Francesco Farnese (19 May 1678 – 26 February 1727) reigned as the seventh Farnese Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1694 until his death. Married to Dorothea Sophia of the Palatinate, his brother Odoardo's widow, to avoid the return of her dowry, Francesco curtailed court expenditure, enormous under his father and predecessor,

Ranuccio II Ranuccio II Farnese (17 September 1630 – 11 December 1694) was the sixth Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1646 until his death nearly 50 years later and Duke of Castro from 1646 until 1649. Biography Birth and Succession Ranuccio was the elde ...

, while preventing the occupation of his

Duchy of Parma The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza ( it, Ducato di Parma e Piacenza, la, Ducatus Parmae et Placentiae), was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna. Originally a realm of the Farnese ...

, nominally a

Papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

fief, during the War of the Spanish Succession.Solari, p 259. The second son of

Ranuccio II Farnese Ranuccio II Farnese (17 September 1630 – 11 December 1694) was the sixth Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1646 until his death nearly 50 years later and Duke of Castro from 1646 until 1649. Biography Birth and Succession Ranuccio was the elde ...

and Maria d'Este of Modena, the Duke, despite his efforts otherwise, saw Parma declared a fief of the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

, an Austrian province in Italy, towards the end of the war.Armstrong, p 6. His inability to produce offspring, combined with his brother Antonio's barrenness, lead to the accession of his niece the Queen of Spain's eldest son, Don Carlos, in 1731.

Biography

The second son of

and Maria d'Este of Modena, Francesco, born in 1678, ascended to his father's domain at the age of 16 on 11 December 1694. Ranuccio II left Parma, a small, land-locked northern-Italian duchy of little political significance, saturated in debt, largely thanks to his extravagant court. Therefore, rather than see her dowry revert to her brother the Elector Palatine, Francesco married his brother Odoardo's cranky widow, Dorothea Sophia of Neuburg. In 1700, upon the death of Charles II of Spain without an ostensible heir, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out between France and Austria. Duke Francesco, anxious to keep foreign troops out of his duchy, adopted a policy of neutrality;

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

occupied parts of the Farnese territories, however.Solari, p 262. When Francesco complained to Prince Eugene's employer, the Austrian Emperor Leopold I, of this, the Emperor replied that he would be duly compensated at a later date. Towards the end of the war, Austria, now ruled by Leopold's son Joseph I, disregarded its promise of reparations and, as part of a concordat with the church, declared Parma its fief. With the help of Giulio Alberoni, Francesco married his pock-marked niece and stepdaughter,

Elisabetta Elisabetta is an Italian feminine given name related to Elizabeth. * Elisabetta Artuso (born 1974), Italian former middle distance runner * Elisabetta Barbato (1921–2014), Italian operatic soprano * Elisabetta Casellati (born 1946), Italian pol ...

, to Philip V of Spain, the French claimant to the thrones of Spain, in 1714. Francesco wanted Elisabetta's eldest son, Don Carlos, to ascend the Farnese dominions when his brother and heir,

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

, died. Francesco, therefore, tried to dissuade Antonio from marrying and perpetuating his line, a plan which worked for the duration of Francesco's lifetime. Antonio, though married to Enrichetta d'Este of Modena, died childless in 1731, paving the way for Don Carlos's accession. Don Carlos, however, left Parma four years later for the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, bringing with him all the Farnese treasures, including the Ducal Palace's marble staircase.Acton, p 28.

Ancestors

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Armstrong, Edward (1892). ''Elisabeth Farnese: "The Termagent of Spain"''. Longmans, Green, & Co: New York. *Solari, Giovanna (1968). ''The House of Farnese: A Portrait of a Great Family of the Renaissance''. Doubleday & Company: New York. *Acton, Harold (1956). ''The Bourbons of Naples (1734–1825)''. Methuen & Co: London.

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnese, Francesco 1678 births 1727 deaths Francesco Francesco Francesco Francesco Burials at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata