Duchy of Parma Index

The Duchy of Parma in green; Credit – By Gabagool – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7162078

The Duchy of Parma was in today’s northwest Italy and came into existence in 1545 when Pope Paul III made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, territories that previously were a part of the Papal States. The House of Farnese reigned until 1731 when the male line went extinct. The duchy passed to Felipe V, King of Spain from the Spanish House of Bourbon whose second wife Elizabeth Farnese was the Farnese heiress. Felipe V made Carlos, his eldest son with Elizabeth Farnese, the Duke of Parma. However, in 1738, Felipe V traded the Duchy of Parma to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine for the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily and Carlos became King of Naples and Sicily.

In 1748, the Duchy of Parma was ceded back to the Bourbons. Infante Felipe of Spain became Duke of Parma and was the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet branch of the Spanish House of Bourbon.  In 1796, the Duchy of Parma was occupied by French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte. It remained in French hands until the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 when the duchy was given to Napoleon’s second wife, Marie-Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine. She reigned until her death in 1847 when the Duchy of Parma was restored to the House of Bourbon-Parma. In 1859, the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. It was merged with the Kingdom of Sardinia as part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.

Below is an indexed listing with links to biographical articles about the Bourbon-Parma royal family at Unofficial Royalty. If it says “Notable Issue” before a name, that means not all of the children for the parent of that person are listed.

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Earlier Parma Royals

House of Bourbon-Parma, 1847–1859

Family of Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma

Family of Carlo III, Duke of Parma

Family of Roberto I, Duke of Parma

Other Bourbon-Parma Royals

Pretenders to the Throne