House of Bourbon-Parma

House of Bourbon-Parma
Country Etruria
Lucca
Parma
Parent house House of Bourbon
Titles
Founded 18 October 1748
Founder Philip
Final ruler Robert I
Current head Carlos
Deposition 9 June 1859
Cadet branches House of Bourbon-Parma-Luxembourg

The House of Bourbon-Parma (Italian: Casa di Borbone di Parma) is an Italian cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the Capetian dynasty in male line. The name of Bourbon-Parma comes from the main name (Bourbon) and the other (Parma) from the title of Duke of Parma. The title was held by the Spanish Bourbons as the founder was the great-grandson of Duke Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma.

Duchy of Parma

The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul III's illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, centered on the city of Parma. In 1556, the second Duke, Ottavio Farnese, was given the city of Piacenza, becoming thus also Duke of Piacenza, and so the state was thereafter properly known as the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza.

The Farnese family continued to rule until their extinction in 1731, at which point the duchy was inherited by the young son of the King of Spain, Charles, whose mother Elisabeth was a member of the Farnese family. He ruled until the end of the War of the Polish Succession in 1735, when Parma was ceded to Emperor Charles VI in exchange for the Two Sicilies.

House of Bourbon-Parma in the 18th and 19th centuries

Temporary Habsburg rule

The Habsburgs only ruled until the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, when it was ceded back to the Bourbons in the person of Philip, Charles's younger brother. As duke Philip, he became the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma.

In 1796, the duchy was occupied by French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte. In the Treaty of Aranjuez of 1801, duke Ferdinand formally agreed to cede the duchy to Napoleon. The territories were integrated into the Cisalpine Republic until 1802, the Italian Republic, from 1802 until 1805, and the Kingdom of Italy, from 1805 until 1808, until in 1808 the French Empire annexed them and formed out of them the Département of Taro.

In 1814, the duchies were restored under Napoleon's Habsburg wife, Marie Louise, who was to rule them for her lifetime. The duchy was renamed duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, the name that it retained until the end.

Return to the Bourbons

After Marie Louise's death in 1847, the Duchy was restored to the Bourbon-Parma line, which had been ruling the tiny duchy of Lucca. The Bourbons ruled until 1859, when they were driven out by a revolution following the Sardinian victory in their war against Austria.

The duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla and the duchy of Lucca joined with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the duchy of Modena to form the United Provinces of Central Italy in December 1859, and were annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in March 1860. The House of Bourbon continues to claim the title of duke of Parma to this day. Carlos-Hugo (Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne in the 1970s) has held the title since 1977.

The Dukes

House of Bourbon-Parma 17311735

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Charles, Duke of Parma
17311735
20 January 1716
Madrid
son of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth of Parma
Maria Amalia of Saxony
1738
13 children
14 December 1788
Madrid
aged 72

House of Bourbon-Parma 17481803

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Philip, Duke of Parma
17481765
15 March 1720
Madrid
son of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth of Parma
Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon
25 October 1739
3 children
18 July 1765
Alessandria
aged 45
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
17651802
nominal since 1796
20 January 1751
Parma
son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon
Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria
19 July 1769
7 children
9 October 1802
Fontevivo
aged 51

During the French ownership of the Duchy of Parma, the title of Duke of Parma was used as an honorary form and style. From 1808, the title was used by Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès. He kept the style of Duc de Parme till 1814. Only in 1847 the actual title was restored to the Bourbons after a period of being held by Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon I who was a Habsburg.

House of Bourbon-Parma, 18471859

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Charles II, Duke of Parma
18471848
22 December 1799
Madrid
son of Louis of Etruria and Maria Louisa, Duchess of Lucca
Maria Teresa of Savoy
5 September 1820
2 children
16 April 1883
Nice
aged 84
Charles III, Duke of Parma
18481854
14 January 1823
Lucca
son of Charles II, Duke of Parma and Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy
Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France
10 November 1845
4 children
27 March 1854
Parma
aged 31
Robert I, Duke of Parma
18541859
20 January 1848
Florence
son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France
Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
5 April 1869
12 children
Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
15 October 1884
12 children
16 November 1907
Pianore
aged 59

Nominal Dukes of Parma (since 1859)

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Robert I, Duke of Parma
18591907
titular
9 July 1848
Florence
son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Louise Marie Thérèse of France
Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies
1869
12 children

Maria Antonia of Portugal
1884
12 children
16 November 1907
Viareggio
aged 63
Henry, Duke of Parma
19071939
titular
13 June 1873
Wartegg
son of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies
never married 16 November 1939
Pianore
aged 66
Joseph, Duke of Parma
19391950
titular
30 June 1875
Biarritz
son of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies
never married 7 January 1950
Pianore
aged 75
Elias, Duke of Parma
19501959
titular
23 July 1880
Biarritz
son of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies
Maria Anna of Austria
25 May 1903
Vienna
8 children
27 June 1959
Friedberg
aged 79
Robert II, Duke of Parma
19591974
titular
7 August 1909
Weilburg
son of Elias, Duke of Parma and Maria Anna of Austria
never married 25 November 1974
Vienna
aged 65
Xavier, Duke of Parma
19741977
titular
25 May 1889
Viareggio
son of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset
12 November 1927
Lignières
6 children
7 May 1977
Zizers
aged 87
Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
1977–2010
titular
8 April 1930
Paris
son of Xavier, Duke of Parma and Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset
Princess Irene of the Netherlands
29 April 1964
Rome
4 children
18 August 2010
Barcelona
aged 80
Carlos, Duke of Parma
since 2010
titular
- 27 January 1970
Nijmegen
son of Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel
12 June 2010
Wijk bij Duurstede (civil)
incumbent

Family

Grand Duchy of Luxemburg

Since 1964, the House of Bourbon-Parma has reigned agnatically in Luxembourg when upon the abdication of his mother Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg ascended the throne. Jean was the son of Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a younger son of Robert I of Parma, and Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Charlotte's descendants have since reigned as the continued dynasty of Nassau.

In October 2000 Jean abdicated the Luxembourgian throne in favour of his eldest son Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

NamePortraitBirthMarriagesSuccession right
Jean
12 November 1964 –
7 October 2000
5 January 1921
Colmar-Berg
Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte
9 April 1953
[5 children]
Son of
Charlotte
Henri
7 October 2000 –
Present
16 April 1955
Betzdorf
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
4 February/14 February 1981
[5 children]
Son of
Jean

See also

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External links