Tea at Trianon: Maria Amalia of Saxony

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Maria Amalia of Saxony

Queen of the Naples and later Queen of Spain. She was the mother-in-law of Maria Carolina of Austria. From History of Royal Women:

In 1738, Maria Amalia became engaged to Charles, King of Naples and Sicily who would also become Charles III of Spain. Charles was the younger son of Philip V of Spain who became King of Naples and Sicily through conquest. This marriage sealed the peace between the Bourbons, the Habsburgs and Wettins. Her wedding to Charles would be the first royal wedding in Dresden since her parents’ 1719 wedding, which had lasted for a month. In order to show their dynastic connection, genealogists demonstrated that Charles and Maria Amalia had two great-great-great-grandfathers in common: Philip III of Spain and Johan Georg I, Elector of Saxony. Their genealogy was also traced right back to the great Charlemagne.
The proxy wedding took place on 9 May 1738 with her brother, Frederick Christian of Saxony, standing in for the groom. The week-long celebrations included two illuminations of the city (it had to be repeated due to bad weather), fountains of wine and an obelisk of rocks. On 13 May, Maria Amalia left the Palace of Pillnitz on the Elbe near Dresden. She was accompanied by her brother Frederick Christian, who would be seeking a cure for his weak legs on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples. Both she and her mother burst out in tears at her departure. Her train consisted of 200 people as befitting a Queen of Naples and Sicily. Her parents rushed ahead to have a surprise goodbye in private.

It took them 39 days, and they passed through three jurisdictions on the way. On 14 May, she reached Prague where she heard a Te Deum in the Cathedral on the Hradschin. She took a small detour towards St. Pölten to meet with her grandmother, Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick, Dowager Holy Roman Empress. She also visited the shrine of Mariazell before continuing to Venice, where she stayed overnight in Palmanova, Pordenone and Treviso. Each engagement required her to dress like a Queen, dripping with jewels. Finally, on 19 June, she arrived at the village of Portella on the border of the Kingdom of Naples, where her husband was waiting for her. They continued their travels together and arrived in Naples on 22 June. All the members of the household came to kiss her hand. On 2 July, they made their solemn entry into the city.

The couple was pleased with one another. Maria Amalia was still quite young and had not had her period yet. However, the marriage was consummated on 8 July 1738 with her husband writing to his parents that it took 15 minutes to break her hymen. Her husband proudly wrote to his parents on 20 November 1739 that she had had her first period and she soon fell pregnant with her first child. On 5 September 1740, she gave birth to her first child – a daughter named Maria Elisabetta. The King was reportedly “as happy about it as if it were a Prince.” She was nicknamed Isabelita. Her christening was celebrated with great pomp, but the little girl would tragically die in childhood. Four more daughters would follow: Maria Josefa (born 1742 – died young), Maria Isabel Ana (1743 – died young), Maria Josefa (born 1744) and Maria Luisa (born 1745). Their sixth child was finally the longed-for heir, Felipe Pascual was born on 13 June 1747. He would turn out to be mentally handicapped, and he had to be set aside in the succession. After the birth of their eldest son, she was admitted to the Council of State, though she had to listen to the deliberations from behind a curtain.

Seven more children would follow. The future Charles IV of Spain was born on 11 November 1748. Maria Theresa was born in 1749, but she died young. The future Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies was born in 1751. Gabriel was born in 1752. Maria ana was born in 1754, but she died young. Antonio Pascual was born in 1755. Francisco Javier was born in 1757, but he died in childhood. He was to be their last child.

On 10 August 1759, Charles’ elder half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain died without leaving issue and so Charles also became King of Spain and Maria Amalia his Queen. With their eldest son excluded from the succession, their second-born son was designated as the heir of Spain, while the third son was designated as heir to Naples and Sicily. (Read more.)