Marie Antoinette of Tuscany
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| Marie Antoinette | |
| Grand Duchess of Tuscany | |
 Marie Antoinette of Tuscany |
|
| Reign | 8 June 1833- 21 July 1859 |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 December 1814 |
| Died | 7 November 1898 (aged 83) |
| Predecessor | Maria Anna Carolina of Saxony |
| Successor | Anne of Saxony (titular) |
| Consort | Leopold II of Tuscany |
| Issue | Maria Isabella Ferdinand Maria Theresa Maria Christina Karl Salvator Maria Anna Rainer Maria Louisa Louis Salvator John Salvator |
| Royal House | Bourbon |
| Father | Francis I of the Two Sicilies |
| Mother | Maria Isabella of Spain |
Marie Antoinette (Maria Antonia Giuseppa Anna, December 19, 1814 – November 7, 1898) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1833 to 1859.
[edit] Biography
The Princess was born in Palermo on December 19, 1814, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain, she was baptised Maria Antonia in honor of Marie Antoinette, deceased sister of her grandmother Maria Carolina of Austria. When she was born, the Neapolitan court have already moved to Sicily because Napoleonic troops have invaded the Continental part of the Reign. After few months the Royal Family could return to Naples thanks to the Congress of Vienna.
On 1833, when she was eighteen, Marie Antoinette married Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, of seventeen years older. They are first cousins because Francis I, Marie Antoinette's father, and Luisa of the Two Sicilies, Leopold's mother, were children of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Marie Caroline of Austria.Marie Antoinette and Leopold had ten children:
- Archduchess Maria Isabella of Tuscany. Married her maternal uncle Francesco, Count of Trapani, youngest son of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Isabella of Spain.
- Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (10 June 1835 – 17 January 1908).
- Archduchess Maria Theresa of Tuscany (29 June 1836 - 5 August 1838).
- Archduchess Maria Christina of Tuscany (5 February 1838 - 1 September 1849).
- Archduke Karl Salvator of Tuscany (30 April 1839 - 18 January 1892). He married Maria Immacolata Clementina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, second daughter of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria.
- Archduchess Maria Anna of Tuscany (9 June 1840 - 13 August 1841).
- Archduke Rainer of Tuscany (1 May 1842 - 14 August 1844).
- Archduchess Maria Louisa of Tuscany (31 October 1845 - 27 August 1917). Married Karl, Prince of Isenburg. Her husband was a grandson of Karl, last sovereign Prince of Isenburg.
- Archduke Louis Salvator of Tuscany (4 August 1847 - 12 October 1915).
- Archduke John Salvator of Tuscany (25 November 1852 - reported lost at sea in 1890). There was speculation of his survival under an alias (Johann Orth).
In her honour were baptised in Florence the Piazza Maria Antonia (today Indipendence Square), the railway line Maria Antonia and the homonym station, now called Firenze Santa Maria Novella.
[edit] The Revolution
On April 1859, before the Franco-Piedmont war against Austria, Leopold II proclaimed neutrality, but the Grand Ducal government was already near the end: people used vulgar insults towards the Grand Duchess and the troops gave signs of insubordination.
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