Archduchess Clementina of Austria


Archduchess Maria Clementina Franziska Josepha of Austria was Princess of Salerno by marriage to the Sicilian prince Leopold, Prince of Salerno. She was born an archduchess of Austria as the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily.

Biography

Early life

Born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 1 March 1798, Clementina was the third surviving daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, later Emperor Francis I of Austria after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and his wife Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily.
Maria Clementina was a younger sister of Marie Louise, Empress of the French, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, and Maria Leopoldina, Empress of Brazil. She was also an older sister of Marie Caroline, Crown Princess of Saxony, Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria.

Marriage

Maria Clementina married her mother's younger brother, Prince Leopoldo of the Two Sicilies, Prince of Salerno, on 28 July 1816 at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. He was the youngest son of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria.
From their four children, only a daughter survived to adulthood, Princess Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies, who on 25 November 1844, in Naples, married her paternal first cousin Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale. Henri was the fourth surviving son of King Louis-Philippe of France and his wife Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Henri and Maria Clementina were also first cousins as both of their mothers were sisters.
Through their daughter, Clementina and Leopoldo had seven grandchildren, two of whom reached adulthood. However, neither of these grandchildren married or produced children of their own.

Death

Maria Clementina died on 3 September 1881 at the Château de Chantilly in France, the residence of her widowed son-in-law, Duke Henri. She was eighty-three years old, having outlived all her descendants. Maria Clementina was buried in the Royal Chapel at Dreux, France.

Issue and family

Honours