Robert I, Duke of Parma

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Robert I Duke of Parma, (Roberto I Carlo Luigi Maria of Bourbon, Duke of Parma and Piacenza) (July 9, 1848 – November 16, 1907) was the ruler of Parma and Piacenza from 1854 until 1859, when the duchy was annexed to Italy.

[edit] Biography

Born in Florence, Robert was the son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Louise Marie of Berry, 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.

When Duke Robert was eleven years old he was deposed, as Sardinian 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.

Less than four months after Duke Robert's death in 1907 the Grand Marshall of the Austrian court declared six of the children of his first marriage legally incompetent (they were mentally retarded), at the behest of his widow, Duchess Maria Antonia. Nonetheless, Robert's primary heir was Elias, Duke of Parma, 1880-1959), the youngest son of his first marriage and the only one of his sons to father children of his own. Elias also became the legal guardian of his six elder siblings. Although the eldest half-brothers, Sixte and Xavier, eventually sued their half-brother Elias for trying to obtain a greater share of the ducal fortune, they lost in the French courts, leaving the issue of Robert's second marriage with modest prospects.

Some of his younger sons served in the Austrian armed forces.

[edit] Family

In 1869, in exile, he married Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies (1849-1882), daughter of king Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Maria Pia belonged to the deposed Royal Family of the Two Sicilies, and was thus a Bourbon, like her husband. She bore him 12 children, before dying in childbirth:

Princess Marie Louise (1870-1899). Married Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.
Prince Ferdinando (March 5, 1871-April 14, 1871).
Princess Luisa Maria (1872-1943). She was mentally retarded.
Prince Henry (Enrico) (1873-1939). Titular Duke of Parma 1907-1939. He was mentally retarded, and from 1907 (his father's death), his brother Elias took up the role as head of the family, although Enrico continued to be considered by monarchists as Henry I of Parma. He held the title till his death.
Princess Maria Immacolata (1874-1914). She was mentally retarded.
Prince Joseph (Giuseppe) (1875-1950). Titular Duke of Parma 1939-1950. He was also mentally retarded, and his brother Elias continued the role as head of the family like he had done with their brother Enrico.
Princess Maria Teresa (1876-1959). She was mentally retarded.
Princess Maria Pia (1877-1915). She was mentally retarded.
Princess Beatrice (1879-1946). Married Pietro Count Lucchesi Palli and had issue.
Prince Elias, Duke of Parma (1880-1959). Head of the Ducal Family of Parma (1950-59) ("Duke Elias of Parma"). Married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria and had issue.
Princess Maria Anastasia (August 25, 1881-September 7, 1881).
Prince Augusto (September 22, 1882, stillborn). His mother died giving birth to him.

It is not clear whether the last two children were mentally retarded also, like their other six older siblings.

After his first wife's death in childbirth, he remarried in 1884 to Maria Antonia of Portugal, daughter of the deposed Miguel I of Portugal. She bore him another 12 children:

Princess Maria delle Neve Adelaide (1885-1959). A Benedictine nun in the Monastery of Solesmes (France).
Prince Sixtus (Sisto, "Sixte") (1886-1934). Married Hedwige de La Rochefoucauld and had a daughter, Isabelle.
Prince Francis Xavier (1889-1977). Married Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset and had issue. Head of the Ducal Family of Parma (1974-77) as titular Duke Xavier I of Parma. Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
Princess Francesca (1890-1978). A Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Solesmes.
Princess Zita (1892-1989). Married Emperor Karl of Austria.
Prince Felix (1893-1970). Married Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, his first cousin (their mothers were sisters).
Prince René (1894-1962). Married Princess Margrethe of Denmark and has issue.
Princess Maria Antonia (1895-1937), a nun at the Benedictine Monastery of Solesmes (France).
Isabella (1898-1984). Died unmarried.
Prince Louis (Luigi) (1899-1967). Married Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy and had issue.
Princess Henriette (1903-1987). Died unmarried.
Prince Thomas (Gaetano was used) (1905-1958). Married Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis. They had a daughter, Diana, and later divorced.