Maria Anna of Savoy

Maria Anna of Savoy (Maria Anna Carolina Gabriella; 17 December 1757 – 11 October 1824) was a Princess of Savoy by birth and Duchess of Chablais by her marriage to her uncle, Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais.

Early life

Portrait by Domenico Duprà, 1762Maria Anna was the fourth but third surviving daughter of her parents. Her two older sisters were the future "granddaughters in law" of Louis XV, Princess Maria Giuseppina, who married the future Louis XVIII in 1771 and Princess Maria Teresa, who married the future Charles X in 1773. Their younger surviving sister, Maria Carolina, married Anthony of Saxony.

Three of her brothers were the last three Kings of Sardinia from the senior line of the House of Savoy: the future Charles Emmanuel IV, Victor Emmanuel I and Charles Felix. After the death of the last one in 1831 without issue, the throne passed to Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano and next legitimate male heir.

Marriage After the weddings of her older sisters to French Princes, was arranged the marriage between Maria Anna and her paternal half-uncle Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais, younger half-brother of Victor Amadeus III (as the son of Charles Emmanuel III and his last wife, Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine). The wedding took place on 19 March 1775 at the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin. They had no children but had a happy union: although they were close, Maria Anna always saw him as her uncle. Their official residence were the Palazzo Chiablese and the Ducal Castle of Agliè.

When in December 1798 the Republic of France invaded the Kingdom of Sardinia, the whole royal family went into exile. The Duke and Duchess of Chablais left Turin and moved to Sardinia, where they remained until the end of 1799. Then they left the island and settled in Rome at the Papal States. In 1805, they spent a few months in Florence as guests at King Louis I of Etruria, and his wife Queen Maria Luisa. He took part in the Battle of Loano.

Benedetto, Duke of Chablais died on 4 January 1808 in Rome. In 1816 the now Dowager Duchess of Chablais received her younger brother Charles Felix their cousin Charles Albert. By that time, the states and properties of the House of Savoy where recovered; during Maria Anna's absence, the Palazzo Chiablese was used by Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona and his wife, the famous Pauline Bonaparte. However, Maria Anna didn't return to her homeland immediately: in 1820 she acquired the Villa Rufinella in Frascati near Rome, having bought the property from Lucien Bonaparte. In 1822, despite protests from her brother and cousin, Maria Anna settled in Florence, despite the fact that the city actively participated in the period of unrest in the Kingdom of Sardinia the previous year. boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; 1= 1. Maria Anna of Savoy 2= 2. Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia 3= 3. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain 4= 4. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia 5= 5. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg 6= 6. Philip V of Spain 7= 7. Elisabeth Farnese 8= 8. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia 9= 9. Anne Marie of Orléans 10= 10. Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg 11= 11. Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort 12= 12. Louis, Dauphin of France 13= 13. Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria 14= 14. Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma 15= 15. Dorothea Sophie of the Palatinate

References and notes

Maria Anna