Thursday, March 5, 2015

Amalia

Marie-Antoinette's second favorite sister, Maria Amalia of Lorraine-Austria, Duchess of Parma. From Tiny-Librarian:
Against her wishes, she was married to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. Ferdinand’s sister Isabella had been the first wife of Amalia’s elder brother, Joseph II. She and Ferdinand had nine children, four of whom would survive to adulthood.
Resenting the forced marriage and her mother’s attempts to control her from Austria, she remained estranged from Maria Theresa for most of her life. She was, however, very close to her sisters Maria Carolina and Marie Antoinette, and the women often exchanged letters and gifts though they never met in person again after their respective marriages.
After her husband’s death, in October of 1802, and Napoleon’s invasion of Italy, she was expelled from the country only a few weeks after Ferdinand passed away. She moved to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, where she herself would die two years later in 1804. Amalia is the only one of Maria Theresa and Francis’ children not to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, though her heart was brought back and interred in the Heart Crypt. Her body was buried in the royal crypt of the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. (Read more.)
Share

No comments: