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Elisabetta Farnese, queen of Spain

Elizabeth Farnese (October 22, 1692 – July 11, 1766), Queen consort of Spain, also known as Isabel de Farnesio or Isabella Farnese, was the only daughter of Odoardo II Farnese. Her paternal grandparents were Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Isabella of Modena.

Her mother Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg was a daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of the Rhine and Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her maternal grandparents were George II, Landgrave of Hesse (1605 – 1661) and Duchess Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (1609 – 1671).

Sofie Eleonore was in turn a daughter of John George II, Elector of Saxony and Magdalene of Brandenburg. Her maternal grandparents were Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1553 – 1618) and Princess Marie of Cleves-Jülich.

Marie was a daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and a granddaughter of John III, Duke of Cleves. Her mother the Archduchess Maria was a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.

Anna of Bohemia was herself a daughter of Vladislaus II and Anne de Foix.

Her mother educated her in strict seclusion, but seclusion altogether failed to tame her imperious and ambitious temper. At the age of twenty-one (1714) she was married by proxy at Parma to Philip V of Spain. The marriage was arranged by Cardinal Alberoni, with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, the Camarera Mayor.

On arriving at the borders of Spain, Elizabeth was met by the Princesse des Ursins, but received her sternly, and, perhaps in accordance with a plan previously concerted with the king, at once ordered her to be removed from her presence and from Spain. Elizabeth quickly obtained complete influence over Philip V, who was considered a weak king. This influence was exerted altogether in support of the policy of Alberoni, one chief aim of which was to recover the ancient Italian possessions of Spain, and which actually resulted in the seizure of Sardinia and Sicily. So vigorously did she enter into this policy that, when the French forces advanced to the Pyrenees, she placed herself at the head of one division of the Spanish army.

But Elizabeth's ambition was grievously disappointed. The Triple Alliance thwarted her plans, and at length in 1720 the allies made the banishment of Alberoni a condition of peace. Sicily also had to be evacuated. And finally, all her entreaties failed to prevent the abdication of Philip, who in 1724 gave up the throne to his heir, and retired to the palace of La Granja. (Also in 1724, she acquired the San Ildefonso Group for him from the Odescalchi family.)

Seven months later, however, the death of the young king recalled Philip to the throne. During his later years, when he was nearly imbecile, she directed the whole policy of Spain so as to secure thrones in Italy for her sons. In 1736 she had the satisfaction of seeing her favorite scheme realized in the accession of her son Don Carlos (afterwards Charles III of Spain) to the throne of the Two Sicilies and his recognition by the powers in the treaty of Vienna. Her second son, Philip, became duke of Parma. Elizabeth survived her husband by twenty years.

She had seven children by Philip V:

• Charles III of Spain (January 20, 1716 – December 14, 1788).
• Infante Francisco of Spain (21 March 1717 – 21 April 1717).
• Infanta Mariana Victoria de Borbón (March 31, 1718 – January 15, 1781). She became Queen consort of Joseph I of Portugal.
• Philip of Parma (March 20, 1720 – July 18, 1765) Duke of Parma and founder of the line of Bourbon-Parma.
• Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain (June 11, 1726 – July 22, 1746). First consort of Louis, Dauphin of France.
• Infante Luis Antonio of Spain (July 25, 1727 – 7 August 1785), known as the Cardinal-Infante. Was Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain and Cardinal since 1735. In 1754 renounced his ecclesiastical titles and became Count of Chinchón. In 1776, he married morganatically Doña María Teresa de Vallabriga y Rozas and had issue, but without royal titles.
• Infanta Maria Antonieta of Spain (November 17, 1729 – September 19, 1785). Consort of Victor Amadeus III of Savoy.

• Petrie, Charles: King Charles III of Spain New York, John Day Company, 1971
• Harcourt-Smith, Simon: Cardinal of Spain: the Life and Strange Career of Giulio Alberoni New York, Knopf, 1955
• Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Espagne sous le régne de Philippe V by the Marquis de St Philippe, translated by Maudave (Paris, 1756)
• Memoirs of Elizabeth Farnese (London, 1746)
• Armstrong, E: Elizabeth Farnese, the Termagant of Spain, 1892
• The Spanish original of the Comentarios del marqués de San Felipe was published in the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.