Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily

Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily (Maria Cristina Amelia Teresa; 17 January 1779 11 March 1849) was a Princess of Naples and Sicily[1] and later Queen of Sardinia as wife of King Charles Felix.

Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
Portrait by Giacomo Berger.
Queen consort of Sardinia
Tenure12 March 1821 27 April 1831
Born(1779-01-17)17 January 1779
Caserta Palace, Kingdom of Naples
Died11 March 1849(1849-03-11) (aged 70)
Savona, Kingdom of Sardinia
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1807; died 1831)
Full name
Maria Cristina Amelia Teresa
HouseBourbon-Two Sicilies
FatherFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies
MotherMaria Carolina of Austria
ReligionRoman Catholic

Princess of Naples and Sicily

Princess Maria Cristina, by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

She was a daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria, a daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

She was her mother's favourite child.

Duchess of Genoa

She was married on 6 April 1807 in Palermo with Prince Charles Felix of Savoy, who became king when his elder brother Victor Emmanuel I abdicated in 1821. Until her husband became king, she was styled as the Duchess of Genoa.

Queen of Sardinia

The royal couple were interested in the arts and artists, and turned the Royal House in Agliè and the Villa Rufinella in Frascati into comfortable residences.

During her husband's reign, they lived at the Palazzo Chiablese, where her husband died in 1831.

In 1825, the Queen engaged the archaeologist Marquess Luigi Biondi (1776–1839), whose excavation work uncovered Tusculum. In 1839 and 1840, the architect and archaeologist Luigi Canina (1795–1856) was engaged by the royal family and excavated the Theatre area of Tusculum. The ancient works of art excavated were sent to the Duke of Savoy's Castle of Agliè in Piedmont.

Charles Felix died in 1831 after a reign of ten years. Maria Cristina lived the rest of her life in Turin, Naples, Agliè and Frascati, and died in Savona, Liguria. She was buried beside her husband in the Basilica of Superga, Great Mausoleum, Savoy Crypt, Turin, Piedmont, Italy. The couple had no children.

Ancestry

References

  1. Later known as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
  2. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. pp. 1, 9.
Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 17 January 1779 Died: 11 March 1849
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
Queen Consort of Sardinia
12 March 1821 – 27 April 1831
Succeeded by
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria
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