Maria Teresa of Savoy

Maria Teresa of Savoy (Maria Teresa Fernanda Felicitas Gaetana Pia; 19 September 1803 – 16 July 1879) was Duchess consort of Parma and Piacenza by marriage to Charles II, Duke of Parma (Duke Charles I of Lucca).

Early life

Maria Teresa was born on 19 September 1803 at the Palazzo Colonna in Rome. She was the fifth child and fourth daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and his wife, Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este. She had a twin sister, Maria Anna. The two princesses were baptised by Pope Pius VII. Their godparents were their maternal grandparents, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este. There is a painting of the baptism in the Museo di Roma.

Maria Teresa spent the majority of her childhood in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia, where her family had taken refuge from the armies of Napoleon of France. In 1814 her father was restored to rule in Piedmont and the family returned to Turin. She had hoped to marry her cousin Charles Albert of Savoy, who in 1817 married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, a daughter of the Duke of Tuscany.

Marriage On 5 September 1820, in Lucca, Maria Teresa married Charles Louis, Prince of Lucca.

They had two children: Luisa Francesca di Paola Teresa Maria Anna Clothilde Beatrice (29 October 1821 – 8 September 1823) Carlo Giuseppe Maria Vittorio Baldasarre, Duke of Parma (14 January 1823 – 27 March 1854)

Maria Teresa was tall and often considered beautiful and Charles Louis was said to be handsome. However they were mismatched. She was a deeply religious woman committed to her Catholic faith. Charles Louis lived largely for his own pleasure often ignoring his governmental responsibilities. They lived most of their married life apart from each other. "Even if there was no love", Charles Louis later commented, "there was respect". She was very attached to her own Sardinian family and lived a life dedicated to religion.

Ancestry