Margherita Farnese of Parma

Margherita Farnese (7 November 1567 – 13 April 1643), was an Italian noblewoman member of the House of Farnese and by marriage Hereditary Princess of Mantua between 1581–1583.

Her marriage to Vincenzo Gonzaga, Hereditary Prince of Mantua was dissolved after two years due to Margherita's inability to consummate it. After annulment, the princess took monastic vows with the name of Sister Maura Lucenia and became abbess of the monastery of Sant'Alessandro, Parma.

Life Early years Born on 7 November 1567 in Parma, Margherita was the eldest child and only daughter of Alexander Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma (since 1586 was ruling Duke of Parma) and Infanta Maria of Portugal. On the paternal side, the princess was the granddaughter of Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Margaret of Austria (in turn an illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor); on the maternal side, she was the granddaughter of the Infante Duarte of Portugal, Duke of Guimarães and Isabel of Braganza. Named after her paternal grandmother, Margherita was baptized on 11 January 1568 with her godparents being Pope Pius V (represented by Bishop Ferdinando (Ferrante) Farnese –a distant cousin of the Latera branch of the Ducal family ) and her paternal great-grandmother Gerolama Orsini, Dowager Duchess of Parma (represented by Caterina De Nobili Sforza).

In 1577, Margherita's mother died; in her will, she entrusted to her mother-in-law the guardianship of her 13-year-old daughter. In March 1580, the princess and her grandmother Margaret of Austria left Piacenza for the Netherlands; there Margaret of Austria was going to support her son, Hereditary Prince Alessandro of Parma, who became a Governor after the death of John of Austria. In Namur Margherita was in frequent contact with her father, despite the fact that there was friction between him and her grandmother over their co-Governonship of the Netherlands. In this regard, the famous physiologist Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente was invited to Parma from Padua. After examining Margherita, he advised to expand her vagina with a cone-shaped object the size of her husband's penis.

Margherita was elected abbess of the monastery of Sant'Alessandro nine times, dying there on 13 April 1643 aged 75. At first, she was buried in the monastery grounds like the other nuns, until 14 December 1853, when Charles III, Duke of Parma ordered to transfer her remains to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata and to bury her remains in the necropolis of the Farnese and Bourbon dynasties.

Ancestry