Maria Anna of Savoy (''Maria Anna Carolina Gabriella''; 17 December 1757 – 11 October 1824) was a Princess of Savoy by birth and Duchess of Chablais by her marriage to her uncle,

Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais (Benedetto Maria Maurizio; 21 June 1741 – 4 January 1808) was an Italian nobleman and military leader. He was the youngest child of King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. He married his niece Maria Anna of ...

Early life

Born at the

Royal Palace of Turin The Royal Palace of Turin ( it, Palazzo Reale di Torino) is a historic palace of the House of Savoy in the city of Turin in Northern Italy. It was originally built in the 16th century and was later modernized by Christine Marie of France (1606–1 ...

, she was the sixth child of Prince Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and, since 1773, King of Sardinia, by his wife,

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = , birth_place = Alcázar of Seville, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Castle of Moncalieri, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia , burial_date = September 1785 , burial_place = Basilica ...

, as daughter of

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

. Maria Anna was the fourth but third surviving daughter of her parents. Her two older sisters were the future "grand daughters in law" of

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

, Princess Maria Giuseppina, who married the future

Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in e ...

in 1771 and Princess Maria Teresa, who married the future

Charles X of France Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

in 1773. Their younger surviving sister,

Maria Carolina Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was List of consorts of Naples, Queen of Naples and List of Sicilian consorts, Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. As ''de facto'' ruler ...

, married

Anthony of Saxony Holborn, p. 24 en, Anthony Clement Theodore Mary Joseph John the Evangelist Nepomuk Francis Xavier Aloysius Januarius , image = Anton-sachsen.jpg , caption = Portrait by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein (1827) , reign = 5 M ...

.''Maria Anna, Duchesse di Chiablese (1757 - 1824)'' in: castellodiaglie.beniculturali.it
etrieved 2 June 2016 Three of her brothers were the last three Kings of Sardinia from the senior line of the House of Savoy: the future Charles Emmanuel IV,

Victor Emmanuel I Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1802–1821). Biography Victor Emmanuel was the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda ...

and Charles Felix. After the death of the last one in 1831 without issue, the throne passed to Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano and next legitimate male heir.

Marriage

After the weddings of her older sisters to French Princes, was arranged the marriage between Maria Anna and her paternal uncle

, younger half-brother of Victor Amadeus III (as the son of

Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia Charles Emmanuel III (27 April 1701 – 20 February 1773) was Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death. Biography He was born in Turin to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and his first wife the French Anne Marie d'Orléans. Hi ...

and his last wife,

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine (15 October 1711 3 July 1741) was Queen of Sardinia as the wife of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. She was born a Princess of Lorraine as the daughter of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orlé ...

). The wedding took place on 19 March 1775 at the

Chapel of the Holy Shroud The Chapel of the Holy Shroud ( it, Cappella della Sacra Sindone) is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy, constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (''Sindone di Torino''), a religious relic believed to be the burial s ...

in Turin. They had no children but had a happy union: although they were close, Maria Anna always saw him as her uncle. Their official residence were the

Palazzo Chiablese The Palazzo Chiablese is a wing of the Royal Palace of Turin, in Northwest Italy. It was the residence of the Duke of Chablais first and then of Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia, and Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa. Today it is home to a cultural collec ...

and the Ducal Castle of Agliè. She had good relationships with her sisters-in-law Marie Clotilde of France, Princess of Piedmont and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Duchess of Aosta. When in December 1798 the Republic of France invaded the Kingdom of Sardinia, the whole royal family went into exile. The Duke and Duchess of Chablais left Turin and moved to Sardinia, where they remained until the end of 1799. Then they left the island and settled in Rome at the Papal States. In 1805, they spent a few months in Florence as guests at King

Louis I of Etruria es, Luis Francisco Filiberto de Borbón-Parma y Austria en, Louis Francis Philibert of Bourbon-Parma , image =Luis de Etruria.jpg , caption =Portrait by Goya, 1800 , succession = King of Etruria , reign = 21 March ...

, and his wife Queen Maria Luisa. In Italy, the Duke of Chablais was given control of the Army of Italy which contained French troops and intended on restoring the monarchy in France after the execution of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

in 1793. He took part in the

Battle of Loano The Battle of Loano occurred on 23–24 November 1795 during the War of the First Coalition. The French Army of Italy led by Barthélemy Schérer defeated the combined Austrian and Sardinian forces under Olivier, Count of Wallis. Context In ...

. Benedetto, Duke of Chablais died on 4 January 1808 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 1816 the now Dowager Duchess of Chablais received her younger brother Charles Felix their cousin Charles Albert. By that time, the states and properties of the House of Savoy where recovered; during Maria Anna's absence, the Palazzo Chiablese was used by

Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona '' Don'' Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese, Prince of Sulmona and of Rossano, Duke and Prince of Guastalla (19 July 1775 – 9 May 1832) was a member of the Borghese family, best known for being a brother-in-law of Napoleon. Borghese married N ...

and his wife, the famous

Pauline Bonaparte Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese ( French: ''Pauline Marie Bonaparte''; 20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825), better known as Pauline Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess, the first sovereign Duchess of Guastalla, and the princess cons ...

.''Palazzo Chiablese'' in: piemonte.beniculturali.it
etrieved 2 June 2016 However, Maria Anna didn't return to her homeland immediately: in 1820 she acquired the Villa Rufinella in

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with ...

near Rome, having bought the property from

Lucien Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (born Luciano Buonaparte; 21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), was French politician and diplomat of the French Revolution and the Consulate. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1799 to 1800 ...

. In 1822, despite protests from her brother and cousin, Maria Anna settled in Florence, despite the fact that the city actively participated in the period of unrest in the Kingdom of Sardinia the previous year.

Death

Only at the beginning of 1824 Maria Anna returned to Piedmont, where in the

Castle of Moncalieri The Castle of Moncalieri is a palace in Moncalieri ( Metropolitan City of Turin), Piedmont, in northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1997. History The first structure ...

meet her brothers, the former King Victor Emmanuel I and the new monarch Charles Felix. In the summer of the same year, together with Charles Felix and his wife Maria Cristina she made a trip to Savoy, where they visited

Hautecombe Abbey Hautecombe Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Hautecombe, ; la, Altaecumbaeum) is a former Cistercian monastery, later a Benedictine monastery, in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille in Savoie, France. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the H ...

. Maria Anna died at the

Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi The Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi (Italian: "The hunting residence of Stupinigi") is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in northern Italy, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Built as a royal hunting lodge in the earl ...

in Turin in 1824 aged 66 and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga. She bequeathed all her properties, including the Palazzo Chiablese, the Ducal Castle of Agliè and the Villa Rufinella in Frascate, to her brother Charles Felix.

Ancestry

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chablais, Maria Anna of Savoy, Duchess of 1757 births 1824 deaths 18th-century Italian people 19th-century Italian people Burials at the Basilica of Superga Nobility from Turin Maria Anna 18th-century Italian women 19th-century Italian women Daughters of kings