- Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily
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Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily Princess of Asturias Tenure 6 October 1802 - 21 May 1806 Spouse Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias Full name Maria Antonietta Teresa Amelia Giovanna Battista Francesca Gaetana Maria Anna Lucia House House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon-Two SiciliesFather Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Mother Maria Carolina of Austria Born 14 December 1784
Caserta Palace, Caserta, ItalyDied 21 May 1806 (aged 21)
Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Aranjuez, SpainBurial Royal Monastery of El Escorial, Spain Religion Roman Catholic Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (14 December 1784 – 21 May 1806), was a Spanish crown princess. She was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand, King of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Carolina of Austria. She was named after her mother's favorite sister, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.
Contents
Biography
She was known as Maria Antonia and was born at the Caserta Palace in Caserta, Italy. She was an intelligent girl, having by the age of seventeen learned several languages. One witness described her with the following words:
"The Princess of Asturias is a worthy granddaughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, and seems to inherit her character as well as her virtues."
Marriage
In a series of dynastic alliances, Maria Antonia became engaged to Infante Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias (who later became King Ferdinand VII of Spain), while her eldest brother, Francis, became engaged to Infante Ferdinand's sister Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain. On 4 October 1802, Maria Antonia married Infante Ferdinand in Barcelona, Spain. However, her letters to her mother showed her deep disillusionment with her husband, who was ugly and bad-mannered. Her mother, Queen Maria Carolina, wrote the following lines on the subject to one of her friends:
The Prince of Asturias has an ugly face, a tubby figure, round knees and legs, a piping delicate voice, and is utterly stupid. Though he is physically amorous, they are not yet husband and wife after sleeping together a week. He is disagreeable, dull, as lazy as his sister, and he never leaves his wife a single moment. He has no education, an unpleasant continuous giggle; and their existence is cramped, without comforts or amenities, and subjected to scandalous espionage. Poor Antoinette sends letters that make me weep. She writes: "Mother, you have been deceived. For you are too good a mother to have sacrificed me like this if you had known." She says again: "I shall not live, but I wish to behave well and deserve eternal life."In addition, the princess failed to provide the expected heir to the throne: her two pregnancies, in 1804 and 1805, ended in miscarriages. Her mother, Maria Carolina, always full of hatred towards France and the Spanish monarchs, tried to plot to destroy Spain's ties to France and used her daughter for this end, even suggesting to poison the Queen of Spain and Godoy. Maria Antonia's mother-in-law, Maria Luisa, discovered the plot and started to despise Maria Antonia. In one of her letters she described Maria Antonia as
"the spittle of her mother, a venomous viper, an animal filled with gall and poison instead of blood, a half-dead frog and a diabolical snake."
Queen Maria Luisa, who feared her daughter-in-law wanted to poison her, began to subject her books and clothes to scrutiny. In spite of all of this, Maria Antonia managed to gain ascendancy over her dull husband and created an opposition party against Queen Maria Luisa and her favorite Manuel Godoy.
Death
Her reign was short however, as she was claimed by tuberculosis on 21 May 1806 at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Spain.
It was rumoured that Maria Antonia had been poisoned by Maria Luisa and Godoy, although there is no actual evidence. However, Queen Maria Carolina, who was devastated, truly believed this. Maria Antonia's father, King Ferdinand, consolidated Naples and Sicily into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies a decade after her death.
The Neapolitan princess was buried at El Escorial in Spain. Her husband was to marry three more times;
- Infanta Maria Isabel of Portugal in Madrid on 29 September 1816; the couple had two children who both died young;
- Maria Josepha of Saxony on 20 October 1819, but bore him no children;
- Maria Antonia's niece (born a month before her death), Princess Maria Christina of Naples and Sicily (more often known as of the Two Sicilies) with whom Ferdinand had the future Isabella II of Spain.
Bibliography
- EPTON, Nina, The Spanish mousetrap: Napoleon and the Court of Spain (London: Macdonald, 1973).
- HILT, Douglas, The troubled trinity: Godoy and the Spanish monarchs (Tuscaloosa; London: University of Alabama Press, 1987).
Ancestry
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 14 December 1784 - 6 October 1802 Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily
- 6 October 1802 - 21 May 1806 Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias, Infanta of Spain etc.
Honours
- 6 October 1802 - 21 May 1806 108th Member of the Royal Order for Nobles Ladies of Maria Luisa
External links
Media related to Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily at Wikimedia Commons
1st Generation Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress · Luisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany · Maria Cristina, Queen of Sardinia · Maria Amalia, Queen of the French · Maria Antonia, Princess of Asturias
2nd Generation Caroline, Duchess of Berry · Luisa Carlotta, Infanta Francisco de Paula of Spain · Maria Christina, Queen of Spain · Maria Antonia, Grand Duchess of Tuscany · Maria Amalia, Infanta Sebastian of Portugal and Spain · Maria Carolina, Countess of Montemolín · Theresa Christina, Empress of Brazil · Maria Carolina, Duchess of Aumale3rd Generation Maria Annunciata, Archduchess Charles Louis of Austria · Maria Immaculata, Archduchess Karl Salvator of Austria-Tuscany · Maria Pia, Duchess of Parma · Maria Immacolata, Countess of Bardi · Princess Maria Isabella · Maria Antonietta, Countess of Caserta · Princess Maria Theresa · Maria Carolina, Countess Andrzej Zamoyski · Princess Maria Annuziata4th Generation Princess Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies · Maria Teresa, Princess of Hohenzollern · Maria Immaculata, Princess Johann Georg of Saxony · Maria Cristina, Archduchess Peter Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany · Maria di Grazia, Princess Imperial of Brazil · Princess Maria Giuseppina
5th Generation Princess Maria Antonietta · Princess Maria Cristina, Mrs. Manuel Sotomayor-Luna · Barbara, Countess Franz Xavier of Stolberg-Wernigerode · Lucia, Duchess of Genoa · Princess Urraca · Isabel Alfonsa, Countess Jan Kanty Zamoyski · Dolores, Princess Augustyn Józef Czartoryski · Mercedes, Countess of Barcelona · Esperanza, Princess Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza · Princess Maria del Carmen · Princess Maria Margarita, Mrs. Luis Gonzaga Maldonado · Princess Maria Immaculata, Mrs. Miguel García de Sáez6th Generation Teresa, Machioness of Laula · Princess Inés, Mrs. Luis Morales · Beatrice, Princess Napoléon · Ana Maria, Baroness Cochin · Princess Maria Carolina, Mrs. Andreas Baumbach · Maria Annunziata, Countess Karl Friedik of Creutz · Anna Cecilia, Countess Rodolphe of Causans · Princess Elena7th Generation Princess Cristina, Mrs. Pedro López-Quesada · María, Archduchess Simeon of Austria · Inés, Nobile Michele Carrelli Palombi · Princess Victoria, Mrs. Markos Nomikos · Princess Maria Carolina · Princess Maria Chiara · Princess Dorothée · Princess Anna SophiaPrincesses of Asturias Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (2004-present)
Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (1802-1806) · Princess Maria Luisa of Parma (1765-1788) · Infanta Barbara of Portugal (1729-1746) · Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (1722-1724) · Princess Elisabeth of France (1615-1621) · Mary I of England (1554-1556) · Infanta Maria Manuela of Portugal (1543-1545) · Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1497) · Blanche II of Navarre (1468-1474) · Catherine of Lancaster (1388-1406)Infantas of Spain by marriage 1st generation 2nd generation none3rd generation 4th generation none5th generation none6th generation none7th generation Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans · Infanta Barbara of Portugal · Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony · Princess Louise Élisabeth of France8th generation Princess Maria Luisa of Parma · Infanta Mariana Victoria of Portugal · Infanta Maria Amalia of Spain* · Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria9th generation Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily · Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal · Infanta Teresa of Portugal, Princess of Beira · Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples and Sicily10th generation Princess Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies · Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este · Isabella II of Spain* · Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain* · Princess Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies · Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy11th generation Infanta Eulalia of Spain* · Princess Margherita of Parma · Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France · Berthe de Rohan · Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal12th generation Princess Louise of Orléans · Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha · Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies · Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal13th generation Princess Mercedes of the Two Sicilies · Princess Alicia of Parma14th generation 15th generation *also an Infanta in her own right
**did not have a royal or noble title by birth but was admitted as InfantaCategories:- 1784 births
- 1806 deaths
- Dames of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
- Burials in the Pantheon of Infantes at El Escorial
- Deaths from tuberculosis
- House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
- House of Bourbon (Spain)
- Italian Roman Catholics
- Neapolitan princesses
- People from Caserta
- Princesses of Asturias
- Sicilian princesses
- Spanish infantas
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