663494

Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria, Prince of Bavaria was born in Munich on July 14, 1933, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan. He has three siblings:

His family left Bavaria in 1937, eventually settling in Hungary by 1940. In 1944, they were arrested after the Germany occupation and held in several concentration camps before being freed by American forces in April 1945. Following the war, Franz finished his secondary education at the Benedictine Abbey in Ettal and then studied business at the Universities of Munich and Zurich.

From an early age, Franz had a strong interest in art, which would become a lifelong passion. In addition to amassing a large personal collection, he holds numerous positions on boards and associations of museums and art-related organizations:

  • Chairman of the Association for the Promotion of the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum in Munich
  • Deputy Chairman of the Munich Gallery Association
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Glyptothek and Antikensammlungen Munich
  • Honorary President of the Friends of the Egyptian Collection Munich
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Munich
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Munich University ofPhilosophy
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Bavarian History
  • Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Eugen Biser Foundation
  • Honorary Trustee, and Chairman of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Upon his father’s death in 1996, Franz became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. At that time, he took the title Duke of Bavaria. Franz never married, so his heir is his younger brother, Max, Duke in Bavaria.

 

In June 2021, an official portrait was released of Franz with his long-term partner, Dr. Thomas Greinwald. This is the first time the head of a European royal dynasty has publicly acknowledged a same-sex relationship. The couple lives in a wing of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, and uses Berg Castle in Starnberg as their country home.

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Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia 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. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, 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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Maria Sophie, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Sophie, Duchess in Bavaria was the wife of Francesco II, the last King of the Two Sicilies. Maria Sophie Amalie was born on October 4, 1841, at Possenhofen Castle in Possenhofen, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was the sixth of the nine children and the third of the five daughters of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. Pius August, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg were her paternal grandparents. Her maternal grandparents were Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden. Maria Sophie was a younger sister of the more well-known Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria (Sisi) who married Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and was assassinated in 1898. The painting below is a group portrait of the siblings of Empress Elisabeth given to her by her brother Karl Theodor on the occasion of her wedding.

Maria Sophie with her siblings: (left to right) Sophie Charlotte, Maximilian Emanuel, Karl Theodor, Helene, Ludwig Wilhelm, Mathilde Ludovika, and Maria Sophie; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Sophie had eight siblings:

Maria Sophie’s father Maximilian Joseph was from a junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Maximilian Joseph did much to promote Bavarian folk music. He played the zither, which is the national instrument of Bavaria, and composed music for it. Although the family had a home in Munich, Herzog-Max-Palais (Duke Max Palace, link in German), Maria Sophie’s parents had no obligations with the Bavarian royal court and their nine children spent much time living a carefree, unstructured, unrestrained childhood at Possenhofen Castle on Lake Starnberg.

Maria Sophie’s husband Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1858, 16-year-old Maria Sophie of Bavaria was betrothed to 23-year-old Francesco, Duke of Calabria, the eldest son and heir of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies and his first wife Maria Cristina of Savoy. On January 8, 1859, a proxy marriage was held at the Court Church of All Saints in the Munich Residenz, the royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. The couple married in person on February 5, 1859, in Bari, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy.

Three months after the marriage, Francesco’s father Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies died on May 22, 1859, aged 49 from a strangulated hernia after hesitating for months to have surgery. Francesco began his two-year reign as King of the Two Sicilies and Maria Sophie became Queen of the Two Sicilies. During the reign of Francesco’s father, Ferdinando II, the Italian unification movement led by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Italy, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a noted general and politician, began. Shortly before Ferdinando II’s death, the Second War of Italian Independence began. During the reign of Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861, ending the reign of Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies. After the loss of the throne of the Two Sicilies, Francesco and Maria Sophie lived in Rome as guests of Pope Pius IX. In 1870, the annexation of the Papal States to Italy, including Rome, forced Francesco and Maria Sophie to find refuge in Austria, France, and Bavaria.

Maria Sophie in the 1860s; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco had a congenital condition that prevented him from consummating his marriage. Maria Sophie, after having been patient for some time, began having affairs. While in Rome, Maria Sophie fell in love with Belgian Count Armand de Lawayss and became pregnant. To avoid scandal, the pregnancy was kept secret and Maria Sophie stayed at her parents’ home Possenhofen Castle in Bavaria. On November 24, 1862, Maria Sophie gave birth to a daughter at St. Ursula’s Convent in Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria. The child was immediately given to the family of the father. A year later, on the advice of her family, Maria Sophie decided to confess the affair to her husband. Subsequently, the relationship between Maria Sophie and Francesco improved, and after nearly ten years after his marriage, Francesco finally had surgery that corrected the condition. Maria Sofia became pregnant and a daughter was born to joyful parents but sadly, she lived for only three months. Francesco and Maria Sophie had no other children.

  • Maria Cristina Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (December 24, 1869 – March 28, 1870)

Garatshausen Castle; Credit – Von 2micha – Eigenes Werk, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8311631

In 1870, Maria Sophie purchased Garatshausen Castle (link in German) on Lake Starnberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria from her brother Ludwig Wilhelm, and the castle became their home. The former Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies died on December 27, 1894, aged 58, in Arco, where he spent winters, then in Austria-Hungary, now in Italy. He was originally buried with his daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans (link in Italian) in Rome.

After her husband’s death, Maria Sophie lived for a time in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She also spent time in Paris, France where she lived in a house that her husband had purchased. There she presided over an informal Bourbon-Two Sicilies court in exile. Maria Sophie never stopped hoping that the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies would be returned to her husband’s family. It was even rumored she was involved in the 1900 anarchist assassination of Umberto I, King of Italy in hopes of destabilizing the Kingdom of Italy.

During World War I, Maria Sophie was actively on the side of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in their war against the Kingdom of Italy. Again, some rumors claimed she participated in sabotage and espionage against Italy hoping that an Italian defeat would restore the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Despite her dislike of the Kingdom of Italy, Maria Sophie would anonymously visit Italian soldiers in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, giving them books and food.

Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on the entrance to the royal crypt at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

After World War I, Maria Sophie returned to her birthplace of Bavaria, Germany, living in Munich. It is there that she died on January 19, 1925, at the age of 83. Maria Sophie was initially buried with her husband and daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans (link in Italian) in Rome. In 1984, their remains were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the traditional burial site of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Naples, 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.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Marie in Bayern – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_in_Bayern> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Maximilian_Joseph_in_Bavaria> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Sophie of Bavaria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sophie_of_Bavaria> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francesco-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 18 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina Pia di Borbone-Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_Pia_di_Borbone-Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Sofia di Baviera – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sofia_di_Baviera> [Accessed 18 August 2021].

Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia 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. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, 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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Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco II was the last King of the Two Sicilies. Francesco d’Assisi Maria Leopoldo was born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy, on January 16, 1836. He was the only child of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies and his first wife Maria Cristina of Savoy. His paternal grandparents were Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain.  Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este were his maternal grandparents.

Francesco’s mother Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Sadly, Francesco’s mother Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications on January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to him. Maria Cristina had been called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She was frequently ill which she patiently endured with her piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility.

In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. On July 10, 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and on May 6, 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. Her beatification took place on January 25, 2014, at the Basilica of Santa Chiara where she is buried. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint. Her son Francesco may be following in her footsteps. In December 2020, Cardinal Sepe Crescenzio, Archbishop of Naples announced the opening of a cause for the beatification and canonization of Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies, and Francesco was declared to be a Servant of God.

A year after his mother’s death, Francesco’s father Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies married Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. Francesco had a good relationship with his stepmother. He respected his stepmother, who was the only mother he had ever known, and Maria Theresa considered him her son.

Francesco (standing fourth from the left) with his father, stepmother Maria Theresa (sitting on chair), and his half-siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco had twelve half-siblings from his father’s second marriage:

Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1858, Francesco was betrothed to Maria Sophie of Bavaria, the daughter of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. Maria Sophie was the younger sister of the better-known Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) who married Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria. On January 8, 1859, a proxy marriage was held at the Court Church of All Saints in the Munich Residenz, the royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. The couple married in person on February 5, 1859, in Bari, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy.

Three months after the marriage, Francesco’s father Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies died on May 22, 1859, aged 49 from a strangulated hernia after hesitating for months to have surgery. Francesco began his two-year reign as King of the Two Sicilies. During the reign of Francesco’s father, Ferdinando II, the Italian unification movement led by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Italy, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a noted general and politician, began. Shortly before Ferdinando II’s death, the Second War of Italian Independence began. During the reign of Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Francesco and Maria Sophie, circa 1865; Credit – Wikipedia

After the loss of the throne of the Two Sicilies, Francesco and Maria Sophia lived in Rome as guests of Pope Pius IX where Francesco maintained a government in exile recognized by some Catholic powers including France, Spain, Austria, and Bavaria. After the Third Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War weakened his allies, Francesco ended his government in exile. In 1870, the annexation of the Papal States to Italy, including Rome, forced Francesco and Maria Sophie to find refuge in Austria, France, and Bavaria.

Francesco had a congenital condition that prevented him from consummating his marriage. Maria Sophie, after having been patient for some time, began having affairs and she became pregnant. To avoid scandal, the pregnancy was kept secret by Maria Sophie’s mother and her brothers. On November 24, 1862, Maria Sophie gave birth to a daughter in St. Ursula’s Convent in Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria. The child was immediately given to the family of the father. A year later, on the advice of her family, Maria Sophie decided to confess the affair to her husband. In addition, Maria Sophie’s brother-in-law Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria intervened. In a letter to Francesco, Franz Joseph attempted to persuade him to fulfill his marital duties. Nearly ten years after his marriage, Francesco finally had surgery that corrected the condition. A daughter was born to joyful parents but sadly, she lived for only three months.

  • Maria Cristina Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (December 24, 1869 – March 28, 1870)

Garatshausen Castle; Credit – Von 2micha – Eigenes Werk, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8311631

In 1870, Maria Sophie purchased Garatshausen Castle on Lake Starnberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria from her brother Ludwig, and the castle became their home. The former Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies died on December 27, 1894, aged 58, in Arco, where he spent winters, then in Austria-Hungary, now in Italy. He was originally buried with his daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans (link in Italian) in Rome. Upon the death of Francesco, his half-brother Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta became the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Francesco shortly before his death; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Sophie survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying at the age of 83 on January 19, 1925, in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. She was buried with her husband and daughter at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans in Rome. In 1984, their remains were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the traditional burial site of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Naples, Italy.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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. Franz II. (Sizilien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_II._(Sizilien)> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Francis II of the Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II_of_the_Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2021. Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-cristina-of-savoy-queen-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Francesco II delle Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_II_delle_Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina Pia di Borbone-Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_Pia_di_Borbone-Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 16 August 2021].

Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia 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. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, 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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Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria was the second wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. Maria Theresia Isabella was born at Weilburg Castle in Baden bei Wien, Austria, near Vienna, on July 31, 1816. She was the eldest of the seven children and the eldest of the two daughters of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. Her paternal grandparents were Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg and Luise Isabelle of Kirchberg.

Maria Theresa had six younger siblings:

Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and his six surviving children, painted after the death of his wife whose bust is on the left. Left to right: Wilhlem Franz, Karl Ferdinand, Maria Theresa, Archduke Karl, Albrecht, Maria Karoline and Friedrich; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1829, Maria Theresa’s mother died at the age of 32 after contracting scarlet fever and pneumonia from her children. Maria Theresa, the eldest child, was thirteen years old and took over the child-rearing role for her siblings who ranged in age from two to twelve years old. Together with her father and her brother Albrecht, she served as a tutor for her four youngest siblings. From 1834 to 1835, she was abbess of the Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies in Prague, founded in 1755 by Empress Maria Theresa to serve as a religious order for impoverished noblewomen. The noblewomen were not required to take vows of celibacy and were allowed to leave to marry. The Theresian Institution was run by a Princess-Abbess, who was selected by the Holy Roman Emperor and later the Emperor of Austria. By birth, each Princess-Abbess was an Archduchess of Austria.

Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1836, Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies, wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies died at the age of 23 from childbirth complications after giving birth to a son. The widowed king met Maria Theresa during his stay in Vienna, Austria in July 1836, and they became engaged to strengthen the relations between Austria and the Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina and Ferdinando were married on January 9, 1837, at the Augustinian Church in Vienna, Austria.

Maria Theresa became the stepmother of Ferdinando’s one-year-old son:

Maria Theresa and Ferdinando II had twelve children:

Ferdinando II and Maria Theresa with their children; Credit – Wikipedia

The court of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies considered Maria Theresa poorly dressed and not their idea of a queen. Maria Theresa disliked her public role as Queen of the Two Sicilies and her life at court. She preferred to spend time in her rooms with her children and doing needlework. Maria Theresa had a good relationship with her husband and her stepson Francesco. Francesco respected his stepmother, who was the only mother he had ever known, and Maria Theresa considered him her son. Despite not liking her public role, Maria Theresa was interested in politics and did advise her husband on many matters.

Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies had hesitated for months to have surgery for a strangulated hernia. His hesitancy probably caused his death. Maria Theresa nursed him until he died at the age of 49 at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy on May 22, 1859. He was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy.

Maria Theresa surrounded by her sons in 1862 (Gennaro is not in the photo); Credit – Wikipedia

During Ferdinando II’s reign, the Italian unification movement led by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Italy, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a noted general and politician, began. Shortly before Ferdinando II’s death, the Second War of Italian Independence began. During the reign of Ferdinando’s son Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Maria Theresa, along with her children, was among the first to leave Naples. She eventually made her way to Rome which was part of the Papal States and not the new Kingdom of Italy. Pope Pius IX placed the Quirinal Palace in Rome at her disposal.

Maria Theresa in 1866; Credit – Wikipedia

In the summer of 1867, a cholera epidemic broke out in Rome. Maria Theresa and her family left the city and moved to a villa in Albano Laziale, outside of Rome but they did not escape the illness. Both Maria Theresa and her youngest son, ten-year-old Gennaro developed cholera. Maria Theresa survived her husband by eight years, dying at the age of 51 from cholera on August 8, 1867, just five days before her youngest child also died from cholera. Maria Theresa and her son Gennaro were buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, 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.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Theresia von Österreich (1816–1867) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresia_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1816%E2%80%931867)> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Charles,_Duke_of_Teschen> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Theresa of Austria (1816–1867) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria_(1816%E2%80%931867)> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Teresa d’Asburgo-Teschen (1816-1867) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Teresa_d%27Asburgo-Teschen_(1816-1867)> [Accessed 16 August 2021].

Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia 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. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, 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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Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina of Savoy was the first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, and has been venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy since her beatification in 2014. Maria Cristina Carlotta Giuseppa Gaetana Efisia was born on November 14, 1812, in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia in the Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy. She was the youngest of the six daughters and the youngest of the seven children of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. Her paternal grandparents were Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa.

Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia, his wife Maria Theresa, and their daughters: twins Maria Teresa and Maria Anna and Maria Cristina; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina had five sisters and one brother. Two of her sisters died in infancy and her brother died in childhood from smallpox.

Marriage of Maria Cristina and Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 21, 1832, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Acquasanta in Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, 20-year-old Maria Cristina married 22-year-old Ferdinando II, King of Two Sicilies. Ferdinando had become King of the Two Sicilies two years earlier upon the death of his father Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies.

Maria Cristina at prayer; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Cristina was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. She found herself living in a court with a lifestyle that was very far from her sensitivity. This caused her to never feel quite comfortable. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. Maria Cristina was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility.

Ferdinando and Maria Cristina had one child:

On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. She was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the traditional burial site for the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, now in Italy. A year after Maria Cristina’s death, Ferdinando married Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. The couple had twelve children.

Tomb of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38973019

In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. On July 10, 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and on May 6, 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint.

Guests at the Beatification of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/

On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the burial site of Maria Cristina, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies led by Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria and Carlo, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro. Both branches claim to be Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and this event united them for the first time in fifty years. Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria, who died the following year, did not attend the beatification and was represented by his wife.

Beatification of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy at the Basilica of Santa Chiara; Credit – https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/

Pope Francis was represented at the beatification ceremony by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Cardinal Sepe Crescenzio, Archbishop of Naples was celebrant, and Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, Grand Prior of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, was also present. Following the beatification ceremony, members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies paid their respects at the tomb of Blessed Maria Cristina 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.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina of Savoy – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_of_Savoy> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 16 August 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 16 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_di_Savoia> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
  • Realcasadiborbone.it. 2014. Beatification of Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy – Real Casa di Borbone delle Due Sicilie. [online] Available at: <https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].

Anna of Austria, Queen of Sweden, Queen of Poland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

Anna of Austria was the first wife of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden and King of Poland. Born on August 16, 1573, in Graz, Austria, Anna was the eldest of the eight daughters and the second of the fifteen children of Karl II, Archduke of Austria of the House of Habsburg, and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Anna had fourteen siblings:

Anna’s mother was a strong supporter of the Counter-Reformation, the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Protestant Reformation. Anna and her siblings attended Mass from the age of one and their first words were to be Jesus and Mary. They were tutored by Catholic priests, and Latin was to be a priority before their native German language.

Although a Protestant, Johan III, King of Sweden had clear Catholic sympathies, inspired by his Catholic Polish wife Katarina Jagellonica, the daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland. Although their only son Sigismund was the heir to the Swedish throne and Sweden was a Protestant nation, he was raised as a Catholic to help him acquire the Polish crown. After the death of Stephen Báthory, King of Poland who had no legitimate children, Sigismund was elected King of Poland in 1587.

Anna’s husband Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, King of Poland; Credit – Wikipedia

Antonius Possevinus, the papal envoy to Sweden suggested that Sigismund’s wife should come from the Habsburg dynasty. Pope Gregory XIII gave his approval to the idea of a marriage alliance between the Habsburgs and Sweden, and Anna of Austria was chosen as the prospective bride. Possevino visited the court of Karl II, Archduke of Austria in Graz, and obtained a portrait of Anna to bring to Sweden. After another marriage possibility for Anna came to naught, and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II decided that marriage to Sigismund would be the match for Anna that would best benefit the Habsburg dynasty, the marriage was settled. In April 1592, the betrothal of Anna of Austria and Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, was formally celebrated in the Imperial Court in Vienna. A proxy wedding was held in Vienna on May 4, 1592, after which Anna and her mother traveled to Krakow, Poland. On May 31, 1592, at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland, Anna married Sigismund and was crowned Queen of Poland.

Anna and Sigismund’s only surviving child Prince Ladislaus Vasa, aged about ten years old; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna and Sigmund had five children but only one, Ladislaus Vasa, who succeeded his father as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, survived childhood. Similarly, Ladislaus Vasa had five children from his two marriages but none of them survived childhood.

On November 17, 1592, Sigismund’s father Johan III, King of Sweden, Grand Duke of Lithuania died and Sigismund was granted permission by the Polish legislature to claim his inheritance as the rightful King of Sweden. In 1594, Anna accompanied her husband to Sweden, where she and her husband were crowned King and Queen of Sweden at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden on February 19, 1594. The Catholic Sigismund promised to recognize Lutheranism as Sweden’s state religion. However, many were suspicious of Sigismund’s promise to uphold Lutheranism when a papal nuncio was in the coronation procession. Anna and Sigismund had to leave their nine-month-old daughter Anna Marie in Poland as collateral for their return. Anna was pregnant and she feared that she would be forced to do the same in Sweden if she gave birth during her time in Sweden. Anna gave birth to a daughter Katarina on April 19, 1594. Katarina’s christening was celebrated with great festivity, however, she died on May 15, 1594.

When Anna and Sigismund returned to Poland in July 1594, Sigismund’s uncle Karl, Duke of Södermanland and the council were to govern in his absence. Because of the religious differences, Sigismund did not want to give his uncle and the council full government power. He appointed some council members who favored the Roman Catholic Church and who would receive orders directly from him. In 1595, the Riksdag (legislature) gained control of the Swedish government and appointed Karl, Duke of Södermanland Regent of Sweden. As Queen of Poland, Anna acted as a confidant to her husband Sigismund. She advised him on dealing with the Polish noble factions and on foreign policy. Anna had no interest in maintaining Sigismumd’s personal union between Catholic Poland and Protestant Sweden. However, long before the situation was resolved, Anna died, aged 24, on February 10, 1598, due to birth complications during the birth of her sixth child, who also died. She was buried in South Ambulatory Crypt at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.

The coffin of Anna, Queen of Sweden is in the back on the left; Credit – Wikipedia

Ultimately, on February  24, 1604, the Swedish Riksdag declared that Sigismund abdicated the Swedish throne and that his uncle Karl, Duke of Södermanland was recognized as the sovereign – Karl IX, King of Sweden. Although he lost the Swedish throne, Sigismund reigned as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death in 1632. In 1605, he married Anna’s sister Constance of Austria and they had seven children.

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.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne of Austria, Queen of Poland – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Austria,_Queen_of_Poland> [Accessed 7 June 2021].
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