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Robert I, Duke of Parma

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Robert I
Duke Robert I in 1900
Duke Robert I in 1900
Duke of Parma and Piacenza
Reign 27 March 1854 – 9 June 1859
Predecessor Charles III
Successor Monarchy abolished;
Victor Emmanuel II as King of Italy
Regent Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois
Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
Tenure 9 June 1859 – 16 November 1907
Predecessor Monarchy abolished
Successor Henry
Born 9 July 1848
Florence, Tuscany
Died 16 November 1907 (aged 59)
Viareggio, Italy
Spouses Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
(m. 1869; died 1882)
Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
(m. 1884)
Issue
more... 		Marie Louise, Princess of Bulgaria
Henry, Duke of Parma
Joseph, Duke of Parma
Beatrice, Countess of Lucchesi-Palli
Elias, Duke of Parma
Prince Sixtus
Xavier, Duke of Parma
Zita, Empress of Austria
Felix, Prince Consort of Luxembourg
Princess Maria Antonia
Prince René
Prince Gaetano
House Bourbon-Parma
Father Charles III, Duke of Parma
Mother Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois

Robert I (Italian: Roberto Carlo Luigi Maria, French: Robert Charles Louis Marie, 9 July 1848 – 16 November 1907) was the last sovereign Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1854 until 1859, when the duchy was annexed to Sardinia-Piedmont during the Risorgimento. He was a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma and descended from Philip, Duke of Parma, the third son of King Philip V of Spain and Queen Elisabeth Farnese.

Biography

Early life

Born in Florence, Robert was the elder son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois, daughter of Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry and granddaughter of King Charles X of France. He succeeded his father to the ducal throne in 1854 upon the latter's assassination, when he was only six, while his mother stood as regent. The duchess initially dismissed some of her unpopular husband's most reactionary advisers, but was surprised by the Mazzini uprisings in July 1854 and then reverted to a harshly repressive policy that continued until the Second Italian War of Independence.

When Robert was eleven years old, he was deposed, as Piedmontese troops annexed other Italian states, ultimately to form the Kingdom of Italy. Despite losing his throne, Robert and his family enjoyed considerable wealth, traveling in a private train of more than a dozen cars from his castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna, to Villa Pianore in northwest Italy, and the magnificent Château de Chambord in France.

Death and legacy

Less than four months after Robert's death in November 1907, the Grand Marshal of the Austrian court declared six of the children of his first marriage legally incompetent (they had severe intellectual disabilities), at the behest of his widow, Maria Antonia. Nonetheless, Robert's primary heir was his son Elias, the youngest son of his first marriage and the only one of his sons by that marriage to beget children of his own. Elias also became the legal guardian of his six elder siblings. Elias had eight children, seven of whom lived to advanced age, but only one of them got married, a daughter who had three children.

The two eldest sons of Robert's second marriage, Sixte and Xavier, eventually sued their older half-brother Elias for trying to obtain a greater share of the ducal fortune. They lost in the French courts, leaving the children of Robert's second marriage with very modest wealth, and the need to earn a living; some of his younger sons served in the Austrian armed forces. Nevertheless, two of the children born of the second marriage made extraordinary marriages: Felix married the grand-duchess of Luxembourg shortly after her accession and is the great-grandfather of the present grand duke. Zita married the last Emperor of Austria; the present claimant is her grandson.[1]

Marriages and issue

First marriage

On 5 April 1869, while in exile in Rome, he married Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1849–1882), daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.

She was his half first cousin once removed, as her father (Ferdinand II) and Robert's maternal grandmother (Caroline, Duchess of Berry) were half-siblings, both being children of Francis I of the Two Sicilies from his two different wives.

Maria Pia belonged to the deposed royal family of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and was thus a Bourbon, like her husband. She gave birth to 12 children, many of whom had intellectual disabilities, before dying in childbirth in 1882:

Name Birth Death Notes
Princess Maria Luisa 17 January 1870 31 January 1899 (aged 29) Married Ferdinand I, Prince (later Tsar) of Bulgaria and had issue.
Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza 5 March 1871 14 April 1871 (aged 0) Heir of Parma in 1871. Died in infancy.
Princess Luisa Maria 24 March 1872 22 June 1943 (aged 71)
Henry, Duke of Parma 13 June 1873 16 November 1939 (aged 66) Titular pretender of Parma 1907-1939. From 1907 (his father's death), his brother Elias took up the role as head of the family, although Henry continued to be considered the nominal pretender to the ducal throne. He held the title until his death.
Princess Maria Immacolata 21 July 1874 16 May 1914 (aged 39)
Joseph, Duke of Parma 30 June 1875 7 January 1950 (aged 74) Titular pretender of Parma 1939-1950. His brother Elias continued the role as head of the family as he had done with their brother Henry.
Princess Maria Teresa 15 October 1876 25 January 1959 (aged 82)
Princess Maria Pia 9 October 1877 29 January 1915 (aged 37)
Princess Beatrice 9 January 1879 11 March 1946 (aged 67) Married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli (grandson of Princess Caroline of Naples and Sicily and her second husband) and had issue.
Elias, Duke of Parma 23 July 1880 27 June 1959 (aged 78) Titular pretender of Parma 1950–1959. Married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria and had issue. Last surviving child of his father's first marriage.
Princess Maria Anastasia 25 August 1881 7 September 1881 (aged 0) Died in infancy.
Prince Augusto 22 September 1882 22 September 1882 (aged 0) (stillborn). Maria Pia died giving birth to this child.[2][3]

Second marriage

After his first wife's death in childbirth, he remarried on 15 October 1884 to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. Maria Antonia was his second cousin once removed as her paternal grandmother (Carlota Joaquina of Spain) and Robert's great-grandmother (Maria Luisa of Spain) were siblings, both being daughters of Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. She had another 12 children:

Name Birth Death Notes
Princess Maria Adelaide 5 August 1885 6 February 1959 (aged 73) A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Prince Sixtus 1 August 1886 14 March 1934 (aged 47) Married Duchess Hedwige de La Rochefoucauld and had a daughter, Isabelle.
Xavier, Duke of Parma 25 May 1889 7 May 1977 (aged 87) Titular pretender of Parma 1974–1977. Married Countess Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset and had issue. Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
Princess Francesca 22 April 1890 7 October 1978 (aged 88) A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Princess Zita 9 May 1892 14 March 1989 (aged 96) Married Emperor Charles I of Austria. Last surviving child of her father's two marriages.
Prince Felix 28 October 1893 8 April 1970 (aged 76) Married Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, his first cousin (their mothers were sisters), and had issue, including Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
Prince René 17 October 1894 30 July 1962 (aged 67) Married Princess Margaret of Denmark and had issue, including Queen Anne of Romania.
Princess Maria Antonia 7 November 1895 19 October 1977 (aged 81) A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Princess Isabella 14 June 1898 28 July 1984 (aged 86) Died unmarried.
Prince Luigi 5 December 1899 4 December 1967 (aged 67) Married Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy and had issue.
Princess Henrietta Anna 8 March 1903 13 June 1987 (aged 84) Died unmarried.
Prince Gaetano 11 June 1905 9 March 1958 (aged 52) Married Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis, daughter of Alessandro, 1st Duke of Castel Duino. They had a daughter, Diana (who married Prince Franz Joseph, son of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern) and later divorced.

Honours

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

Patrilineal descent
Robert's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.
Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Duke Robert were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Robert, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.
Robert is a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a sub-branch of the House of Bourbon-Spain, itself originally a branch of the House of Bourbon, and thus of the Capetian dynasty and of the Robertians.
Robert's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. It follows the Dukes of Parma as well as the Kings of Spain, France, and Navarre. The line can be traced back more than 1,200 years from Robert of Hesbaye to the present day, through Kings of France & Navarre, Spain and Two-Sicilies, Dukes of Parma and Grand-Dukes of Luxembourg, Princes of Orléans and Emperors of Brazil. It is one of the oldest in Europe.
Robert II of Worms and Rheingau (Robert of Hesbaye), 770 - 807
Robert III of Worms and Rheingau, 808 - 834
Robert IV the Strong, 820 - 866
Robert I of France, 866 - 923
Hugh the Great, 895 - 956
Hugh Capet, 941 - 996
Robert II of France, 972 - 1031
Henry I of France, 1008–1060
Philip I of France, 1053–1108
Louis VI of France, 1081–1137
Louis VII of France, 1120–1180
Philip II of France, 1165–1223
Louis VIII of France, 1187–1226
Louis IX of France, 1215–1270
Robert, Count of Clermont, 1256–1317
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, 1279–1342
James I, Count of La Marche, 1319–1362
John I, Count of La Marche, 1344–1393
Louis, Count of Vendôme, 1376–1446
Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme, 1428–1478
François, Count of Vendôme, 1470–1495
Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, 1489–1537
Antoine, King of Navarre, Duke of Vendôme, 1518–1562
Henry IV, King of France and of Navarre, 1553–1610
Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre, 1601–1643
Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, 1638–1715
Louis, Grand Dauphin of France, 1661–1711
Philip V of Spain, 1683–1746
Philip, Duke of Parma, 1720–1765
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, 1751–1802
Louis of Etruria, 1773–1803
Charles II, Duke of Parma, 1799–1883
Charles III, Duke of Parma, 1823–1854
Robert I, Duke of Parma, 1848–1907

References

  1. Back to citation Venning, Timothy (2023-06-30). A Compendium of World Sovereigns: Volume III Early Modern. Taylor & Francis. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-000-86452-6.
  2. Back to citation Willis, Daniel, The Descendants of Louis XIII, Clearfield Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1999, ISBN 0-8063-4942-5, p. 342.
  3. Back to citation Beate Hammond: "Maria Theresia, Elisabeth, Zita; Jugendjahre großer Kaiserinnen", Ueberreuter 2002
  4. Back to citation Almanacco di corte: per l'anno... 1852. Tipografia Reale. 1852. p. 28.
  5. Back to citation "Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 146. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  6. Back to citation Almanacco di corte. p. 30.
  7. Back to citation Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1906), "Königliche Orden" p. 8
  8. Back to citation "Ludewigs-orden", Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1907, p. 8
  9. Back to citation "Ordre du St. Esprit". lorl.free.fr. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
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