Maria Clementina Sobieska

Maria Clementina Sobieska (; 18 July 1702 – 18 January 1735) was titular queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland by marriage to James Francis Edward Stuart, a Jacobite claimant to the thrones of the British Isles. A granddaughter of the Polish king John III Sobieski, she was the mother of Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") and of Henry Benedict Cardinal Stuart (Jacobite Duke of York, later Jacobite claimant).

Biography

Early life Maria Clementina Sobieska was born on 18 July 1702 in Oława, Silesia. Her parents were Prince Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, Duke of Oława, the eldest son of the Polish King John III Sobieski, and Countess Palatine Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg. At her baptism, she was given the names Maria Klementyna Ludwika Franciszka Dorota Teresa Konstantyna Józefa Amalia. The birth of Maria Clementina was a disappointment to her parents, who had been expecting a male heir, as Maria Clementina was the couple’s fourth daughter. Moreover, less than a year earlier, on November 3, 1700, their one-year-old son, Prince Jan Józef, had died. The princely couple never had another male heir. In 1704, another daughter was born, but she died on the day of her birth. Maria Klementyna remained the youngest daughter and became the family’s favorite, especially of her father, Jakub Ludwik. Maria Clementina's father approved her escape, declaring that, as she became engaged to James Francis Edward, she ought to "follow his fortune and his cause".

Maria Clementina and Prince James were formally married on 3 September 1719 in the chapel of the episcopal palace of Montefiascone, Italy, in the Cathedral of Santa Margherita. Following their marriage, James and Maria Clementina were invited to reside in Rome at the special request of Pope Clement XI, who acknowledged them as the king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Titular queen The Pope provided them with a papal guard of troops and gave them the Palazzo Muti in the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli in Rome to live in, as well as a country villa at Albano. The Holy See also provided them with an annual allowance of 12,000 crowns out of the papal treasury. Popes Clement XI and Innocent XIII considered James and Maria Clementina, both Catholics, the rightful king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The married life of James and Maria Clementina proved turbulent and unhappy. Reportedly, James initially had a favourable impression of her because of her beauty, while she disliked him because of his lack of it, as well as his passive nature. She befriended her son's governess, a Mrs Sheldon, who became her confidant and favourite. She was interred with full royal honours in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Clement XII ordered that she have a state burial. Pope Benedict XIV commissioned architect Filippo Barigioni to design a monument for her memory, Pietro Bracci sculpted a statue for it, and it was erected 1742 in the Basilica.

Issue Maria Clementina and James Francis Edward had two sons:

Charles Edward Louis Philip John Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 31 January 1788), aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie", married Louise of Stolberg-Gedern and had no issue; had affair with his cousin Marie Louise de La Tour d'Auvergne and had issue; had issue with his mistress Clementina Walkinshaw; Henry Benedict Maria Clement Thomas Francis Xavier Stuart (11 March 1725 – 13 July 1807), later known as the Cardinal Duke of York.

Ancestry

Gallery

In fiction A fictionalised re-telling of Maria Clementina's rescue from Innsbruck in 1719 forms the plot of A. E. W. Mason's 1901 novel Clementina.