| Maria Amalia of Saxony | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Maria Amalia overlooking the Neapolitan crown, byGiuseppe Bonito,c. 1745 | |||||
| Queen consort of Spain | |||||
| Tenure | 10 August 1759 – 27 September 1760 | ||||
| Queen consort of Naples andSicily | |||||
| Tenure | 19 June 1738 – 10 August 1759 | ||||
| Born | (1724-11-24)24 November 1724 Dresden Castle,Dresden,Saxony | ||||
| Died | 27 September 1760(1760-09-27) (aged 35) Buen Retiro Palace,Madrid, Spain | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue Detail | |||||
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| House | Wettin | ||||
| Father | Augustus III of Poland | ||||
| Mother | Maria Josepha of Austria | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
Maria Amalia (Maria Amalia Christina Franziska Xaveria Flora Walburga; 24 November 1724 – 27 September 1760) wasQueen of Spain from 10 August 1759 until her death in 1760 as the wife ofKing Charles III. Previously, she had beenQueen of Naples andSicily since marrying Charles on 19 June 1738. She was born a princess of Poland and Saxony, daughter of KingAugustus III of Poland and PrincessMaria Josepha of Austria. Maria Amalia and Charles had thirteen children, of whom seven survived into adulthood. A popular consort, Maria Amalia oversaw the construction of theCaserta Palace outside Naples as well as various other projects, and she is known for her influence upon the affairs of state.
She was born atDresden Castle inDresden, the daughter ofAugustus III of Poland, Elector of Saxony andMaria Josepha of Austria, herself daughter ofJoseph I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her mother was the first cousin ofEmpress Maria Theresa. The infant was baptized with the namesMaria Amalia Christina Franziska Xaveria Flora Walburga, but known as Maria Amalia. One of sixteen children, she was the sister ofFrederick Christian, Elector of Saxony,Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony wife of her cousinMaximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria; she was the older sister ofPrincess Maria Josepha of Saxony who was the mother ofLouis XVI of France. Her youngest sister,Princess Kunigunde was a possible wife for the futurePhilippe Égalité. She grew up at the court of Dresden and was educated in French, dance and painting. She was also an accomplished musician and sang and played the piano from an early age.
In 1738, Maria Amalia became engaged to Charles, King of Naples and Sicily, the futureCharles III of Spain. The marriage was arranged by her future mother-in-law Elizabeth Farnese, after Elizabeth had failed to arrange a marriage of Charles toArchduchess Maria Anna of Austria, and refused to agree to have him marry toLouise Élisabeth of France. The impenetrable secret negotiations had taken place earlier in Vienna, where the Dowager Empress Wilhelmina Amalia, grandmother of Maria Amalia, played an important part in the negotiations. The Spanish ambassador in Vienna,Count Fuenclara, acted on behalf of the courts of Madrid and Naples, while the Italian banker Giovanni Battista Bolza represented the interests of Dresden court. In December 1737, a papal dispensation was made, and the marriage announced in the beginning 1738. On 8 May 1738, Maria Amalia had a proxy ceremony atDresden with her brother,Frederick Christian of Saxony, representing Charles. Since this marriage was looked upon favorably by the papacy, it soothed the diplomatic disagreements between Charles and the Papal states.
On 4 July 1738, Maria Amalia arrived at Naples and to what was described as a euphoric welcome. The couple met for the first time on 19 June 1738 atPortella, a village on the kingdom's frontier nearFondi.[1] At court, festivities lasted till 3 July when Charles created theRoyal order of San Gennaro – the most prestigious chivalric order in the kingdom. He later had theOrder of Charles III created in Spain on 19 September 1771.
Despite being an arranged marriage, the couple became very close: it was noted and reported to her mother-in-law in Spain, that Charles seemed happy and pleased when he first met her. Maria Amalia was described as a beauty and as a skillful rider, and she accompanied Charles on his hunts. As Queen, she exerted great influence upon politics despite her frequent illnesses, and she actively participated in state affairs. She ended the careers of several politicians she disliked, such as J.M. de Benavides y Aragón, conte di Santisteban; Y.Y. de Montealegre, marchese di Salas; and G. Fogliani Sforza d'Aragona, marchese di Pellegrino. Her displeasure led directly to the latter being deposed as prime minister.[2] Maria Amalia did not need to keep her influence secret: after the birth of her first son in 1747, she was given a seat in the council of state.[3] She worked against the Spanish influence on Naples and in 1742 convinced Charles, against the will of Spain, to declare Naples neutral during theWar of the Austrian Succession, during which Britain threatened to bomb Naples.[4] In 1744, however she was forced to agree to declare war. She then favored Great Britain before France and Austria.[5] Maria Amalia was talked about because of her favorites, which were to have influence over her policy when she was very ill, such as princess Anna Francesca Pinelli and duchessZenobia Revertera. In 1754, she supported the career ofBernardo Tanucci as Foreign Minister.[6]
Maria Amalia was very cultivated and played an important role in the construction ofCaserta Palace,[citation needed] for which she saw her husband lay the foundation stone for on his 36th birthday, on 20 January 1752 amid much festivity. However, they left Naples before its completion due to her declining health so they never actually lived in the palace. She also was influential in the building of thePalace of Portici (Reggia diPortici), theTeatro di San Carlo – constructed in just 270 days – thePalace of Capodimonte (Reggia di Capodimonte); her husband also had theRoyal Palace of Naples renovated. Her apartments atPortici were home to the famous porcelain from theCapodimonte Porcelain Manufactory which she who introduced the production ofPorcelain in Naples in 1743. She was also a heavy user of tobacco. Maria Amalia was also a patron of the composerGian Francesco Fortunati, a favorite at the Neapolitan court.[citation needed] She was criticized for being too religious from what was proper from someone not a member of a Catholic monastic order: she attended mass twice and eventually four times a day and kept more devotions than what was normal for a nun or a monk, and he eventually lectured her that she was more fervent than what could be regarded as modest for a lay person.
At the end of 1758, Charles' half brotherFerdinand, was displaying the same symptoms of depression from which their father used to suffer. Ferdinand lost his devoted wife,Infanta Barbara of Portugal in August 1758 and would fall into deep mourning for her. He named Charles his heir on 10 December 1758 before leaving Madrid to stay atVillaviciosa de Odón where he died on 10 August 1759. Charles succeeded him.
That same year Charles and Maria Amalia left Naples forMadrid, leaving two of their children behind inCaserta. Her third-surviving son becameFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies, while his elder brotherCharles was groomed in Spain to inherit the Spanish crown; their oldest brother,Infante Felipe, Duke of Calabria was mentally disabled and was thus taken out of the line of succession to any throne; he died quietly and forgotten in Portici where he had been born in 1747.The right of succession to Naples and Sicily was reserved for her third sonPrince Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily; Prince Ferdinand stayed in Italy while his parents were in Spain. In favour of that, Charles abdicated on 6 October 1759, decreeing the final separation between the Spanish and Neapolitan crowns. Charles and Maria Amalia arrived inBarcelona on 7 October 1759.
Maria Amalia once again did much to improve the royal residences having them redecorated. She, along with her husband, helped with the founding of the luxury porcelain factory under the nameReal Fábrica del Buen Retiro.[citation needed] Maria Amalia deemed Spain to be ill managed and undeveloped, and she partially blamed her mother-in-law, Queen Dowager Elizabeth Farnese, who was thereby obliged to leave the Spanish court.[citation needed] She did not like it in Spain, and complained about the food, the language, which she refused to learn; the climate, the Spaniards, whom she thought to be passive and the Spanish courtiers, whom she regarded as ignorant and uneducated.[7] She described the Spanish court as depressed and hysterical.[8] She planned great reforms to the Spanish system, but did not have time to finish them.[9] In September 1760, a year after arriving inMadrid, Maria Amalia suddenly died at theBuen Retiro Palace outside the capital. She was buried at the Royal Crypt inEl Escorial. She was joined by her devoted husband in 1788.
In 1761, Charles commissionedGiovanni Battista Tiepolo to paint frescoes for the Royal Palace in Madrid. In the Queen's Antechamber, Tiepolo and his assistants painted theApotheosis of the Spanish Monarchy. The frescos were painted from 1762–1766. Queen Maria Amalia appears surrounded by several of the gods of Greek mythology, includingApollo.[10]
ByInfante Carlos of Spain, Duke of Parma and Piacenza; King of Naples and Sicily; King of Spain (Real Alcázar de Madrid,Madrid,Kingdom of Spain, 20 January 1716 – Royal Palace of Madrid, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain, 14 December 1788)
Maria Amalia of Saxony Born: 24 November 1724 Died: 27 September 1760 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Elisabeth Christineof Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel | Queen consort of Naples andSicily 1738–1759 | Vacant Title next held by Maria Carolina of Austria |
| Vacant Title last held by Barbara of Portugal | Queen consort of Spain 1759–1760 | Vacant Title next held by Maria Luisa of Parma |
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See also:Princes andPrincesses of the Two Sicilies | ||||||||||
