Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Parma Dukes & Duchesses----

Alessandro I of Parma
@Wikipedia
(1545-1592)
3rd Duke of Parma
1586-1592

3rd Duke of Piacenza 1586 
4th Duke of Castro 1586 
Governor of the Spanish Netherlands 1578. 

Son of: Ottavio Farnese, 2nd Duca di Parma Margarethe von Osterreich
Maria of Portugal
@Wikipedia
Husband of: Maria de Portugal (1538-1577) mar 1565, daughter of Manuel I de Portugal & Isabel de Braganza. 
Alessandro I of Parma
His lovers were
1) Catherine de Roquoi

Natural offspring: 
a. Isabella Margherita Farnese (1578-1610) 

2) Franchina de Croy
Ranuccio I of Parma

(1569-1622). 

Son of: Alessandro Farnese & Maria of Portugal. 

Husband of: Margherita Aldobrandini,mar 1600, daughter of Giovanni Francesco Aldobrandini, Principe di Carpineto & Olimpia Aldobrandini, Princepessa Campinelli. 

Ranuccio's personal & family background: " . . . The first Farnese duke, Pier Luigi, was the legitimized bastard of Pope Paul III, and his son and heir, Duke Ottavio married Emperor Charles V's bastard daughter, Margherita of Austria. The Farnese were interlopers in Parma and Piacenza, never quite legitimate in the eyes of their subjects. Nobles in Parma were heard to grumble that these Farnese bastards were not the descendants of ancient and illustrious lineages like their own. Duke Ranuccio had been ruling the Farnese duchy for 20 years and had been married for over ten, but still lacked a son and legitimate heir. Duchess Margherita Aldobrandini finally bore him a son in 1610, baptized Alessandro, but the parents quickly discovered that he was deaf, mute and incapable of inheriting the throne. On 28 April 1612, with the birth of a second son, Odoardo, three weeks before the bloody executions in the city square, did Ranuccio had a possible alternate heir. Still, for some years afterwards, wirthy friars subjected poor Alessandro to exorcism and other trying ceremonies intent on casting off his affliction." (The Hero of Italy: 8-9) 

His lover was
Claudia Colla. 

"This spectacular and noisy event, which provoked criticism from many quarters in Italy, drew much of its context from the dynastic weakness of the House of Farnese. Ranuccio had married a papal niece, Margherita Aldobrandini, in 1600, but she had not borne an heir to the throne. The duke sired a bastard boy, Ottavio, who he legitimized shortly afterwards, by the daughter of a judicial official. In the absence of legitimate heirs Ottavio was groomed for succession, but it was unlikely that the Pope would have consented to such a thing; he would probably use this as a pretext to extinguish the principality and reincorporate it into the Papal States governed from Rome. Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini had ejected the Este dynasty from Ferrara and occupied the city in 1598 for that very reason. . . ." (The Hero of Italy: 8)

Other Parma Princes.
Alessandro Farnese
@Wikipedia

(1635-1689)
Prince of Parma

Governor of the Spanish Netherlands 1678. 

Viceroy of Catalonia. 
Viceroy of Navarre. 
General of Venice. 

Son of: Odoardo Farnese, Duca di Parma & Margherita de' Medici. 

His lover was
Maria Lao y Carillo

Natural offspring
a. Alessandro Odoardo Farnese (1663-1666) 
b. Alessandro Maria Farnese (1664-1726) 
c. Margherita Farnese (1665-1718) 
d. Isabelle Farnese (1666-1741)
Maria Amalia of Austria
Duchess of Parma

(1746-1804)
Duchess of Parma, Piacenza & Guastalla

"By the time Carolina was born, Amalia had disregarded almost every piece of advice her mother had given her. She managed to cause a scandal by acting without any sense of etiquette. She replaced most of her ladies-in-waiting with handsome young men, giving them the title of 'Royal Bodyguards.' Maria Theresa was by now preoccupied with Marie Antoinette's position in France. As a result, she was becoming increasingly upset by the impact her daughter's behavior was having in Parma. 'This will reflect badly on my Dauphine,' she wrote." (In Destiny's Hands: Five Tragic Rulers, Children of Maria Theresa: 104)

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