Maria Clementina Sobieska | |||||
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Tenure | 3 September 1719 – 18 January 1735 | ||||
Born | 18 July 1702 Ohlau, Silesia |
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Died | 18 January 1735 Palazzo Muti, Rome, Italy |
(aged 32)||||
Burial | St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy | ||||
Spouse | James Francis Edward Stuart | ||||
Issue |
Charles Edward Stuart Henry Benedict Stuart |
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House | Sobieski | ||||
Father | James Louis Sobieski | ||||
Mother | Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg |
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Maria Clementina Sobieska (sometimes spelled Maria Klementyna Sobieska) (18 July 1702 – 18 January 1735) was a Polish noblewoman, the granddaughter of the Polish king John III Sobieski, the wife of James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite pretender to the British throne, and mother of Charles Edward Stuart, the "Young Pretender".
She was born on 18 July 1702 in Ohlau, Silesia, Holy Roman Empire. Her parents were James Louis Sobieski (1667–1737), the eldest son of King John III, and Countess Palatine Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg (1673–1722). Her older sister Maria Karolina (known as Charlotte) was the Duchess of Bouillon by marriage.
Being one of Europe's wealthiest heiresses, she was betrothed to James Francis Edward Stuart. King George I of Great Britain was opposed to the marriage because he feared that the union might produce heirs to James Francis Edward's claim to his thrones. To placate him, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI arrested Maria Clementina while on her way to Italy to marry James Francis Edward. She was confined in Innsbruck Castle but eventually the guards were deceived and, with the help of Charles Wogan, Maria Clementina escaped to Bologna, Italy, where, for safety from further intrusions, she was married by proxy to James, who was in Spain at that time.
Maria Clementina's father, James Louis Sobieski, approved her escape, declaring that, as she became engaged to James Francis Edward, she ought to "follow his fortune and his cause".