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Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy
| Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy | |
|---|---|
| Queen Consort of Spain | |
 | |
| Reign | 2 November 1701 – 14 February 1714 |
| Predecessor | Maria Anna of Neuburg |
| Successor | Elisabeth Farnese |
| Born | 13 September 1688 Royal Palace, Turin, Duchy of Savoy |
| Died | 14 February 1714 (aged 25) Royal Alcázar, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
|
| House | Savoy |
| Father | Victor Amadeus II of Savoy |
| Mother | Anne Marie of Orléans |
Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy (Turin, 13 September 1688 – Madrid, 14 February 1714), first wife of Philip V, was Queen Consort of Spain from 1701 to 1714 and, on occasion, Regent.
Early years
Maria Luisa was the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (great-grandson of Henry IV of France, the first French king of the Bourbon dynasty), and of Anne Marie of Orléans (daughter of Philippe I of Orléans, brother of King Louis XIV of France). Her elder sister, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, was Duchess of Burgundy and Dauphine of France, and was moreover the mother of King Louis XV of France.
Marriage
The marriage was the pledge of the alliance concluded between the Sun King and Victor Amadeus II, by virtue of which the Duke of Savoy sided with the Habsburgs, who claimed the Iberian throne for Archduke Charles of Habsburg, son of Emperor Leopold.
The Spanish procession arrived in Turin on 8 September 1701, headed by the Marquis Carlo Omodei of Castel Rodrigo, Grandee of Spain. From Turin, Maria Luisa moved to Nice, where she met Marie-Anne de La Trémoille (1642–1722), wife of Prince Flavio Orsini of Bracciano, whom Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon, the King's morganatic wife, had chosen as her chamberlain (Alcalde). In the plans of the King of France, the Princess des Ursins (as she had decided to sign herself) was to ensure that the young queen remained faithful to his designs. On 25 September she left Nice: from there she was supposed to reach Barcelona by sea, but the constant illnesses brought on by the voyage convinced her to cross southern France overland.
On her journey to join her husband in Spain, Maria Luisa was escorted by a procession of Piedmontese servants as far as Perpignan, from where she continued in the care of the French ladies led by Princess Orsini. The meeting with Philip V took place in Figueres, where a new nuptial ceremony was held on 2 November with her cousin, King Philip V (the first Spanish king of the Bourbon dynasty), grandson of Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, and of Louis XIV of France. The banquet was arranged half according to Spanish customs and half according to French ones, to which the couple was more accustomed.
Maria Luisa refused to consummate her marriage until 3 days after her marriage to King Philip V. From then on Philip would show a strong addiction to sex.
Her first contacts with Spanish society and with her new ladies of the palace were not positive, so much so that Maria Luisa considered returning to Piedmont. Naturally, this would have produced a serious political crisis between Turin and Paris, which neither of the two courts wanted, in such a difficult international situation. Meanwhile, in fact, the French invasion of the Netherlands had given way to the War of the Spanish Succession.
War of the Spanish Succession
In April 1702, Philip V was obliged to leave Spain and go to Italy, where, in the meantime, the imperial army, led by Prince Eugene of Savoy, had invaded and conquered the Duchy of Milan. Despite her young age, Maria Luisa Gabriela was appointed Regent. She therefore had the far from easy task of establishing bonds of loyalty between the court and the new dynasty recently installed on the throne that had belonged to the Habsburgs for two centuries. The difficulties of entering a court society still far removed from the French (and Savoyard) model were not few. In fact, Maria Luisa interpreted many behaviors as forms of superstition: from the rigid attitude of the clergy to the reluctance of the court staff to modernize fashion.
Princess Orsini, however, did not consider herself a mere agent of Louis XIV. The Sun King would have liked her to let herself be directed by the Ambassador of France in Madrid, Cardinal d'Estrées, acting exclusively as a link for transmitting his decisions to the court; but it was not so. The determination and commitment of Maria Luisa and Orsini meant that the ambassador was denied the right to sit on the Council of State, as the Sun King had forcefully requested. The Princess demanded freedom of maneuver and over time ended up embracing the cause of Philip V more than that of Louis XIV.
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Maria Luisa showed that she had what it takes to be a great queen admired in Madrid. She also began to impose a certain order at court and, by her example, encouraged some individuals and cities to help the government with troops and money. Between late September and early October 1703, Victor Amadeus II abandoned the Bourbon alliance and went over to the imperial one. For Maria Luisa it was a hard blow, to which she reacted with a firmness worthy of her father. The two years spent in Spain had made her sure of herself and of her role as queen. The determination shown in this situation and the support given to her husband meant that no one really questioned her role as Regent during the ever-frequent absences of her husband, who was busy at the front.
1706 was the worst year of the war for the Bourbon Crowns. Philip V tried to respond to the invasion of the previous year by besieging Barcelona, but the military operations did not produce the desired result: the siege was not victorious and an Anglo-Portuguese army invaded Spain, also conquering Madrid in June. Maria Luisa, now eighteen years old, had once again been appointed Regent and distinguished herself by her ardor and fortitude in the defense of the capital, leaving it for Burgos only when everything seemed futile. Her presence was then decisive in convincing Philip V not to leave Spain to take refuge in France, as many advised him. The popular support of the Castilians allowed them to recover the capital immediately on 6 August.[1] In April 1707 the Spanish troops led by the Marshal of France James Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, defeated the Anglo-Portuguese troops at the Battle of Almansa; four months later, on 25 August, Maria Luisa gave birth to her first son, Louis, who would be followed by others within a few years.
She was subject to the influence of the Princess des Ursins and Cardinal Portocarrero.
Death
When she gave birth to her son Louis, the future Louis I of Spain, the Queen was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which over time would worsen and become a chronic illness. Her lymph nodes would become inflamed, which caused lumps to appear under her skin, giving her a grotesque appearance. When she began to suffer headaches, the doctors shaved her head thinking that the pain would disappear, but it did not, and Maria Luisa's hair never grew back, so she had to wear wigs. She died at the age of 25 in 1714, from lymph node tuberculosis. Her remains rest in the Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial.
It is worth noting that Maria Luisa was an effective Queen Regent and a very competent governor, dedicated to the national destiny of Spain.
Issue
She had four sons from her marriage to King Philip V, two of whom reigned in Spain:
- Louis I (25 August 1707 – 31 August 1724), King of Spain. Married to Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, without issue.
- Philip (2 July 1709 – 8 July 1709). Died a few days after birth.
- Philip Peter (7 June 1712 – 29 December 1719). Died in childhood.
- Ferdinand VI (23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), King of Spain. Married the Infanta Barbara of Braganza, without surviving issue.
Legacy
She was nicknamed La Saboyana ("the Savoyard") by her subjects, who adored her, and she was much loved in Spain. After her death, two of her sons, her youngest and her eldest, would become kings of Spain.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Maria Luisa Gabriela, Queen of Spain and the Indies
- Princess Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy
- Victor Amadeus II of Savoy
- Anne Marie of Orléans, Petite fille de France
- Duke Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy
- Princess Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy
- Duke Philippe of Orléans
- Henrietta of England
- Duke Victor Amadeus I of Savoy
- Princess Christine of France
- Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours
- Élisabeth de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Vendôme
- Louis XIII of France
- Archduchess Anne of Austria
- King Charles I of England and Scotland
- Princess Henrietta Maria of France
- Duke Charles Emmanuel I
- Catherine Michaela of Austria
- Henry IV of France
- Marie de' Medici
- Henry of Savoy, Duke of Nemours
- Anne of Lorraine
- César de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, Duke of Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort and Duke of Étampes
- Françoise of Lorraine-Mercœur, Duchess of Vendôme
- Henry IV of France (=18)
- Marie de' Medici (=19)
- Philip III of Spain
- Archduchess Margaret of Austria
- James I of England and Scotland
- Princess Anne of Denmark
- Henry IV of France (=18, 24)
- Marie de' Medici (=19, 25)
References
- ↑ Albaladejo, Pablo Fernández (2001). Los Borbones: dinastía y memoria de nación en la España del siglo XVIII : actas del coloquio internacional celebrado en Madrid, mayo de 2000 (in español). Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN 978-84-95379-36-8. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
Bibliography
- Rubio, María José (2009). Reinas de España. Siglos XVIII al XXI. De María Luisa Gabriela de Saboya a Letizia Ortiz (in español). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros.
External links
- Diccionario Biográfico. Real Academia de la Historia María Luisa Gabriela de Saboya
