Princess Caroline of Naples and Sicily
Encyclopedia
Caroline of Naples and Sicily (Maria Carolina Ferdinanda Luise; 5 November 1798 – 17 April 1870) was the daughter of the future King Francis I of the Two Sicilies
and his first wife, Maria Clementina of Austria
.
as the eldest child of Prince Ferdinand
, heir to the throne of Naples and Sicily. Her mother was an Archduchess of Austria
herself the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
and Maria Luisa of Spain
. Her parents were double first cousins.
Caroline was baptised with the names of her paternal grand parents, Maria Carolina of Austria
and King Ferdinand of Naples
.
She spent her youth in Palermo
and in Naples. Her mother died in 1801 having given birth a son the previous year with a difficult birth. She died aged 24; her father married again in 1802 to the Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain
, another first cousin. The couple would have a further twelve children.
Caroline married King Louis XVIII of France
's nephew, Charles Ferdinand d'Artois on 24 April 1816 in Naples, following negotiations with the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily
by the French ambassador Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
, thus becoming the duchesse de Berry otherwise known as Madame de Berry in France.
Even though it was an arranged marriage, it was a happy marriage Caroline living at the Élysée Palace
in Paris which was given to her.
She became an important figure during the Bourbon Restoration
after the assassination of her husband in 1820. Caroline's son, Henri, Count of Chambord, was named the "miracle child" because he was born after his father's death and continued the direct Bourbon line of King Louis XIV of France
. (The Duke of Berry saw only one child born by Caroline, Louise).
In 1824, King Louis XVIII
died and was succeeded by Caroline's father-in-law, King Charles X
.
In 1830, she was forced to flee France
when Charles X
was overthrown during the July Revolution
. She lived in Bath and Regent Terrace
, Edinburgh
for a time.
In 1831 she returned to her family in Naples
via the Netherlands, Prussia and Austria. Later, however, with the help of Emmanuel Louis Marie de Guignard, vicomte de Saint Priest
, she unsuccessfully attempted to restore the Legitimist Bourbon dynasty during the reign of the Orléanist
monarch, King Louis Philippe of the French (1830–1848).
Her failed rebellion in the Vendée
in 1832 was followed by her arrest and imprisonment in November, 1832. She was released in June, 1833 after giving birth to a daughter and revealing her secret marriage to an Italian nobleman, Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duke della Grazia. In 1844, she and her husband purchased the beautiful palazzo Ca' Vendramin Calergi
on the Grand Canal in Venice
from the last member of the Vendramin
family line. In the turmoil of the Risorgimento, she was forced to sell the palazzo to her grandson, Prince Henry, Count of Bardi
, and many of its fine works of art were auctioned in Paris.
She returned to Sicily, ignored by other members of the House of Bourbon
, and died near Graz
(Austria-Hungary) in 1870.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père
wrote two stories about her and her plotting.
Children with Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duke della Grazia:
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Francis I of the Two Sicilies
-Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic....
and his first wife, Maria Clementina of Austria
Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria
Maria Clementina of Austria was an Austrian archduchess and the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. In 1797 she married her first cousin Francis I of the Two Sicilies, then Duke of Calabria, heir of Naples and Sicily...
.
Life
Caroline was born at the Caserta PalaceCaserta Palace
The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century...
as the eldest child of Prince Ferdinand
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
-Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic....
, heir to the throne of Naples and Sicily. Her mother was an Archduchess of Austria
Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria
Maria Clementina of Austria was an Austrian archduchess and the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. In 1797 she married her first cousin Francis I of the Two Sicilies, then Duke of Calabria, heir of Naples and Sicily...
herself the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
and Maria Luisa of Spain
Maria Luisa of Spain
Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary as the spouse of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Names:...
. Her parents were double first cousins.
Caroline was baptised with the names of her paternal grand parents, Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
and King Ferdinand of Naples
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
.
She spent her youth in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
and in Naples. Her mother died in 1801 having given birth a son the previous year with a difficult birth. She died aged 24; her father married again in 1802 to the Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain
Maria Isabella of Spain
María Isabella of Spain was an Infanta of Spain and the Queen of the Two Sicilies. She was the second wife of Francis I and the youngest surviving daughter of the Spanish king Charles IV and his consort Maria Luisa of Parma...
, another first cousin. The couple would have a further twelve children.
Caroline married King Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
's nephew, Charles Ferdinand d'Artois on 24 April 1816 in Naples, following negotiations with the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
by the French ambassador Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas
Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, first comte, then duc, and finally prince de Blacas d'Aulps was a French antiquarian, nobleman and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration.-Youth:He was baptized at Avignon on 11 January 1771...
, thus becoming the duchesse de Berry otherwise known as Madame de Berry in France.
Even though it was an arranged marriage, it was a happy marriage Caroline living at the Élysée Palace
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
in Paris which was given to her.
She became an important figure during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
after the assassination of her husband in 1820. Caroline's son, Henri, Count of Chambord, was named the "miracle child" because he was born after his father's death and continued the direct Bourbon line of King Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. (The Duke of Berry saw only one child born by Caroline, Louise).
In 1824, King Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
died and was succeeded by Caroline's father-in-law, King Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
.
In 1830, she was forced to flee France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
when Charles X
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
was overthrown during the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
. She lived in Bath and Regent Terrace
Regent Terrace
Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the tail of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995.- Houses :...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
for a time.
In 1831 she returned to her family in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
via the Netherlands, Prussia and Austria. Later, however, with the help of Emmanuel Louis Marie de Guignard, vicomte de Saint Priest
Emmanuel Louis Marie de Guignard, vicomte de Saint Priest
Emmanuel Louis Marie Guignard, vicomte de Saint-Priest , was a French politician and diplomat during the Bourbon Restoration. He was the son of François-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, one of King Louis XVI of France's last ministers...
, she unsuccessfully attempted to restore the Legitimist Bourbon dynasty during the reign of the Orléanist
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
monarch, King Louis Philippe of the French (1830–1848).
Her failed rebellion in the Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
in 1832 was followed by her arrest and imprisonment in November, 1832. She was released in June, 1833 after giving birth to a daughter and revealing her secret marriage to an Italian nobleman, Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duke della Grazia. In 1844, she and her husband purchased the beautiful palazzo Ca' Vendramin Calergi
Ca' Vendramin Calergi
Ca' Vendramin Calergi is a palace on the Grand Canal in the sestiere of Cannaregio in Venice, northern Italy. Other names by which it is known include: Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi, and Palazzo Loredan Griman Calergi Vendramin. The architecturally distinguished...
on the Grand Canal in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
from the last member of the Vendramin
Vendramin
The Vendramin were a rich merchant family of Venice, Italy, who were among the case nuove or "new houses" who joined the patrician class when the Libro d'Oro was opened after the battle of Chioggia...
family line. In the turmoil of the Risorgimento, she was forced to sell the palazzo to her grandson, Prince Henry, Count of Bardi
Prince Henry, Count of Bardi
Prince Henry of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi was the youngest son and child of Charles III, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France, the eldest daughter of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and Princess Caroline Ferdinande Louise of the Two Sicilies.Henry was thus a...
, and many of its fine works of art were auctioned in Paris.
She returned to Sicily, ignored by other members of the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, and died near Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
(Austria-Hungary) in 1870.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
wrote two stories about her and her plotting.
Issue
Children with Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry:- Princess Louise Élisabeth of France (13 July 1817 – 14 July 1817)
- Prince Louis of France (born and died 13 September 1818)
- Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois (21 September 1819 – 1 February 1864)
- Henri d'Artois, Duke of Bordeaux and Count of Chambord (29 September 1820 – 24 August 1883)
Children with Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duke della Grazia:
- Anna Maria Rosalia Lucchesi-Palli (10 May 1833 – October 1833)
- Clementina Lucchesi-Palli (19 November 1835 – 22 March 1925)
- Francesca di Paola Lucchesi-Palli (12 October 1836 – 10 May 1923; her son Camillo Massimo, Principe di Arsoli was the father-in-law of Princess Adelaide of Savoy, daughter of Prince Thomas, Duke of Genoa and his wife Princess Isabella of BavariaPrincess Isabella of BavariaPrincess Isabella Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria was the third child and eldest daughter of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria and his wife Infanta Amelia Philippina of Spain...
; her other son Fabrizio Massimo, Principe di Roviano married Beatriz of Spain, daughter of Carlos, Duke of MadridCarlos, Duke of MadridInfante Carlos María de los Dolores Juan Isidro José Francisco Quirin Antonio Miguel Gabriel Rafael de Borbón y Austria-Este, Duke of Madrid was the senior member of the House of Bourbon from 1887 until his death...
and his first wife Princess Margherita of Parma) - Maria Isabella Lucchesi-Palli (18 March 1838 – 1 April 1873)
- Adinolfo Lucchesi-Palli, 9th Duke della Grazia (10 March 1840 – 4 February 1911; his son Pietro Lucchesi-Palli married Beatrice Colomba Maria di Borbone Principessa di Parma, the daughter of Robert I, Duke of ParmaRobert I, Duke of ParmaRobert I was the last sovereign Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1854 to 1859, when the duchy was annexed to Sardinia-Piedmont during the unification of Italy...
and his first wife Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies).
Titles and styles
- 5 November 1798 – 24 April 1816 Her Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
Princess Carolina of Naples and Sicily - 24 April 1816 – 14 February 1820 Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Berry
- 14 February 1820 – 17 April 1870 Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Berry
Ancestors
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Further reading
- Cronin, VincentVincent CroninVincent Archibald Patrick Cronin, FRSL was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best-known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, as well as for his books on the Renaissance.Cronin was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire...
. Four Women in Pursuit of an Ideal. London: Collins, 1965; also published as The Romantic Way. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966.