by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021
Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies was the second of the three wives of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the mother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.
Maria Annunciata Isabella Filomena Sabasia was born on March 24, 1843, at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was the eldest of the four daughters and the fourth of the twelve children of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies (1810 – 1859) and his second wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1816 – 1867), daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. Maria Annunciata’s paternal grandparents were Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies and his second wife and first cousin Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain.
Maria Annunciata’s birth family in 1861; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Annunciata had eleven siblings:
- Prince Luigi, Count of Trani (1838 – 1886), married Duchess Mathilde Ludovika in Bavaria, had one daughter
- Prince Alberto, Count of Castrogiovanni (1839 – 1844), died in childhood.
- Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841 – 1934), married his first cousin Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies, had twelve children
- Princess Maria Immaculata Clementina of the Two Sicilies (1844 – 1899), married Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria, had ten children
- Prince Gaetano, Count of Girgenti (1846 – 1871), married Infanta Isabel of Spain, no children
- Prince Giuseppe, Count of Lucera (1848 – 1851), died in childhood.
- Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies (1849 – 1882), married (first wife) Roberto I, Duke of Parma, had twelve children, six were mentally disabled
- Prince Vincenzo, Count of Melazzo (1851 – 1854), died in childhood
- Prince Pasquale, Count of Bari (1852 – 1904), married morganatically Blanche Marconnay, no children
- Princess Maria Luisa of the Two Sicilies (1855 – 1874), married Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, no children
- Prince Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone (1857 – 1867), died in childhood
Maria Annunciata, on the right with her three sisters, circa 1862; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Annunciata had one-half-brother from her father’s first marriage to Maria Cristina of Savoy:
- Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies (1836 – 1894), married Duchess Maria Sophie in Bavaria, had one daughter who died in infancy
Maria Annunciata’s half-brother Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Annunciata’s father died in 1859 and her half-brother Francesco II became King of the Two Sicilies. However, his reign was short. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia brought an end to his rule, as part of Italian unification. After Francesco II was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, ruled by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia as Vittorio Emanuele I, the first King of Italy. Maria Annunciata’s mother moved the family to Rome where they were guests of Pope Pius IX at the Quirinal Palace. Soon the family moved to the Farnese Palace which was owned by Maria Annuciata’s family.
Maria Annunciata and Karl Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia
A year after her family moved to Rome, Maria Annunciata was married to Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, the third son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Nineteen-year-old Maria Annunciata married twenty-nine-year-old Karl Ludwig by proxy in Rome on October 16, 1862, and then in person in Venice on October 21, 1862. This was the second marriage for Karl Ludwig. His first marriage was happy but childless. His wife and first cousin Margaretha of Saxony died from typhoid fever while on a trip to Italy after less than two years of marriage.
One day after the wedding, Maria Annunciata suffered an epileptic seizure during mass, which caused quite a concern because it occurred in front of the members of the House of Habsburg. Soon Maria Annunciata’s domineering mother-in-law Sophie realized her daughter-in-law was ill with tuberculosis.
Karl Ludwig with his children after the death of Maria Annunciata, 1873; Credit – Wikipedia
Despite her poor health, Maria Annunciata gave birth to four children including Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the eventual heir to the Austrian throne whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War II:
- Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (1863 – 1914), married morganatically Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin, had two sons and one daughter
- Otto Franz, Archduke of Austria (1865 – 1906), married Maria Josepha of Saxony, had two sons, including Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria
- Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria (1868 – 1915), married morganatically Bertha Czuber, no children
- Margarete Sophie, Archduchess of Austria (1870 – 1902) married Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, had seven children
Karl Ludwig bought a palace on Favoritenstrasse in Vienna, Austria, now called Palais Archduke Karl Ludwig (link in German) and it became the family home. After the birth of her third child, Maria Annuciata’s health worsened and she was not expected to recover. However, because of her strong will to live, she somehow overcame her illness and she attended balls, the theater, and the opera.
Maria Annunciata on her deathbed; Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Annunciata became seriously ill after the birth of her fourth child in 1870. For the last year of her life, she was in agony, and died May 4, 1871, at the age of 28, from tuberculosis. She was buried in the New Crypt in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg.
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Works Cited
- En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Maria_Annunciata_of_Bourbon-Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 11 June 2021].
- It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Annunziata di Borbone-Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Annunziata_di_Borbone-Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 11 June 2021].
- Van der Kiste., John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire. London: Sutton Publishing.
- Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1997. The Habsburgs. London: Penguin Books.