Odoardo I. Farnese

Odoardo I. Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza

Odoardo I. Farnese (born April 28, 1612 in Parma , † September 11, 1646 in Piacenza ) ruled from March 5, 1622 to September 11, 1646 as the fifth Duke of Parma and Piacenza and from March 5, 1622 until his death as sixth Duke of Castro. He belonged to the ducal house of Farnese, ruling in Parma and Piacenza .

Life

Origin, early years

Odoardo I Farnese was the second eldest son of Duke Ranuccio I Farnese of Parma and Piacenza and Margherita Aldobrandini . Since his older brother Alessandro Farnese was deaf and dumb and unable to rule, Odoardo succeeded his father, who died on March 5, 1622, in the rule. Because he was still a minor, his uncle, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese , and after his death (February 21, 1626) his mother Margherita Aldobrandini led the government for him.

In 1628 Odoardo I Farnese took over the rule himself.

War against spain

As the first Farnese duke, the ambitious Odoardo sought to break away from Spanish supremacy in northern Italy, to shake off the papal vassal relationship and to govern as independently as possible. In the Mantuan War of Succession (1628-1631) he still represented the course of armed neutrality and thus saved his country from the stationing of Spanish occupation troops, for example in Piacenza. But later he felt irritated by the Duke of Feria , Governor of Milan , and even more by his successor, the Marqués de Leganés . As early as 1633 he took the side of France , which wanted to ally itself with Italian princes against Spain.

After Odoardo declared war on Spain, this ill-considered move led to years of devastation in his country. He also went into debt with 1.4 million scudi , for which he pledged the duchy of Castro and the county of Ronciglione with the barony of Montalto, all papal fiefs, the combined value of which was estimated at 3 million scudi, in Rome. Odoardo recruited troops and in September 1635, at the request of Marshal de Crequy, appeared more punctually than the Duke of Savoy in the French camp outside Valenza . However, the siege of Valencia was abandoned the following month. After the allied army split up, enemy troops invaded Odoardo's territory. Members of the Barberinis urged their related Pope Urban VIII to withdraw the ecclesiastical fiefs from his vassal in favor of his nephews because Odoardo had warred Spain without his permission. But the Pope left it at threats, and France also stood up for Odoardo at Urban VIII.

In order to secure further French help, Odoardo traveled to Paris in early 1636 . He was well received at the court and returned to Italy as royal lieutenant general with great gifts and promises, but was cut off from his country by the enemy. The city of Parma was besieged and the country devastated. Mantua , which was linked to the French, did not support Parma out of resentment against Odoardo. Even the noble Estonian family ruling over the Duchy of Modena did not provide any assistance, while Savoy was reluctant to help. When the French and Savoyards invaded the Milan area in May 1636, the hostile oppression in Odoardo's duchy was temporarily reduced. But as early as August 1636 the Spaniards visited it again. Odoardo was dissatisfied with the French and Mantua and did not get along with Duke Viktor Amadeus I of Savoy either . He found himself in great distress when the Spaniards could use greater force against his country after the conquest of Rivalto . The Pope also repeatedly threatened to confiscate the fiefs, although France continued to support Odoardo at the Holy See.

The situation was desperate for the Parmesan duke. He received no military aid from France, was trapped with his family in the city of Piacenza, which was severely threatened by the Spaniards, and had to lead a poor lifestyle here. So on December 31, 1636, he had to be comfortable with accepting a peace treaty imposed by the Milanese governor, according to which he lost the fortress of Sabionetta and placed himself under Spanish sovereignty again and had to take on garrisons in the two most important places in the country for the duration of the war . An armistice was also reached with Modena. The contract was publicly recognized on February 4, 1637 and France assured that Odoardo would behave neutrally. After all, the Duke of Parma was allowed to sell his fiefdoms in the Kingdom of Naples on the basis of this agreement and received the promise of protection from the Spanish king against any papal proceedings against the fiefs of Castro, Ronciglione and Montalto. Soon, however, there was a threat of renewed break between Odoardos and Spain, as he continued to adopt a pro-French stance and his secretary Gaufried stirred up hatred against Spain. However, the Duke of Tuscany was able to intervene to reconcile.

War for the Duchy of Castro and death

Odoardo Farnese threatened new calamities from the relatives of the Pope because of the pledged Duchy of Castro. Since the Duke did not want to pay off his debts to the papal chamber and had previously refused to marry a member of the Barberini family, Urban VIII had Castro and Montalto conquered in 1641 and also prepared to attack Parma and Piacenza. Florence, Modena and Venice prepared to stand by Odoardo, but only Modena dared to make public relations with the Duke. Despite renewed intercession by France, Urban VIII excommunicated Odoardo on January 13, 1642. To enforce the ban, an 11,000-strong papal army marched against Parma.

Initially, negotiations by France inhibited the enemy incursion into Odoardo's territory, and then on August 31, 1642 the Duke concluded an alliance with Venice, Florence and the Duchy of Modena. The papal general refrained from attacking Parma. In the meantime, Odoardo had brought together only 3,000 soldiers, mostly cavalrymen, whom he could not pay adequately and therefore could not rely on their unconditional loyalty. Still, he ventured with this low force an invasion of the Papal States , the superior papal army drove in front of him and pushed as far as Acquapendente before, but his troops committed there also severe devastation. The allies did not support him; France pressed for a settlement while access to Castro was adequately denied. Although the proposal was a ruse by his opponents, the Duke of Parma had to accept the settlement, the approval of which the Pope was able to hold off until he better defended the Papal States and saw Odoardo's allies at odds, whereupon the negotiations were broken off.

Odoardo, who has meanwhile returned home, was initially prevented from a new war by Tuscany and Venice. However, this broke out again in 1643 when fighting broke out between the Pope and Odoardo and his allies, which, however, did not support the Duke adequately. Nevertheless, this situation sparked panic efforts on the papal side. The war dragged on until the spring of 1644. The Barberini eventually split the enemy league. Cardinal Alessandro Bichi brokered a peace on behalf of France, which was concluded on March 31, 1644. Accordingly, the ban imposed on the Duchy of Parma was lifted; the Duke himself received the assurance of the Pope's mercy as soon as he would seek it, as well as the return of Castro within 60 days, but with the reservation of the rights that the Montists had as believers. For this Odoardo, who thus had not achieved any debt relief for Castro, had to dismiss his army standing in the field and return his conquests in the Papal States.

Odoardo died suddenly on September 11, 1646 in his residence in Piacenza at the age of only 34. He was followed by his eldest son Ranuccio in government.

Marriage and offspring

Odoardo I and married on October 11, 1628, in Florence Margherita de 'Medici (* May 31, 1612 - February 6, 1679), daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany , which improved his relations with the Medici family .

The couple had the following children:

• Caterina, (October 2, 1629 - October 11, 1629)
• Ranuccio (September 17, 1630 - December 11, 1694), Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1646
• Alessandro (January 10, 1635 - February 18, 1689), governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1678 to 1682
• Orazio (January 24, 1636 - November 2, 1656), General of the Venetian Knights
• Maria Caterina (September 3, 1637 - April 27, 1684), nun
• Maria Maddalena (July 15, 1638 - March 11, 1693)
• Pietro (April 20, 1639 - March 4, 1677)
• Ottavio Francesco, (born January 5, 1641; † before August 4, 1641) buried in San Sisto in Piacenza

literature

• Parma . In: Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber (Ed.): General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts , 3rd section, 12th part (1839), p. 214ff. (public domain text).
• Farnese (Odoard) . In: Nouvelle Biographie Générale , Vol. 17 (1856), p. 127 (public domain text).
• Gregory Hanlon: The Hero of Italy. Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, his Soldiers, and his Subjects in the Thirty Years' War , Oxford: Oxford University Press 2019, ISBN 978-0-19-884703-8 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Family tree

predecessor	Office	successor
Ranuccio I. Farnese	Duke of Parma 1622–1646	Ranuccio II Farnese