Maria Luisa of Parma
gigatos | June 4, 2022
Summary
Maria Luise of Bourbon-Parma († January 2, 1819 in Rome) was Princess of Bourbon-Parma and, as the wife of Charles IV, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808. She became, among other things, the mother of the future King Ferdinand VII, gaining significant influence over the government and providing her favorite Manuel de Godoy with a decisive share in the direction of politics. After Napoleon deposed the Spanish Bourbons (1808), she went into exile with her husband and Godoy.
Maria Luise of Bourbon-Parma was born in Parma on December 9, 1751, the second daughter of Louise Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France, and her husband Duke Philip of Parma. Her father had received this ducal title at the Peace of Aachen (1748).
Together with her two older siblings Isabella († 1802) – who were later to marry Joseph II and his sister Maria Amalia, respectively, children of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Emperor Franz Stephan – Maria Luise received a careful education in Parma, among others from the French philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. A collection of 13 texts that served to instruct the duke”s children was included in the complete edition of Condillac”s works.
In contrast to her mother and her older sister Isabella, who suffered from depression, Maria Luise developed into a self-confident and headstrong young woman.
A marriage union contemplated by Louise Élisabeth between her daughter Maria Luise and Louis, then heir to the French throne (an older brother of the later kings Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X), failed due to the dauphin”s early demise (1761). Instead, Maria Luise was betrothed in 1762 to the Prince of Asturias, later King Charles IV of Spain. Then, on September 4, 1765, the wedding of 13-year-old Maria Luise to the Spanish crown prince took place at the palace of La Granja. This wedding was intended to consolidate relations between the Bourbons ruling in Spain and Parma.
Charles (IV) initially showed no affection for his wife, for which he was severely reprimanded by his father, the Spanish king Charles III. Maria Luise suffered from the strict etiquette at the court of her father-in-law Charles III, who liked her very much but had her sharply supervised because of her youthful frivolity. Two young ladies-in-waiting, whose behavior could have set a bad example for her, were removed from her environment. These ladies had encouraged the crown princess to roam Madrid alone incognito, which the morally strict Charles III did not tolerate. For the same reason, Maria Luise had to do without the presence of several young gentlemen, such as the Duke of Lancaster.
During the lifetime of her royal father-in-law, Maria Luise was unable to exert any political influence, but she gradually won the heart of her husband, who was unambitious and of little decisiveness, and whom she increasingly dominated. It was due in no small part to her influence that Charles (IV) joined the Aragonese or military party that existed at his father”s court, grouped around the Count of Aranda, while Charles III skillfully maneuvered between the latter and the second dominant court party of the golillas (“ruffians”), which advocated strong centralism. Aranda had to go to Paris as ambassador in 1773 and, toward the end of Charles III”s reign, felt insufficiently supported by the Prince of Asturias, while at the time the Count of Floridablanca, a member of the golillas party, wielded great power as First Minister of State and the crown prince and princess were almost entirely kept out of public life.
Maria Luise gave birth to a total of 14 children (see below). Although she had been reasonably pretty in her youth, her numerous births caused her to lose her attractiveness and she was often described as ugly by contemporaries. She tried to conceal this impairment of her appearance by wearing elegant clothes and expensive jewelry, among other things. The famous Spanish painter Francisco de Goya created several portraits of her.
On December 14, 1788, King Charles III died and Maria Luise became Queen of Spain as the wife of Charles IV. She soon began to interfere in the affairs of government and is said to have kept changing lovers despite her unsightliness, according to gossip circulating at the time. She had rivalries with several high-ranking ladies, including the Duchess of Alba, the Duchess of Osuna and her sister-in-law, Queen Maria Karolina of Naples.
Floridablanca had initially been able to retain his ministerial post after Charles IV came to power, but in February 1792 he was replaced by his rival Aranda, who also had to vacate his post as early as November 1792. Neither statesman had satisfactorily directed Spanish policy toward revolutionary France, in which Charles IV was concerned with saving Louis XVI and his family. Aranda”s successor was Manuel de Godoy, a member of the royal guard who had been in the inner circle of Charles IV and Maria Luise since September 1788. He had become an important companion and gallant of the queen; he was even rumored to have had an intimate long-term relationship with Maria Luise and to be the father of their youngest son Francisco.
Godoy used the favor he enjoyed with Maria Luise, but also with her husband, to be able to decisively determine Spain”s policy. He had the ability to manipulate the Spanish royal couple in his favor. On October 2, 1797, at Maria Luise”s instigation, he married the young María Teresa de Borbón y Vallabriga, who came from a morganatic marriage of the Infante Luis de Borbón y Farnesio, an uncle of Charles IV. In addition, however, he also had a permanent mistress in Pepita Tudó from about 1800. In May 1798 he was dismissed as First Minister of State, but the royal couple remained well-disposed toward him.
Soon after Napoleon seized power in France (November 1799), he began to exert political pressure on Spain to obtain its cooperation in his lofty intentions. In the process, however, he also sought to establish a good relationship with Maria Luise, since he was well informed of her great influence on Spanish government affairs. Thus, he wrote her polite letters and sent her valuable gifts, such as an elaborately crafted gold hair wig. The Spanish queen felt flattered and in return sent the French ruler, among other things, a diamond-studded sword. After sending Lucien Bonaparte as French ambassador to Madrid (November 1800), Napoleon corresponded only with Godoy, who had regained power at that time, but had Maria Luise treated in a selectively courteous manner by his diplomats. Therefore, the queen held Napoleon in high esteem and promoted Spain”s alliance with France.
Meanwhile, her boundless support of Godoy, who now ruled almost without restriction, made Maria Luise more unpopular with the Spanish population. While an economic crisis prevailed and food prices continued to rise, the already very wealthy minion received additional income of 500,000 ducats. Once, as the queen walked along the Manzanares, she was surrounded by an angry crowd that blamed her for the country”s dismal situation and threatened her. Her bodyguards were only able to protect her with great difficulty; the ringleaders were then severely punished. Nevertheless, the queen was publicly acclaimed as much as her husband Charles IV, for example when the royal couple made a trip to Barcelona to celebrate the double wedding of the Prince of Asturias, Ferdinand, to Maria Antonia and his sister María Isabel to the Crown Prince Francis (I) of Naples-Sicily in October 1802. Subsequently, Maria Luise was very averse to her daughter-in-law Maria Antonia, who tried to undermine her power. Maria Antonia, meanwhile, died of tuberculosis as early as 1806.
Manuel Godoy”s opponents aroused Crown Prince Ferdinand”s (VII) jealousy of the influential favorite, who remained steadfastly in the Spanish royal couple”s favor. Ferdinand began to conspire against his father, but his plot was exposed. The Aranjuez uprising of March 17, 1808, eventually led to Godoy”s overthrow; Charles IV abdicated in favor of Ferdinand. Napoleon took advantage of the turbulent situation in Spain. He invited Ferdinand and his parents to Bayonne. There, Charles IV ceded his rights to rule Spain to the French emperor on May 5, 1808; the following day, Ferdinand also had to renounce the crown. Maria Luise is even said to have disputed the legitimacy of her son”s claims to the Spanish throne and denounced him. As a result, Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as the new monarch of Spain.
Maria Luise was taken first to Compiègne and Fontainebleau with Charles IV, Godoy and her children María Luisa, Queen of Etruria, and Francisco de Paula. Maria Luise spent the rest of her years in exile in Marseille, Nice and finally in Rome. She lived there with her husband for several years until her death, but initially received only small and irregular sums from the imperial government; however, after Ferdinand VII returned to the Spanish throne in 1814, he transferred much more substantial sums to his parents. On January 2, 1819, Maria Luise died in Rome at the age of 67. Her husband followed her in death only 18 days later. Ferdinand VII had his parents” remains transferred to the Pantheon of the Kings at the El Escorial monastery.
The plant genus Aloysia Ortega ex Juss. from the verbenaceae family is named after her. The genus names Carludovica Ruiz & Pav. and Ludovia Pers. from the disc flower family (Cyclanthaceae) are named in honor of Carlos IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma.
Maria Luise”s 14 children were as follows:
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