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Elisabeth of Parma
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Elisabeth of Parma (October 22, 1692 – July 11, 1766), Queen consort of Spain, also known as Isabel de Farnesio or Isabella Farnese, was the only daughter of Odoardo II Farnese. Her paternal grandparents were Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Isabella of Modena.
Maternal ancestry
Her mother Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg was a daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of the Rhine and Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her maternal grandparents were George II, Landgrave of Hesse (1605 – 1661) and Duchess Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (1609 – 1671).
Sophie Eleonore was in turn a daughter of John George II, Elector of Saxony and Magdalene of Brandenburg.
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Encyclopedia
Elisabeth of Parma (October 22, 1692 – July 11, 1766), Queen consort of Spain, also known as Isabel de Farnesio or Isabella Farnese, was the only daughter of Odoardo II Farnese. Her paternal grandparents were Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Isabella of Modena.
Maternal ancestry
Her mother Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg was a daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of the Rhine and Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her maternal grandparents were George II, Landgrave of Hesse (1605 – 1661) and Duchess Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (1609 – 1671).
Sophie Eleonore was in turn a daughter of John George II, Elector of Saxony and Magdalene of Brandenburg. Her maternal grandparents were Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1553 – 1618) and Princess Marie of Cleves-Jülich.
Marie was a daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and a granddaughter of John III, Duke of Cleves. Her mother the Archduchess Maria was a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
Anne of Bohemia was herself a daughter of Vladislaus II and Anne de Foix.
Life
Parma
She was born a Princess of Parma in the state of Parma, which had been ruled by her family for over two centuries. Elisabeth would later become the heiress of her father's dominions after her uncle Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma and his younger brother, both of whom remained childless. The Duchy of Parma would later be inherited by her first son Infante Carlos, and after his accession to the Spanish throne the title passed on to her third son Infante Felipe. It was he who founded the modern day House of Bourbon-Parma.
Her mother educated her in strict seclusion, but even this measure failed to tame her imperious and ambitious temper. At the age of twenty-one (1714) she was married by proxy at Parma to Philip V of Spain. The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Alberoni, with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, the Camarera Mayor of the King of Spain.
Spain
On arriving at Spanish border, Elizabeth was met by the Princesse des Ursins, but received her sternly, and, perhaps in accordance with a plan previously concerted with the king, at once ordered her removal from her presence and from Spain. Elizabeth quickly obtained complete influence over Philip V, who was considered by all means a weak king. This influence was exerted altogether in support of Alberoni's policy, one chief aim of which was to recover the ancient Italian possessions of Spain, and which actually resulted in the seizure of Sardinia and Sicily. So vigorously did she enter into this policy that, when the French forces advanced to the Pyrenees, she placed herself at the head of one division of the Spanish army.
But Elizabeth's ambition was grievously disappointed. The Triple Alliance thwarted her plans, and at length in 1720 the allies made the banishment of Alberoni a condition of peace. Sicily also had to be evacuated and finally all her entreaties failed to prevent the abdication of Philip, who in 1724 gave up the throne in favour of his firstborn heir (from his first marriage), and retired to the palace of La Granja. (Also in 1724, she acquired the San Ildefonso Group for him from the Odescalchi family.)
Seven months later, however, the death of the young king recalled Philip to the throne. During his later years, when he was nearly senile, she directed the whole policy of Spain so as to secure thrones in Italy for her sons. In 1731 she had the satisfaction of seeing her favorite scheme realized with the recognition by the powers in the Treaty of Vienna of her son Don Carlos (afterwards Charles III of Spain) as the Duke of Parma, and after the Treaty of Vienna (1738) his accession to the throne of the Two Sicilies. Her second son, Philip, became Duke of Parma in 1748.
In Elisabeth's time, Spain was a leading power in the world with a large empire stretching from its hub in Europe to much of the Americas. Elisabeth and Philip V had several children, and as a result of their matrimonial policy, many of them would marry into prominent families in Europe:
Children
She had seven children by Philip V:
- Infante Carlos of Spain (January 20, 1716 – December 14, 1788).
- Infante Francisco of Spain (21 March 1717 – 21 April 1717).
- Infanta Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain (March 31, 1718 – January 15, 1781).
- Infante Felipe of Spain (March 20, 1720 – July 18, 1765) Duke of Parma and founder of the line of House of Bourbon-Parma.
- Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain (June 11, 1726 – July 22, 1746).
- Infante Luis Antonio of Spain (July 25, 1727 – 7 August 1785), known as the Cardinal-Infante. Was Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain and Cardinal since 1735. In 1754 renounced his ecclesiastical titles and became Count of Chinchón. In 1776, he married morganatically Doña María Teresa de Vallabriga y Rozas and had issue, but without royal titles.
- Infanta Maria Antonieta of Spain (November 17, 1729 – September 19, 1785).
Later life
Elizabeth survived her husband by twenty years. In the time between his death in 1746 and her own in 1766, she witnessed many events: the accession to the Spanish throne of her stepson, Ferdinand VI and Barbara of Portugal, whom she hated; and the accession to the throne of Parma of her beloved second son, Philip. In 1752 she built Riofrio Palace as her dowager residence. She later spent much of her time at the palaces of La Granja and Aranjuez. It was there that she died in 1766 at the age of 73. She was buried next to her husband in the Colegiata of San Ildefonso.
Ancestry
Bibliography
- Petrie, Charles: King Charles III of Spain New York, John Day Company, 1971
- Harcourt-Smith, Simon: Cardinal of Spain: the Life and Strange Career of Giulio Alberoni New York, Knopf, 1955
- Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Espagne sous le régne de Philippe V by the Marquis de St Philippe, translated by Maudave (Paris, 1756)
- Memoirs of Elizabeth Farnese (London, 1746)
- Armstrong, E: Elizabeth Farnese, the Termagant of Spain, 1892
- The Spanish original of the Comentarios del marqués de San Felipe was published in the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles.
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