Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy

Princess Maria Felicita
Born	(1730-03-19)19 March 1730 Royal Palace, Turin
Died	13 May 1801(1801-05-13) (aged 71) Rome, Papal States
Burial	Royal Baslica, Turin
Names Maria Felicita di Savoia
House	Savoy
Father	Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Mother	Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg

Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (19 March 1730 – 13 May 1801) was a princess of the House of Savoy, the third daughter of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and his second wife, Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg.

Biography

Princess Maria Felicita as an infant by unknown artist (probably Maria Giovanna Clementi), 1732.

Born at the Royal Palace of Turin, she was the third daughter of Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia and his second wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg. Her mother died in 1735 when she was just four years old. Her father married again in 1737 to Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, the youngest sister of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles Emmanuel III and Elisabeth Therese went on to have three children, including the Duke of Chablais.

Her maternal cousins included Victor Amadeus, Prince of Carignan and his younger sister the future princesse de Lamballe, both of which were born at the court of Savoy. Her paternal cousins included Ferdinand VI of Spain, who was king of Spain at the time of her birth.

She never married. She was described as very religious. She founded, with Giovanni Battista Canaveri, a home in her native Turin for widows and destitute noble women "Convitto Principessa Maria Felicita di Savoia". Canaveri was the director. It was made possible due to an act she had her brother implement, Convitto per donne nubili e vedove, for women in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

On 6 December 1798, the French First Republic declared war on Sardinia.

Her nephew Charles Emmanuel (then king) was forced to abdicate all his territories on the Italian mainland and to withdraw to the island of Sardinia. As Charles Emmanuel took little interest in the rule of what was left of his kingdom, he and Clotilde lived in Rome and then in Naples as guests of the wealthy Colonna family. Maria Felicita went with her nephew to live as fugitives in Italy.

She died in Rome and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga overlooking Turin, the traditional burial place of the House of Savoy. She outlived all her siblings except the Duke of Chablais.

Ancestry

Family of Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy

16. Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy 8. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy 17. Christine of France 4. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia 18. Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours 9. Marie Jeanne of Savoy 19. Élisabeth de Bourbon 2. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia 20. Louis XIII of France 10. Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans 21. Anne of Austria 5. Anne Marie d'Orléans 22. Charles I of England 11. Henrietta of England 23. Henrietta Maria of France 1. Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy 24. Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg 12. William, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg 25. Marie Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms 6. Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg 26. Ferdinand Karl, Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort 13. Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort 27. Countess Anna Maria of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg 3. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg 28. Ferdinand Karl, Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (=10) 14. Maximilian Charles Albert of Löwenstein-Wertheim 29. Countess Anna Maria of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (=11) 7. Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort 30. Mathias Khuen von Belasi, Count of Lichtenberg and Gandegg 15. Maria Polyxena Khuen-Belasi-Lichtenberg 31. Countess Anna Susanna von Meggau zu Kreutzen

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 19 March 1730 – 13 May 1801 Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy.