Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies () (19 December 1814 – 7 November 1898), was a princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by birth and Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II.
She is also known as Marie Antoinette of the Two Sicilies or Marie Antoinette of Tuscany, since in the Bourbon and Habsburg-Lorraine families this form was used for princesses called Maria Antonia.
Life Early years
Maria Antonia was born at the Royal Palace of Palermo on 19 December 1814, the daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain. The girl was given the baptismal name Maria Antonia in honor of her great-aunt Marie Antoinette, the murdered sister of her paternal grandmother, Maria Carolina of Austria. When she was born, the Neapolitan court had already moved to Sicily due to the Napoleonic troops that had invaded the continental part of the kingdom. A few months after her birth, the royal family was able to return to the capital and recover their dominions thanks to the Congress of Vienna.
She was particularly close to her brother Ferdinand II, who affectionately called her "Totò", as well as her sister-in-law Maria Cristina of Savoy, who arrived at the Bourbon court in 1832. Maria Antonia and Maria Cristina, two years older, formed a sincere and deep friendship, but had to separate in view of the princess's wedding. After Maria Antonia's departure, Maria Cristina wrote: «It was a great affliction for me to have to separate from my sister-in-law Antonietta who is so good and with whom she had already established an intimate friendship».
Betrothal and marriage with Leopold II On 24 March 1832 Grand Duchess Maria Anna of Tuscany (born a princess of Saxony), died of tuberculosis, without having managed to give a male heir to her husband, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany. After almost a year of widowhood, the Grand Duke decided to remarry and the choice fell on the beautiful Neapolitan princess Maria Antonia. The two were first cousins because King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (father of Maria Antonia) and Grand Duchess Luisa Maria of Tuscany (mother of Leopold II), were siblings.
Prince Don Tommaso Corsini, on 21 May 1833, went as ambassador to Naples to stipulate the marriage contract. On 23 May, in the presence of the Neapolitan court, the Prince expressly asked for the hand of the young Princess, making three speeches: the first two were directed to King Ferdinand II, the bride's brother, and to Maria Isabella, the Queen Mother. The third speech was instead directed to Maria Antonia:
Princess Maria Antonia, in turn replied:
On 24 May 1833 Leopold II left Florence for Naples, where he made his official entry on 28 May alongside his future brother-in-law, who had welcomed him in Capua. Before the wedding, the court reserved some entertainment for the two engaged couples: a gala show at the Teatro di San Carlo and a visit to the ruins of Pompeii, which the Grand Duke particularly appreciated. On the morning of 7 June the very sumptuous wedding took place in the chapel of the royal palace: Maria Antonia was 18-years old, while Leopold II was seventeen years older. In private the young bride said to her husband: «How happy I am at this moment to be with you».
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
On 8 June 1833, in the late afternoon, the grand ducal couple left Naples and boarded the frigate "La Sirena" for Livorno. The journey was peaceful and Leopold II remembered that: «Antoinetta opened her beautiful heart, she poured out every treasure of hers: she spoke of her youth, of her pain at the death of her dear father. I told her about my family, and about her new home. She, who knew that I had loved the other wife, told me I had a portrait of her, cherished memories of her». Leopold II and Maria Antonia landed in Livorno on 14 June, welcomed by the Dowager Grand Duchess Maria Ferdinanda, by the Archduchess Maria Luisa (sister of the Grand Duke) and by Leopold II's three daughters from his first marriage: Carolina, Augusta and Maximiliana. The following day the newlyweds and their entourage headed to Pisa where they stayed for a few days and took part in the specially organized festive events. On 20 June, Maria Antonia made her official entry into Florence, where she was welcomed in a festive atmosphere with great cheers.
The new Grand Duchess was much admired by the Florentines for her beauty, which is why Leopold II had asked her in marriage. In his memoirs, the Grand Duke described his beautiful and beloved bride thus: «On her face there was sweetness, intelligence [...]. Her sweet and sagacious eye, her serene forehead, a row of chosen pearls shining on her smile, her hair of golden splendor, her neck gently expanding over her shoulders, her arm, her hand of uncommon elegance, her every movement composed and dignified, appropriate words». Another factor that made Maria Antonia popular in the eyes of the Florentines was that she was an Italian princess and not a foreigner and the people hoped that she would soon give many heirs to Tuscany.
Initially Maria Antonia had some difficulty getting used to the "bourgeois" environment of Florence, so different from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: accustomed to a small and subordinate population and who often lived in poverty, the Grand Duchess did not understand why it was necessary give charity to well-dressed and clean people, such as those who formed the Florentine people. On one occasion the Grand Duchess, with her strong Neapolitan accent, complained that: «There are no poor people in Florence». In order to avoid creating a rift between Maria Antonia and the people, Leopold II took care to surround his wife with Florentine ladies; in particular, it was thanks to her first lady-in-waiting, Mrs. Adele Palagi, wife of the knight Palagi, colonel of the Grenadiers, that the Grand Duchess managed to integrate perfectly and love Florence as her second homeland, understanding her artistic and courteous side.
Maria Antonia, although not cultured, carried within her a natural love for the fine arts. She was a great patron, she welcomed artists into her palaces and often went to their studios as a private visitor. Among her protégés were the sculptor Giovanni Duprè and the musician Teodulo Mabellini. Marquis Cosimo Ridolfi, one of the major agronomists of her time, selected a new type of camellia which he called "Maria Antonietta" in honor of the Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess, educated with strict religious principles, was a fervent and devout Catholic. She developed in a particular way the cult of Saint Philomena of Rome, a perhaps legendary figure of Christianity. At her behest, in honor of the saint, altars and chapels were built in many churches, furthermore army officers had to join the saint's brotherhood and pay a tribute.
Maria Antonia, as hoped, soon became pregnant. However, on 18 May 1834 the family was struck by mourning: Archduchess Maximiliana, youngest daughter from Leopold II's first marriage, died at the age of seven. The young Grand Duchess was moved by the death of her stepdaughter; three days later, on 21 May, she gave birth for the first time: another baby girl was born, who was given the name Maria Isabella, in honor of her maternal grandmother. The Grand Duchess was struck by puerperal fever and only after long suffering did she manage to recover.
Just over a year later, the long-awaited heir was born. On 10 June 1835 at 9.20 in the evening (as Leopold II noted), Maria Antonia gave birth to a son who was immediately baptized Ferdinand in honor of his paternal grandfather and maternal uncle. The birth was welcomed with joy in all countries; the Prince Metternich wrote: «The assured succession in Tuscany is luck for all of Europe», since the order desired by the Congress of Vienna was thus preserved.
Between 1836 and 1852, Maria Antonia gave birth to eight more children: four girls and four boys. The grand ducal family was therefore made up in total of ten children born to Leopold II and Maria Antonia and the two surviving daughters from Leopold II's first marriage. Not all the children escaped death: Theresa (1836 – 1838), died in Livorno of typhoid fever; Marianna (1840 – 1841), died of convulsions; Carolina (1822 – 1841), the eldest, died after a year of agony; Rainer (1842 – 1844), died due to an unspecified illness; and Christina (1838 – 1849), died also of typhoid fever. All these deaths brought a lot of pain to the entire family: Maria Antonia always remained at her children's bedside until the end, only to faint from the suffering of seeing them die in her arms.
The prelude to 1848 and the Florentine Republic
In 1844 Leopold II approved a project which envisaged building a road connecting Piazza San Marco, Via degli Arazzieri and the San Paolo bastion of the Fortezza da Basso, with a new neighborhood dominated by a large square in the centre. The construction was entrusted to the engineer Flaminio Chiesi and already in 1845 the square was open to the public. Initially there were some problems of swampiness resolved in 1852: the square took on its definitive appearance in 1855. It was decided to name it Piazza Maria Antonia in honor of the Grand Duchess, but the Florentines had already taken to calling it Piazza di Barbano, from the name of the vegetable gardens that once stood there. Furthermore, by the 1850s, times had changed: the name of a Bourbon Grand Duchess, sister of the infamous "King Bomba", would never have been accepted.
In the same years, the Grand Duke carried out projects for the construction of two stations and two railways. In 1844 the first section of the Leopolda Railway was inaugurated, connecting Florence, Pisa and Livorno; in 1848 the section of the Florence-Prato line was opened, called the Maria Antonia Railway in honor of the Grand Duchess. In the same year the two related stations were also opened: the Maria Antonia Station first and then the Leopolda Station.
In 1847 Leopold II stood out for the liberal turn taken by his personal government: on 6 May freedom of the press was granted and on 4 September a Civic Guard was created. On 17 February 1848, a few days after his brother-in-law King Charles Albert of Sardinia, Leopold II granted to his realm a Constitution, which stood out from the others for granting full rights to citizens of all religions and on 18 March the first Tuscan constitutional government was born, presided over by Francesco Cempini. On the same day, Milan rose up against the Austrians, starting the Five Days of Milan. On 21 March, Leopold II aroused popular enthusiasm by deciding to send the few regular Tuscan troops, supported by volunteers, to fight in northern Italy alongside the Savoy troops against the Austrians; the Lorraine flag was replaced by the tricolor with the coat of arms of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine in the centre.
Towards the middle of the year, the expansionist attitudes of Charles Albert of Sardinia became clear and Leopold II decided to withdraw his troops. On 17 August the Grand Duke was forced to dismiss the moderate government of Cosimo Ridolfi and replace it with that of Gino Capponi. On 25 August riots broke out in Livorno led by the democrat Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi. In the wake of those events, Capponi resigned on 9 October. On 27 October Leopold II gave in to pressure and gave the post to the democrat Giuseppe Montanelli, who took Guerrazzi as Interior Minister, and inaugurated an ultra-democratic policy, or, in the political terminology of the time, aimed at union with the other Italian states and joint resumption of the war on Austria. Maria Antonia, meanwhile, with her family, had moved to Siena, from where on 4 November she sent a letter to her husband in which she informed him of her concerns: