Robert I, Duke of Parma


Robert I was the last sovereign Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1854 until 1859, when the duchy was annexed to Sardinia-Piedmont during the Risorgimento. He was a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma and descended from Philip, Duke of Parma, the third son of King Philip V of Spain and Queen Elisabeth Farnese.

Biography

Early life

Born in Florence, Robert was the elder son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois, daughter of Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry and granddaughter of King Charles X of France. He succeeded his father to the ducal throne in 1854 upon the latter's assassination, when he was only six, while his mother stood as regent. The duchess initially dismissed some of her unpopular husband's most reactionary advisers, but was surprised by the Mazzini uprisings in July 1854 and then reverted to a harshly repressive policy that continued until the Second Italian War of Independence.
When Robert was eleven years old, he was deposed, as Piedmontese troops annexed other Italian states, ultimately to form the Kingdom of Italy. Despite losing his throne, Robert and his family enjoyed considerable wealth, traveling in a private train of more than a dozen cars from his castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna, to Villa Pianore in northwest Italy, and the magnificent Château de Chambord in France.

Death and legacy

Less than four months after Robert's death in November 1907, the Grand Marshal of the Austrian court declared six of the children of his first marriage legally incompetent, at the behest of his widow, Maria Antonia. Nonetheless, Robert's primary heir was his son Elias, the youngest son of his first marriage and the only one of his sons by that marriage to beget children of his own. Elias also became the legal guardian of his six elder siblings. Elias had eight children, seven of whom lived to advanced age, but only one of them got married, a daughter who had three children.
The two eldest sons of Robert's second marriage, Sixte and Xavier, eventually sued their older half-brother Elias for trying to obtain a greater share of the ducal fortune. They lost in the French courts, leaving the children of Robert's second marriage with very modest wealth, and the need to earn a living; some of his younger sons served in the Austrian armed forces. Nevertheless, two of the children born of the second marriage made extraordinary marriages: Felix married the grand-duchess of Luxembourg shortly after her accession and is the great-grandfather of the present grand duke. Zita married the last Emperor of Austria; the present claimant is her grandson.

Marriages and issue

On 5 April 1869, while in exile in Rome, he married Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. She was his half first cousin once removed, as her father and Robert's maternal grandmother were half-siblings, both being children of Francis I of the Two Sicilies from his two different wives.
Maria Pia belonged to the deposed royal family of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and was thus a Bourbon, like her husband. She gave birth to 12 children, many of whom had intellectual disabilities, before dying in childbirth:
NameBirthDeathNotes
Princess Maria Luisa17 January 1870Married Ferdinand I, Prince (later Tsar) of Bulgaria and had issue.
Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza5 March 1871Heir of Parma in 1871. Died in infancy.
Princess Luisa Maria24 March 1872
Henry, Duke of Parma13 June 1873Titular pretender of Parma 1907-1939. From 1907, his brother Elias took up the role as head of the family, although Henry continued to be considered the nominal pretender to the ducal throne. He held the title until his death.
Princess Maria Immacolata21 July 1874
Joseph, Duke of Parma30 June 1875Titular pretender of Parma 1939-1950. His brother Elias continued the role as head of the family as he had done with their brother Henry.
Princess Maria Teresa15 October 1876
Princess Maria Pia9 October 1877
Princess Beatrice9 January 1879Married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli and had issue.
Elias, Duke of Parma23 July 1880Titular pretender of Parma 1950–1959. Married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria and had issue. Last surviving child of his father's first marriage.
Princess Maria Anastasia25 August 1881Died in infancy.
Prince Augusto22 September 1882. Maria Pia died giving birth to this child.

After his first wife's death in childbirth, he remarried on 15 October 1884 to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. Maria Antonia was his second cousin once removed as her paternal grandmother and Robert's great-grandmother were siblings, both being daughters of Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma.
She had another 12 children:
NameBirthDeathNotes
Princess Maria Adelaide5 August 1885A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Prince Sixtus1 August 1886Married Duchess Hedwige de La Rochefoucauld and had a daughter, Isabelle.
Xavier, Duke of Parma25 May 1889Titular pretender of Parma 1974–1977. Married Countess Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset and had issue. Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
Princess Francesca22 April 1890A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Princess Zita9 May 1892Married Emperor Charles I of Austria. Last surviving child of her father's two marriages.
Prince Felix28 October 1893Married Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, his first cousin, and had issue, including Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
Prince René17 October 1894Married Princess Margaret of Denmark and had issue, including Queen Anne of Romania.
Princess Maria Antonia7 November 1895A Benedictine nun at St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes.
Princess Isabella14 June 1898Died unmarried.
Prince Luigi5 December 1899Married Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy and had issue.
Princess Henrietta Anna8 March 1903Died unmarried.
Prince Gaetano11 June 1905Married Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis, daughter of Alessandro, 1st Duke of Castel Duino. They had a daughter, Diana and later divorced.

Honours

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

Robert's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.
Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Duke Robert were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Robert, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.
Robert is a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma, a sub-branch of the House of Bourbon-Spain, itself originally a branch of the House of Bourbon, and thus of the Capetian dynasty and of the Robertians.
Robert's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. It follows the Dukes of Parma as well as the Kings of Spain, France, and Navarre. The line can be traced back more than 1,200 years from Robert of Hesbaye to the present day, through Kings of France & Navarre, Spain and Two-Sicilies, Dukes of Parma and Grand-Dukes of Luxembourg, Princes of Orléans and Emperors of Brazil. It is one of the oldest in Europe.
  1. Robert II of Worms and Rheingau, 770 - 807
  2. Robert III of Worms and Rheingau, 808 - 834
  3. Robert IV the Strong, 820 - 866
  4. Robert I of France, 866 - 923
  5. Hugh the Great, 895 - 956
  6. Hugh Capet, 941 - 996
  7. Robert II of France, 972 - 1031
  8. Henry I of France, 1008–1060
  9. Philip I of France, 1053–1108
  10. Louis VI of France, 1081–1137
  11. Louis VII of France, 1120–1180
  12. Philip II of France, 1165–1223
  13. Louis VIII of France, 1187–1226
  14. Louis IX of France, 1215–1270
  15. Robert, Count of Clermont, 1256–1317
  16. Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, 1279–1342
  17. James I, Count of La Marche, 1319–1362
  18. John I, Count of La Marche, 1344–1393
  19. Louis, Count of Vendôme, 1376–1446
  20. Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme, 1428–1478
  21. François, Count of Vendôme, 1470–1495
  22. Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, 1489–1537
  23. Antoine, King of Navarre, Duke of Vendôme, 1518–1562
  24. Henry IV, King of France and of Navarre, 1553–1610
  25. Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre, 1601–1643
  26. Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, 1638–1715
  27. Louis, Grand Dauphin of France, 1661–1711
  28. Philip V of Spain, 1683–1746
  29. Philip, Duke of Parma, 1720–1765
  30. Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, 1751–1802
  31. Louis of Etruria, 1773–1803
  32. Charles II, Duke of Parma, 1799–1883
  33. Charles III, Duke of Parma, 1823–1854
  34. Robert I, Duke of Parma, 1848–1907