Maria Teresa of Savoy | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duchess consort of Parma and Piacenza | |||||
Tenure | 17 December 1847 – 17 May 1849 | ||||
Duchess consort of Lucca | |||||
Tenure | 13 March 1824 – 17 December 1847 | ||||
Born |
Palazzo Colonna, Rome |
19 September 1803||||
Died | 16 July 1879 San Martino, Vignale, Italy |
(aged 75)||||
Burial | Verano Cemetery, Rome | ||||
Spouse | Charles II, Duke of Parma | ||||
Issue | Princess Luisa of Parma Charles III, Duke of Parma |
||||
|
|||||
House |
House of Savoy (by birth) House of Bourbon-Parma (by marriage) |
||||
Father | Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia | ||||
Mother | Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este |
Full name | |
---|---|
Maria Teresa Fernanda Felicitas Gaetana Pia di Savoia |
Maria Teresa of Savoy, (Maria Teresa Fernanda Felicitas Gaetana Pia; 19 September 1803 – 16 July 1879) was the wife of Charles II, Duke of Parma (Duke Charles I of Lucca).
Maria Teresa was born in Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and of his wife, Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este. She had a twin sister Maria Anna. The two princesses were baptised by Pope Pius VII. Their godparents were their maternal grandparents, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este. In the Museo di Roma can be seen a painting of the baptism.
Maria Teresa spent the majority of her childhood in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia, where her family had taken refuge from the armies of Napoleon I of France. In 1814 her father was restored to rule in Piedmont and the family returned to Turin. She had hoped to marry her cousin Charles Albert of Savoy who in 1817 married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, a daughter of the Duke of Tuscany.
On 5 September 1820, in Lucca, Maria Teresa married Charles Louis, Prince of Lucca.
They had two children:
Maria Teresa was beautiful, tall, regal with a noble and melancholic expression. Charles Louis, Prince of Lucca was handsome and they were said to be the best looking royal couple of their time. However they were mismatched. She was a deeply religious woman committed to her Catholic faith. Charles Louis lived largely for his own pleasure often ignoring his governmental responsibilities. They lived most of their married life apart from each other. "Even if there was no love", Charles Louis later commented, "there was respect".