Maria Clementina of Austria (24 April 1777 – 15 November 1801) was an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
archduchess and the tenth child and third daughter of
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
, house = Habsburg-Lorraine
, father =Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
, mother = Maria Theresa of Hungary and Bohemia
, religion =Roman Catholicism
, succession1 = Grand Duke of Tuscany
, reign1 =18 ...
and
Maria Luisa of Spain
Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain (Spanish: ''María Luisa'', German: ''Maria Ludovika''; 24 November 1745 – 15 May 1792) was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the spouse of Leopold II, H ...
. In 1797 she married her first cousin
Prince Francis, Duke of Calabria, heir to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. She was modest, well educated and kind, becoming popular in her adoptive country.
[Acton, ''The Bourbons of Naples'', p. 463] Afflicted with frail health, she died of tuberculosis, age twenty four. Her only surviving child was
Princess Caroline, Duchess of Berry.
Early life
Archduchess Maria Clementina was born at the
Villa del Poggio Imperiale
Villa del Poggio Imperiale (English: Villa of the Imperial Hill) is a predominantly neoclassical former grand ducal villa in Arcetri, just to the south of Florence in Tuscany, Central Italy. Beginning as a villa of the Baroncelli of Florence, ...
, then located in the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...
, which had been ruled by her father
Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (later
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
) since 1765. She was named after
Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, her mother's uncle and brother of
Maria Amalia of Saxony, Maria Clementina's maternal grandmother.
Her father was a son of
Empress Maria Theresa and her mother a daughter of
Charles III of Spain
it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Elisabeth Farnese
, birth_date = 20 January 1716
, birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain
, death_da ...
and
Maria Amalia of Saxony. Maria Clementina was her parents' tenth child among sixteen children. She was raised in the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...
where her father ruled and the family lived until 1790 when, at the death of Maria Clementina's paternal uncle,
Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
, her father became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the family moved to the court of
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
In the same year, 1790, she was engaged to
Francis, Hereditary Prince of Naples,
eldest surviving son of
Ferdinand IV of Naples and his consort,
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. As '' de facto'' ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw th ...
. Prince Francis was the
Heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to both the Neapolitan and Sicilian thrones. They were double first cousins as they shared all their grandparents in common. Their union was the last of three between the Austrian and Neapolitan royal families, the previous two being between
Archduke Francis, her oldest brother and
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily in 1790 after
Archduke Ferdinand and
Luisa of Naples and Sicily.
The
marriage by proxy took place on 19 September 1790. It was a turbulent period with the
Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
afflicting the Italian peninsula and the actual wedding did not occur for several years. In the meantime, both of Maria Clementina's parents died in 1792, in a short period of time, and her brother Francis became the new Emperor. A truce with France finally allowed Maria Clementina to travel to Naples in 1797. A frigate picked her up in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...
, and her new family awaited her at
Foggia
Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...
where the wedding took place on 26 June 1797. It was a simple event since it was war time.
Hereditary Princess
Maria Clementina was considered to be rather pretty, though unfortunately marked by
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, but was regal in her bearing. "My son loves her passionately and she reciprocates," wrote the Queen of Naples, her mother-in-law, adding that: "It is a pleasure to see them harmonize so well... I am delighted with the Princess, gentle, fresh sensible and accommodating."
[Vovk, ''In Destiny's Hands'', p. 327] However, Maria Clementina was homesick and her character was sullen and reserved. Some weeks later Queen Maria Carolina added about the couple: "Her husband is her husband two or three times in twenty four hours, a matter which interests her. In spite of this, there is a sadness, a boredom, an invincible disgust. I think it must be due to her health or it is unnatural, she has no taste for anything at all. It is not that she regrets her life in Vienna.... I will do everything for her happiness, although I am sowing amid brambles and on thorny soil. But she is my son's wife. Thanks to my training the young man is very much in love with her as a woman... but this may not last with so much disgust, boredom and no charm of feature, which he is fortunately too nice to notice... I shall try to win her confidence, but I am not sure of succeeding. All her wants are anticipated; nothing is lacking; she is discontented and everybody notices it."
Maria Clementina was dignified and kind. Better educated and more intelligent than her placid husband, she dominated him. The couple got along well. "Her husband adores her in every sense of the word. He says she loves him, and assuredly shows and demands many proofs of love" wrote the Queen of Naples. The couple's marital passion astonished the Queen who: "asked heaven to calm their over-excited senses by sending them children".
[Acton, ''The Bourbons of Naples'', p. 304] Like her husband, Maria Clementina cared little for court life. She preferred family games, moonlit walks on the terrace, and conversation.
They had two children. She died in Naples the year after she gave birth to a son. She is thought to have died from
lung disease
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side ...
or
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
, leaving behind her daughter and her devastated husband. She was buried in
Basilica of Santa Chiara,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
, with her son.
After her death, her husband married
Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain, again his first cousin, the youngest surviving daughter of
Charles IV of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles III of Spain
, mother = Maria Amalia of Saxony
, birth_date =11 November 1748
, birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples
, death_date =
, death_place ...
(brother of Maria Clementina's mother) and
Maria Luisa of Parma
Maria Luisa of Parma (Luisa Maria Teresa Anna; 9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) was, by marriage to King Charles IV of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. Her relationship with Manuel Godoy and influence ...
.
Her only daughter, Maria Carolina, married
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry in April 1816. He was the son of
Charles X of France
Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and L ...
and
Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy. The couple were the parents of the French pretender
Henri d'Artois, ''comte de Chambord'' and the
Duchess of Parma
Duchess consort of Parma House of Farnese, 1545–1731
House of Bourbon-Anjou, 1731–1735
:None
House of Habsburg, 1735–1748
House of Bourbon-Parma, 1748–1802
House of Habsburg-Lorraine, 1814–1847
House of Bourbon-Parma ...
making Maria Clementina an ancestress of the present
Duke of Calabria and his rival the
Duke of Castro.
Issue
#
Princess Caroline of Naples and Sicily (5 November 1798 – 17 April 1870) married
Prince Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and had issue.
#Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Noto (27 August 1800 – 1 July 1801) died in infancy.
Ancestry
Notes
References
*Acton, Harold. ''The Bourbons of Naples (1734-1825)''. Prion books limited, London, 1989 (first published in 1957).
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Clementina Of Austria, Archduchess
1777 births
1801 deaths
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Nobility from Florence
Austrian princesses
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Neapolitan princesses
Sicilian princesses
Burials at the Basilica of Santa Chiara
Italian Roman Catholics
Hereditary Princesses of Naples
Daughters of emperors
Children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Daughters of kings