Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies

Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies (Maria Antonietta Giuseppa Anna; 19 December 1814 – 7 November 1898) was the Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II. In signature, she used Maria Antonietta.

Maria Antonietta
Maria Antonia in 1836.
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Tenure7 June 1833 – 21 July 1859
Born(1814-12-19)19 December 1814
Royal Palace of Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, Italy
Died7 November 1898(1898-11-07) (aged 83)
Gmunden, Austria
SpouseLeopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
(m. 1833 – 1870; his death)
IssueArchduchess Maria Isabella, Countess of Trapani
Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Archduke Karl Salvator
Maria Luisa, Princess of Isenburg-Büdingen
Archduke Ludwig Salvator
Archduke John Salvator
Full name
Maria Antonia Josepha Anna
HouseBourbon-Two Sicilies
FatherFrancis I of the Two Sicilies
MotherMaria Isabella of Spain
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Biography

Maria Antonia was born at the Royal Palace of Palermo on 19 December 1814, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain, she was baptised Maria Antonia in honor of Maria Antonia-Anna's great-aunt Marie Antoinette, deceased sister of her grandmother Maria Carolina of Austria.

When she was born, the Neapolitan court had already moved to Sicily because Napoleonic troops had invaded the continental part of the realm. After a few months the royal family returned to Naples thanks to the Congress of Vienna.

She was particularly close to her brother the future Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, who affectionately dubbed her Totò.

Marriage and issue

In 1833, when she was eighteen, Maria Antonia married her first cousin Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was seventeen years older. Marie Antoinette and Leopold had ten children:

Tributes

The Piazza Maria Antonia – today Piazza dell'Indipendeza, the railway line Maria Antonia and the Maria Antonia train station, now called Firenze Santa Maria Novella, were named in her honour.

Revolution

In April 27th 1859, before the Franco-Piedmont war against Austria, Leopold II proclaimed neutrality. On the afternoon of 27 April, Leopold II chose to leave Florence with his family, in four carriages heading toward Bologna, rather than provoke any violence by what appeared to be a well orchestrated coup directed by the Piedmontese government. Shortly beforehand he had refused to abdicate in favour of his son, Ferdinand IV, which then became nominal Grandduke of Tuscany after Leopold II was forced to abdicate by the emperor Francis Joseph in July of the same year.

Honours

Ancestry

References

  1. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Kaiserthumes Österreich (1868), p. 110, Sternkreuz-Orden
  2. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 9.
  3. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Francis I. of the Two Sicilies" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. Genealogie ascendate, p. 1
  5. Navarrete Martínez, Esperanza Navarrete Martínez. "María de la O Isabel de Borbón". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.
  6. Genealogie ascendate, p. 96
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 19 December 1814 Died: 3 January 1865
Italian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Maria Anna of Saxony
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany
7 June 1833 – 21 July 1859
Monarchy abolished
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
Republic declared
 TITULAR 
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany
21 July 1859 – 3 January 1865
Vacant
Title next held by
Alice of Parma
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