| Maria Clementina Sobieska | |||||
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.jpg) Martin van Meytens (after), Maria Clementina Sobieska, 1727/28,Scottish National Gallery | |||||
| Consort of the Jacobite pretender | |||||
| Pretence | 3 September 1719 – 18 January 1735 | ||||
| Born | (1702-07-18)18 July 1702 Oława, Poland | ||||
| Died | 18 January 1735(1735-01-18) (aged 32) Palazzo Muti,Rome,Papal States | ||||
| Burial | St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Charles Edward Stuart Henry Benedict Stuart | ||||
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| House | Sobieski | ||||
| Father | Jakub Ludwik Sobieski | ||||
| Mother | Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg | ||||
 Coat of arms of Maria Clementina Sobieska | |||||
Maria Clementina Sobieska (Polish:Maria Klementyna Sobieska;[1] 18 July 1702 – 18 January 1735) was a titularqueen of England, Scotland and Ireland by marriage toJames Francis Edward Stuart, aJacobite claimant to the British throne. The granddaughter of the Polish kingJohn III Sobieski, she was the mother ofCharles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") and ofHenry Benedict Cardinal Stuart (Jacobite Duke of York, later Jacobite claimant).
She was born Maria Klementyna Sobieska, on 18 July 1702 inOława (Ohlau),Silesia, inPoland. Her parents were PrinceJakub Ludwik Sobieski (1667–1737), the eldest son of the Polish KingJan III Sobieski, andCountess Palatine Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg (1673–1722). Jan III Sobieski was famous for his victoriousBattle of Vienna against the Ottoman Turks on 12 September 1683. Her older sisterMaria Karolina (known asCharlotte) was theDuchess of Bouillon by marriage.
_-_The_Solemnisation_of_the_Marriage_of_Prince_James_Francis_Edward_Stuart_and_Princess_Maria_Clementin_-_PG_2415_-_National_Galleries_of_Scotland.jpg)
Being one of Europe's wealthiest heiresses from inheriting vast estates in Poland from her paternal grandfather, she was betrothed toJames, Prince of Wales, the exiled son of James II and VII. KingGeorge I of Great Britain was opposed to the marriage because he feared that the union might produce heirs to James Francis Edward's claim to his thrones. To placate him,Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (Maria Clementina's own maternal first cousin) had her arrested while on her way to Italy to marry James Francis Edward. She was confined inInnsbruck Castle but eventually the guards were deceived and, with the help ofCharles Wogan, Maria Clementina escaped toBologna, where, for safety from further intrusions, she wasmarried by proxy to James, who was inSpain at that time.[2][3] Maria Clementina's father approved her escape, declaring that, as she became engaged to James Francis Edward, she ought to "follow his fortune and his cause".
Maria Clementina and Prince James were formally married on 3 September 1719 in the chapel of the episcopal palace ofMontefiascone,Italy, in the Cathedral of Santa Margherita.[4] Following their marriage, James and Maria Clementina were invited to reside inRome at the special request ofPope Clement XI, who acknowledged them as the king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.
The Pope provided them with a papal guard of troops and gave them thePalazzo Muti in the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli in Rome to live in, as well as a country villa atAlbano. TheCatholic Church also provided them with an annual allowance of 12,000 crowns out of the papal treasury. Popes Clement XI andInnocent XIII considered James and Maria Clementina, both Catholics, the rightful king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.
The married life of James and Maria Clementina proved turbulent and unhappy. Reportedly, James initially had a favourable impression of her because of her beauty, while she disliked him because of his lack of it, as well as his passive nature.[5] She befriended the governess of her son, a Mrs Sheldon, who became her confidant and favourite.[5] On the other hand, she disliked the influence of James's favouriteJohn Hay of Cromlix and his wife Marjorie, and reportedly, she suspected James of having an affair with Marjorie Hay.[5]
In 1725, soon after their second child's birth, James fired Sheldon and appointedJames Murray as the guardian of their sons against the wishes of Maria Clementina.[5] She left him and went to live inconvent of St. Cecilia in Rome with her favourite Sheldon and the rest of her personal retinue. She accused her husband of adultery, while he said it was sinful to leave him and her children. Upon the advice of Cardinal Alberoni, who claimed it was her only chance to gain support against her husband, Maria Clementina claimed that James wished to give his son a Protestant education.[5] This claim secured her the support of the Pope as well as the Kingdom of Spain against James and the sympathy of the public when she demanded that James remove the Duke of Dunbar and the Hays from his court and reinstate Sheldon in her position.[5] In April 1726, James granted her sons permission to visit her. The whole affair was seen as a scandal in Europe and reported about by anti-Jacobite agents in Rome.[5] In May 1727, through the mediation of the duke of Liria, James removed the Hay couple from his court, and in January 1728, Maria Clementina and James reconciled in Bologna.[5]
In practice, however, Maria Clementina and James lived the rest of their marriage separated: James preferred to reside in Albano, while Maria Clementina lived in the Palazzo Muti in Rome.[5]She was prone to depression, spending much of her time praying and submitting to religious fasting and other Catholic ascetic rituals, which is thought to have played a role in the fact that she never conceived again.[5] Her sexual relations with James soon discontinued; they seldom dined together, and though they were officially reconciled, she preferred to avoid him outside formal occasions.[5]Maria Clementina did perform the ceremonial functions she had as Jacobite queen: in June 1729, for example, she gave an audience forMontesquieu.[5] Her favourite Mrs Sheldon did not officially reside at the Jacobite court, but she provided her with a residence close to it, and kept her as a confidante.[5] Her relation to her younger son was not close, as he was his father's favourite, but she was close to their elder son Charles, who was his mother's favourite: during an illness of Charles in 1732, for example, Maria Clementina tended to him despite the fact that he fell ill in Albano and she was thus forced to meet James.[5]
Her health was weakened by herascetic life style and deteriorated as the years went by.[5] Maria Clementina died at the early age of 32 on 18 January 1735. Her doctor named the cause of death as 'scorbutic disease', more commonly known asscurvy.[6] She was interred with full royal honours inSt. Peter's Basilica inRome.Pope Clement XII ordered that she have a state burial.Pope Benedict XIV commissioned architectFilippo Barigioni to design a monument for her memory,Pietro Bracci sculpted a statue for it, and it was erected 1742 in the Basilica.
Maria Clementina and James Francis Edward had two sons:
| Ancestors of Maria Clementina Sobieska |
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A fictionalised re-telling of Maria Clementina's rescue fromInnsbruck in 1719 forms the plot ofA. E. W. Mason's 1901 novelClementina.
| Titles in pretence | ||
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| Vacant Title last held by Mary of Modena | — TITULAR — Queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland 1719–1735 Reason for succession failure: Glorious Revolution | Vacant Title next held by Louise of Stolberg-Gedern |
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