María Isabella of Spain

María Isabella of Spain (6 July 1789 – 13 September 1848) was an Infanta of Spain and the Queen of the Two Sicilies. She was the second wife of Francis I and the youngest surviving daughter of the Spanish king Charles IV and his consort Maria Luisa of Parma. She had twelve children.

Family

María Isabel de Borbón y Borbón-Parma was the youngest surviving daughter of King Carlos IV of Spain (1748–1819) and his wife Maria Luisa of Parma (1751–1819), a granddaughter of Louis XV of France. Her paternal grandparents were Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Her maternal grandparents were Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Élisabeth of France. Her grandfathers were brothers, both sons of Philip V of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese.

María Isabel's father had a great frame and immense physical strength, and a reputation for performing acts of kindness, but was considered by many to be intellectually sluggish and quite credulous. Even though he kept up the appearance of an absolute, powerful monarch, he never took more than a passive role in the direction of his own kingdom, instead leaving the affairs of government to his wife and prime minister. Her mother was often described by contemporaries as a vicious woman who thoroughly dominated the king.

María Isabel and her family members were painted by Francisco Goya in his 1800–01 portrait Charles IV of Spain and His Family. All four daughters of Charles IV (Carlota, Maria Amalia, Maria Luisa and María Isabel) were short and plain.^[1]

Marriage

In 1802, María Isabel married the Duke of Calabria, Prince Francesco of Naples and Sicily, while her eldest brother Infante Fernando, Prince of Asturias, married Francesco's sister Maria Antonia. The prince royal was her first cousin, the eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Sicily (as Ferdinand III) and Naples (as Ferdinand IV), her father's younger brother, and Maria Carolina of Austria, a sister of Marie Antoinette. On her thirteenth birthday (6 July 1802) in Barcelona, María Isabel married Francesco by proxy, as his second wife; he had previously been married to his double cousin Maria Clementina of Austria, who had died in 1801. María Isabel, in Italian Maria Isabella, was sent to Naples to meet her husband and a second marriage ceremony took place there on 19 August 1802. This time the thirteen-year-old bride and 25-year-old groom were married in person.

Upon her arrival at the court of Naples María Isabel did not cause a good impression. She looked even younger than her thirteen years and was described as " little, and round as a ball". ^[2]Her mother-in-law, Queen Maria Carolina, had been close to her son's first wife, who was also her niece. She had an unfavorable first impression of the young María Isabella, about whom she wrote the following:

A fine, fresh, healthy face, not Bourbon in the least, but white and red, with black eyes. She is very stout and sturdy, yet her legs are very short. So much for her exterior. The rest cannot be described because I myself cannot understand it. She is null in every respect, knowledge, ideas, curiosity. Nothing, absolutely nothing. She speaks a little Spanish but neither Italian nor French, and only monosyllables, Yes or No, indiscriminately. She smiles all the time, whether she is pleased or not...Francis's child aged four has far more intelligence. Francis has engaged masters to teach her Italian and the rudiments of geography and arithmetic. She knows nothing except little piano. I have tried to praise and enliven her. She feels nothing; she laughs. She is an automaton which might acquire certain attitudes but never real maturity. Were I the ambitious, intriguing woman I am said to be, I should be enchanted to have such a daughter in law who will never become anything, but I am too conscientious for that. I tried every means to mold her as a companion for her husband, even if this may turn her against myself. Believe me this child is a tight present, for she will neither ennoble nor improve our race. All the numerous Spanish clique, all their projects and schemes, have received a knock out blow by the arrival of this Princess and her perfect nullify..^[3]

María Isabella, as she was then called, also became a stepmother. Francis' only surviving child from his first marriage, Princess Carolina of Naples and Sicily, would marry the French-born Duke of Berry (the second son of King Charles X of France) and become famous as Madame de Berry.

Her brother and sister-in-law were married on 4 October 1802 in Barcelona. However, Maria Antonia was deeply disillusioned with her husband, who was ugly and bad-mannered. In a letter to one of her friends, Queen Maria Carolina wrote of the Prince of Asturias: "He is disagreeable, dull, as lazy as his sister..."

In 1806, her father-in-law Ferdinand was deposed as King of Naples by Napoleon Bonaparte. He and Maria Carolina retained their status and power in Sicily until 1812, when he essentially (but not officially) abdicated, appointing Francis regent, which deprived the queen of her influence. In 1813 Maria Carolina was exiled to her homeland Austria, where she died in 1814. On 4 January 1825, Ferdinand died and Francis succeeded to the throne with María Isabella serving as his Queen consort. Her husband reportedly took little part in the government, which he left in the hands of favourites and police officials, and lived with his mistresses, surrounded by soldiers, ever in dread of assassination. He died on 8 November 1830.

Issue

Francis and María Isabella were well match and he treated her with kindness.^[3] They had twelve children, six daughters and six sons.

• Princess Luisa Carlotta (1804–1844), married her mother's younger brother Francis of Paola, Infante of Spain.
• Princess María Cristina Ferdinanda (1806–1878), married firstly her mother's older brother Ferdinand VII of Spain, and secondly Ferdinand Muñoz, Duke of Rianzares.
• Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (1810–1859), became Francis I's successor and married twice.
• Carlo Ferdinando, Prince of Capua (1811–1862), married morganatically to Penelope Smyth and had issue.
• Leopoldo, Count di Siracusa (1813–1860), married Princess Maria of Savoy, had no issue.
• Princess Maria Antonia Giuseppa Anna (1814–1898), married Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
• Prince Antonio, Count of Lecce (1816–1843).
• Princess Maria Amalia (1818–1857), married Infante Sebastian of Portugal and Spain.
• Princess Maria Carolina Ferdinanda (1820–1861), married Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Montemolin and Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain, had no issue.
• Princess Teresa Cristina Maria Giuseppa Gaspare Baltassare Melchiore Gennara Francesca de Padova Donata Bonosa Andrea d'Avelino Rita Luitgarda Geltruda Venancia Taddea Spiridione Rocca Matilde (1822–1889), married Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, had issue.
• Prince Luigi Carlo Maria Giuseppe, Count of Aquila (1824–1897), married Januária Maria, Princess Imperial of Brazil (sister of Pedro II and Maria II of Portugal), had issue.
• Prince Francesco di Paola, Count of Trapani (1827–1892), married Archduchess Maria Isabella of Austria, Princess of Tuscany and had issue.

Late years

María Isabella remained a widow for nine years. On 15 January 1839, María Isabella married her second husband Francis, Count of Balzo (1805–1882); she was 50 years old and the groom, 34.

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 6 July 1789 – 6 July 1802 Her Royal Highness the Infanta Doña María Isabella
• 6 July 1802 – 4 January 1825 Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Calabria
• 4 January 1825 – 8 November 1830 Her Majesty the Queen of the Two Sicilies
• 8 November 1830 – 13 September 1848 Her Majesty the Dowager Queen of the Two Sicilies

Notes

References

• Acton, Harold. The Bourbons of Naples (1734-1825). Prion books limited, London, 1989 (first published in 1957). ISBN 1-85375-291-6
• Bearne, Catherine Charlton. A Royal Quartette.
• Rubio, Maria José. Reinas de España. La Esfera de los Libros, Madrid, 2009. ISBN 978-84-9734-804-1

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maria_Isabella_of_Spain Maria Isabella of Spain] at Wikimedia Commons

• A Genealogy of the Royal Family of Spain

See also