Infanta Amalia of Spain ( es, Amalia de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 12 October 1834 – 27 August 1905) was the youngest daughter of
Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Aranjuez, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_place = El Escorial
Infante F ...
. Her eldest brother,
Francisco de Asís married
Queen Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...
, who was Amalia's first cousin. She was one of only two of five sisters who made a royal marriage. In 1865 she married
Prince Adalbert of Bavaria, a son of
King Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
. Upon her marriage she moved to Munich, where she spent the rest of her life. However she remained attached to her native country and was instrumental in arranging the marriage of her eldest son
Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria
es, Luis Fernando María Carlos Enrique Adalberto Francisco Felipe Andrés Constantín
, image = ludwigferdinandofbavaria.jpg
, caption = Prince Ludwig Ferdinand in 1906
, spouse =
, house = Wittelsbach
, ...
with her niece
Infanta Paz of Spain.
Childhood
She was born at the
royal Palace of Madrid
The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies.
The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...
on 12 October 1834 as the eleventh child and sixth daughter of
Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Aranjuez, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_place = El Escorial
Infante F ...
, younger brother of
King Fernando VII of Spain, and his wife,
Princess Luisa Carlota of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Infanta Amalia's mother was the niece of her father since her maternal grandmother,
Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain, was the elder sister of Infante Francisco de Paula.
Baptized with the full name Amalia Filipina del Pilar Blasa Bonisa Vita Rita Lutgarda Romana Judas Tadea Alberta Josefa Ana Joaquina Los Doce Apostólicos Bonifacia Domenica Bibiana Verónica, she was born during the early reign of her first cousin Queen
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...
, while her maternal aunt
Queen Maria Christina was regent of the realm. However Amalia's mother,
Princess Luisa Carlota of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, quarreled with her sister, and as a consequence they were expelled from Spain by the regent in 1838. The family moved to France living under the protection of their uncle
Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...
, King of the French. After Queen Maria Christina fell from power in October 1840, Infanta Amalia' s ambitious mother made the family return to the court of Madrid. Her mother died in January 1844, when she was nine years old. She grew up at the Spanish court and her education, shared with her feeble minded sister,
Infanta Christina was rudimentary.
[Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ricardo, ''The Unconventional Sisters of King Francisco de Asis of Spain'', European Royal History Journal (Issue XXII, April 2001), pp. 18-19.]
Marriage
![Princess Amelia of Bavaria 1860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Princess_Amelia_of_Bavaria_1860.jpg)
By the age of twenty Infanta Amalia was the youngest of five unremarkable sisters, who had been almost forgotten at the Spanish court. However, she and her sister Christina were the only ones among the sisters to make a royal marriage.
In 1856,
Prince Adalbert of Bavaria, fourth son and ninth child of
King Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
and
Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen approached the Spanish court in search of a wife and Amalia was offered in marriage. When Prince Adalbert arrived in Madrid, Amalia was given a considerable dowry by her sister in law Queen Isabella. The marriage was celebrated on 25 August 1856 in Madrid. Upon her marriage Amalia became a Princess of Bavaria.
At her arrival at the Bavarian court her father in law, King
Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
, a great admirer of female beauty, was disappointed when he met his new daughter-in-law, plump and plain.
Infanta Amalia also shocked the court with her smoking habit. Her husband Prince Adalbert was as stout as she, but very tall. He loved drinking and had affairs, but their marriage endured.
The couple had five children:
*
Ludwig Ferdinand (1859–1949); married
Infanta María de la Paz of Spain
Infanta María de la Paz of Spain (23 June 1862 – 4 December 1946) was a Spanish infanta. A daughter of Queen Isabella II, she married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. She lived the rest of her life in Germany, dedicating her tim ...
*
Alfons
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
(1862–1933); married
Princess Louise of Orleans
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
, daughter of
Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon
, father = Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours
, mother = Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, birth_date =
, birth_place =
, death_date =
, place of burial= Royal Chapel, Dreux, France
, religion = Rom ...
*
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
(1863–1924); married
Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa
Prince Tommaso of Savoy, 2nd Duke of Genoa (Tommaso Alberto Vittorio; 6 February 1854 – 15 April 1931), who is also known as ''Thomas Albert Victor of Savoy'', was an Italian royal prince,Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de ...
* Elvira (1865–1943); married Count Rudolf von Wrbna-Kaunitz-Rietberg-Questenberg und Freudenthal
[Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 54, 58. (French). ]
*
Klara (1867–1941); unmarried
Later life and death
Although Infanta Amalia lived for the rest of her life in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, she remained attached to her native country. She visited Spain often and her eldest son Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria was born at the royal palace of Madrid.
She spent the winters at the residence of Munich and the summers at
Nymphenburg Palace
The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...
.
Her husband died in 1875; Amalia outlived him by thirty years.
Amalia maintained her affiliation with Spain in the next generation. All of her five children spoke Spanish fluently and she encouraged her son Ludwig Ferdinand to marry her niece and goddaughter
Infanta Maria de la Paz of Spain. The couple married in 1883.
She died in
Nymphenburg Palace
The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...
, aged 70, on 27 August 1905
[ and was interred at ]St. Michael's Church, Munich
St. Michael's is a Jesuit church in Munich, southern Germany, the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early Baroque architecture.
History
In 1556, Albert V, Duke o ...
.
Ancestry
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amelia Philippina of Spain, Infanta
1834 births
1905 deaths
House of Bourbon (Spain)
Spanish infantas
Bavarian princesses
House of Wittelsbach
Nobility from Madrid
Burials at St. Michael's Church, Munich