by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Luisa of Parma, the wife of King Carlos IV of Spain, was born on December 9, 1751, in Parma, Duchy of Parma, now in Italy. She was the youngest of the three children and the second of the two daughters of Felipe, Infante of Spain, Duke of Parma (founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma) and Louise Élisabeth of France. Maria Luisa’s paternal grandparents were King Felipe V of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. King Felipe V, the founder of the Spanish House of Bourbon, was born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, who was the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. Her maternal grandparents were King Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska. Maria Luisa was given the names Luisa Maria Teresa Anna for her maternal grandparents and her mother’s twin sister Anne Henriette of France. Called Luisa by her family, she is known in history as Maria Luisa.

Maria Luisa had two older siblings:

• Isabella of Parma (1741 – 1763), married Archduke Joseph of Austria (the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II after Isabella’s death), no surviving children, died from smallpox while pregnant with her second child
• Ferdinando I, Duke of Parma (1751 – 1802), married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (sister of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II), had seven children

Maria Luisa’s French mother wanted to arrange a betrothal between Maria Luisa and her first cousin Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy. Louis Joseph was the same age as Maria Luisa, was also a grandchild of King Louis XV of France, and was second in the line of the French succession after his father Louis, Dauphin of France. However, neither of them became King of France. Ten-year-old Louis Joseph died from tuberculosis in 1761 and four years later, his father Louis, Dauphin of France also died from tuberculosis.

In 1762, Maria Luisa was betrothed to her first cousin, the future King Carlos IV of Spain, the son of King Carlos III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. The marriage was intended to strengthen the relationships between the Bourbons ruling in Spain and Parma. When Maria Luisa’s older sister Isabella died in 1763 from smallpox, it was suggested that Maria Luisa should marry her sister’s widower, the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. However, the match was eventually rejected and the betrothal of Maria Luisa and Carlos was confirmed. The not-quite-seventeen-year-old Carlos and the not-quite fourteen-year-old Maria Luisa were married on September 4, 1765, at the La Granja Palace in San Ildefonso, Spain.

Maria Luisa had twenty-three pregnancies. Thirteen of the pregnancies resulted in live births, including a set of twins. The other ten pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Of the fourteen children who were born alive, only seven survived childhood:

• Carlos Clemente, Infante of Spain (1771 – 1774), died in early childhood
• Carlota Joaquina, Infanta of Spain, Queen of Portugal (1775 – 1830), married King João VI of Portugal, had nine children including two Kings of Portugal
• Maria Luisa, Infanta of Spain (1777 – 1782), died in childhood
• María Amalia, Infanta of Spain (1779 – 1798), married her paternal uncle Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain, gave birth to a stillborn son in 1798, and died shortly thereafter
• Carlos Domingo, Infante of Spain (1780 – 1783), died in childhood
• Maria Luisa, Infanta of Spain, Queen of Etruria, Duchess of Lucca (1782 – 1824), married Louis, King of Etruria, had one son and one daughter
• Carlos Francisco de Paula, Infante of Spain (1783 – 1784), twin of Felipe Francisco de Paula, died in infancy
• Felipe Francisco de Paula, Infante of Spain (1783 – 1784), twin of Carlos Francisco de Paula, died in infancy
• Fernando VII, King of Spain (1784 – 1833), married (1) Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias, no children (2) Maria Isabel of Portugal, had one daughter who died in infancy, Maria Isabel died giving birth to a stillborn daughter (3) Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony, no children (4) Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, had two daughters including the Queen Isabella II of Spain
• Carlos María Isidro Benito, Infante of Spain, Count of Molina (1788 – 1855), married two nieces, daughters of his sister Carlota Joaquina (1) Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal, had three sons (2) Maria Teresa, Princess of Beira, no children
• María Isabel, Infanta of Spain, Queen of the Two Sicilies (1789 – 1848), married Francesco I of the Two Sicilies, had twelve children, including Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies
• Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain (1791 – 1794), died in childhood from smallpox
• Felipe Maria, Infante of Spain (1792 – 1794), died in early childhood
• Francisco de Paula, Infante of Spain (1794 – 1865), married (1) Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples and Sicily, had eleven (2) morganatic marriage to Teresa de Arredondo y Ramirez de Arellano, had one son

Upon her arrival at the Spanish court, Maria Luisa immediately became the first lady of the court. Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain, the mother of her husband, had died from tuberculosis in 1760, and Maria Luisa’s father-in-law King Carlos III never remarried. It was obvious that Maria Luisa was intelligent and ambitious, and had a dominant personality, and her father-in-law attempted to control her and limit her personal freedom, but with little success. Maria Luisa was strong and intellectual and she completely controlled her husband. During the reign of her father-in-law King Carlos III, Maria Luisa led her husband into all sorts of court intrigues.

On December 14, 1788, King Carlos III of Spain died and was succeeded by his son as King Carlos IV of Spain. Carlos IV would rather hunt than deal with government affairs and the running of the government was left mostly to Queen Maria Luisa and Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy. It is probable that de Godoy had a long-term relationship with Maria Luisa and that he was the father of her youngest son Francisco de Paula.

The view of the Spanish monarchy among the Spanish people took a rapid decline due to economic troubles, rumors about a relationship between Queen Maria Luisa and de Godoy, and King Carlos IV’s incompetence. Carlos IV’s eldest son and heir Fernando, Prince of Asturias
was anxious to take over from his father and jealous of Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy. He unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow his father in 1807. After riots and a revolt, King Carlos IV was forced to abdicate in favor of his son King Fernando VII on March 19, 1808. However, less than two months later, Carlos IV and his son Fernando VII were summoned to a meeting with Napoleon I, Emperor of the French on May 7, 1808, at the Castle of Marracq in Bayonne, France, where he forced them both to abdicate, declared the Bourbon dynasty of Spain deposed, and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain.

Maria Luisa, her husband the former King Carlos IV, some of their children, and former Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy were held captive first in France, at Compiègne and Fontainebleau, and then in Marseilles and Nice, and finally in Rome, then in the Papal States, now in Italy. Napoleon kept Carlos and Maria Luisa’s son Fernando VII under guard in France for more than five years at the Château de Valençay in France until the Treaty of Valençay on December 11, 1813, provided for the restoration of Fernando VII as King of Spain.

Even after the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, King Fernando VII refused to allow his parents to return to Spain. Maria Luisa and Carlos IV settled in Rome at the Palazzo Barberini. On January 2, 1819, at the age of sixty-seven, Maria Luisa died from pneumonia. Her husband Carlos IV died just eighteen days later, on January 20, 1819, aged seventy. Their son King Fernando VII allowed them to return to Spain in death. They were both interred in the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain.

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Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Carlos IV, King of Spain. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-iv-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: January 27, 2023).
• Maria Luisa of Parma (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Luisa_of_Parma (Accessed: January 27, 2023).
• María Luisa de Parma (2023) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luisa_de_Parma (Accessed: January 27, 2023).
• Philip, Duke of Parma (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip,_Duke_of_Parma (Accessed: January 27, 2023).