Charles II (Parma)
Charles II, Duke of Parma , full name Karl Ludwig Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma , Infante of Spain (born December 22, 1799 in Madrid , † April 16, 1883 in Nice ) was the last King of Etruria , Duke of Lucca and Duke from Parma .
family
Karl was the only son of King Louis I of Etruria (1773-1803) and his wife Infanta Maria Louisa (1782-1824), the daughter of King Charles IV of Spain and his wife Princess Maria Luise of Bourbon-Parma . His only sister was Princess Maria Louise of Saxony .
On September 5, 1820, he married in Turin the Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy (1803 to 1879), daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este . The connection resulted in two children:
- Luisa (1821-1823)
- Ferdinand Karl III. (1823–1854) ∞ Princess Louise Marie Therese of France (1819–1864)
Life
In 1801, Emperor Napoleon I agreed with Spain and the House of Bourbon-Parma that the double duchy after the death of Grand Duke Ferdinand III. should fall to France, during whose ruling house should be compensated in Tuscany , where a new " Kingdom of Etruria " was created. Parma and Piacenza fell to France in 1802 (where Napoleon later appointed two of his favorites as nominal dukes). Etruria was taken from the Parmesian Bourbons again in 1807, but Duke Charles promised a " Kingdom of Lusitania " in northern Portugal as compensation .
But even after the end of Napoleon's rule in 1814, the heir to the Bourbon claims, Charles II of Bourbon-Parma, could not return, as the double duchy reserved for life at the Congress of Vienna by the great powers for the Austrian imperial daughter and previous French empress Marie Louise has been. Only after their death were Parma and Piacenza to revert to the House of Bourbon-Parma, for the meantime the Bourbon Dowager Duchess Maria Louisa and Charles II were resigned to the small, newly created Duchy of Lucca after initial reluctance . There, however, before the agreed move to his home country, Charles II renounced the throne for fear of revolutionary developments in October 1847; Lucca fell to the Habsburg Grand Duchy of Tuscany according to the treaty .
After the death of Empress Marie Louise in December 1847, the briefly landless bourbon Charles II took up his ancestral rule in Parma and Piacenza, where, however, in the following year 1848 - like all Italian governments - he started again with the revolution and the striving for nationality Unity was faced. Twice - in April 1848 and (after his return in August 1848) in March 1849 - the Duke fled the country, to which he never returned afterwards, since he was annoyed in favor of his son Charles III. abdicated. From then on he lived in Weistropp in Saxony as a private citizen - but often also in Nice, where he died in 1883.
Honors
- Around 1840, as Karl Ludwig Herzog von Lucca, he was the owner of the Austrian Imperial and Royal Line Infantry Regiment No. 24, which at that time also bore his name.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Marie-Louise |
Duke of Parma 1847–1849 |
Charles III |
| Ludwig I. |
King of Etruria 1803-1807 |
- |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Charles II |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Charles II. Ludwig Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Etruria, Duke of Lucca, Duke of Parma |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 22, 1799 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Madrid |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 16, 1883 |
| Place of death | Nice |