Duchy of Parma and Piacenza | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1545–1802 (1808) 1814–1859 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Motto: Dirige me Domine! (Latin) Lead me, oh Lord! | |||||||||||||||||||
 The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (green) | |||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) Northern Italy in 1815. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Duchy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Parma Piacenza | ||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Parman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1545–1547 | Pier Luigi Farnese(first) | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1854–1859 | Robert I(last) | ||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||
• Creation and granting of the title of duke toPier Luigi Farnese byPope Paul III | 16 September 1545 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 24 April 1748 | |||||||||||||||||||
• Ceded to France Treaty of Aranjuez (1801) | 21 March 1801 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Formal annexation by France | 1808 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Restored | 11 April 1814 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Ceded to theUnited Provinces of Central Italy | 8 December 1859 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||
• Estimate | 501,000 in the 19th century | ||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Parman lira | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||
TheDuchy of Parma and Piacenza (Italian:Ducato di Parma e Piacenza,Latin:Ducatus Parmae et Placentiae) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located innorthern Italy, in the current region ofEmilia-Romagna.[1]
Originally a realm of theFarnese family afterPope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his son,Pier Luigi Farnese, it was ruled by the dynasty until 1731, when the last duke,Antonio Farnese, died without direct heirs.[1][2] After a decade ofHabsburg rule, the duchy passed to theHouse of Bourbon-Parma.
It was invaded byNapoleon and annexed byFrance, having its sovereignty restored in 1814 after Napoleon's defeat. Napoleon's wife,Marie Louise (Maria Luigia), then ruled as its duchess until her death. Parma was restored to Bourbon rule in 1847, and in 1859, the duchy was formally abolished as it was integrated into thenew Italian state.[1]
The Duchy of Parma was created byPope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) in 1545 from former parts of theDuchy of Milan south of thePo River which had been conquered by thePapal States in 1512. These territories, centered on the city ofParma, were given as afief to Paul III's illegitimate son,Pier Luigi Farnese.[2]
In 1556, the second Duke,Ottavio Farnese, was given the city ofPiacenza, becoming thus also Duke of Piacenza, and so the state was thereafter known as theDuchy of Parma and Piacenza (Italian:Ducato di Parma e Piacenza). In 1587, during the rule of DukeAlessandro Farnese, theStato Pallavicino, an absolute monarchy feudal state in northwestern Emilia, encompassing the Marchesates of Busseto and Cortemaggiore, was annexed into the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. This annexation expanded the duchy's territory and consolidated Farnese influence over the region. The Stato Pallavicino had been an autonomous entity under thePallavicino family since 1394, but its absorption marked the end of its independence. TheFarnese family continued to rule until the extinction of their male line in 1731.[1]
Ottavio Farnese strove to make the duchy prosperous, to win the benevolence of the people by applying the wise measures already taken by his father and to flatter the local nobility using more moderation than Pier Luigi, he knew how to consolidate the duchy by promoting its economy and financial and commercial exchanges and cultural, it started the territorial expansion with the annexation of some fiefdoms. In 1573 the number of inhabitants of the new capital had increased considerably reaching 26,000.Alessandro Farnese, who was also an important general of the Spanish army, succeeding the leadership of the duchy, was forced by the KingPhilip II of Spain to appoint his seventeen-year-old sonRanuccio I Farnese, as regent, since the Spanish King did not want to deprive himself of the able and valiant general.[3]
Alessandro died far from Parma on 3 December 1592 from gangrene caused by an arquebus ball during the Siege of Can de Bec, a year before his death he ordered the construction of the fortress of the Citadel with the aim of affirming the power of the family but also to provide work to a labor force of 2,500 people made up mostly of the poor sections of the city population. Ranuccio I, passionate about arts and music, made the ducal court the first in Italy in the musical arts. During this period, the city was enriched with unique monuments, such as thePalazzo della Pilotta,Palazzo Ducale and theTeatro Farnese, modern legislation was passed, which made Parma a center of excellence both in terms of lifestyle and as an architectural model, elevating it as a cultural capital to the same level of other important European capitals. His government was guilty of the public execution of over 100 Parma citizens accused of conspiring against him. In 1628, on the death of Ranuccio I, the duchy was passed on to his just sixteen-year-old sonOdoardo, who on 11 October of the same year married the fifteen-year-oldMargherita de' Medici inFlorence, daughter ofCosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.[4][5]
These were difficult years for the duchy, in addition to the terrible plague of 1630 which decimated the population, the new duke maintained an army of 6,000 infantry and to finance it he forced his subjects into severe deprivation, getting into debt with bankers and merchants. Despite the high expenses incurred, his first campaign was negative: Piacenza was occupied by the Spanish troops, his troops were defeated in Parma territory byFrancesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena, and Odoardo was forced to sign a peace treaty with Spain under which, once the alliance with France was dissolved, he would have evacuated Piacenza.[6]
On his death, which took place in Piacenza on 11 September 1646 at the age of 34, the duchy passed to his sonRanuccio II and for two years the regency was ensured by his wife Margherita de' Medici and by his uncle the CardinalFrancesco Maria Farnese, until the age of eighteen. In 1691 the Duchy of Parma was invaded by theImperial army and plundered by the four thousand soldiers who arrived in Parma with women and children; not only their maintenance fell on the subjects, but rape, abuse and violence followed one another without respite. Ranuccio II made many works to improve the situation of his subjects, but the contrast between the carefree life of the court and the coffers of the treasury was truly remarkable and to keep all the characters who rotated at the court of Parma, the duke was forced to tax everything, avoiding, however, touching the ecclesiastical income. During his reign, Ranuccio II bought precious paintings and volumes, he moved most of the works belonging to thefamily collections preserved in the Roman residences to Parma and in 1688 the new Ducal Theater was inaugurated. Ranuccio II had a son destined to succeed him,Odoardo, who, however, predeceased his father and therefore never governed the duchy.[7][8]
Three years before his death, thanks to the mediation of the ambassador Count Fabio Perletti, Odoardo had marriedCountess Palatine Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg, with whom he had two children: Alessandro, who died at the age of eight months, andElisabeth. On 11 December 1694, upon the sudden death of Ranuccio II, the duchy then passed into the hands of the just sixteen-year-old second sonFrancesco, who married the widow of his brother Dorothea.[9]
Francesco Farnese's work fully brought the Farnese dynasty back to the center of great politics. Having inherited a disastrous financial situation, in order to try to heal it he cut all the unnecessary expenses of the court by firing most of the servants, musicians, jesters and dwarves. He also abolished performances, court parties and banquets. A hydraulic work was built to defend the city of Piacenza from the erosion of the Po, the expansion of theUniversity of Parma and the Collegio dei Nobili was favored, encouraging the study of public law, history, languages and geography. Artists, writers, musicians and playwrights enjoyed the protection of the Court. In 1712 the renovation works of theDucal Palace of Colorno began, completed in 1730. In 1714 the duchy achieved an important diplomatic success when Francesco, thanks to the offices of his ambassador in SpainGiulio Alberoni, was able to marry his nieceElisabeth to KingPhilip V of Spain, who had been widowed earlier that year.[10][11]
Because of the lack of male heirs,Elisabeth Farnese, niece of DukeAntonio Farnese, was declared the Farnese heiress. She received many marriage proposals, finally marrying in 1714Philip V of Spain. On the death of childless Duke Antonio in 1731, Philip V asserted the rights that his wife had over the duchies according to the agreements signed in theTreaty of Vienna of 1725 and theTreaty of Seville of 1729, and he claimed both for the SpanishHouse of Bourbon. The Duchy would thus be inherited by his first son with Elisabeth, InfanteCarlos of Spain, who reigned asDuke Charles I of Parma and Piacenza. He ruled his territories for four years until the end of theWar of the Polish Succession, when, according to what was established in theTreaty of Vienna (1738), he handed over both duchies to theHouse of Habsburg in exchange for the Kingdoms ofNaples andSicily.
The Habsburgs only ruled until the conclusion of theWar of the Austrian Succession in 1748, whose final peace treaty, theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ceded back the duchy to the Bourbons in the person of InfantePhilip of Spain, younger brother of Charles I.Duke Philip became the founder of theHouse of Bourbon-Parma, reigning over an expandedDuchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (Italian:Ducato di Parma, Piacenza e Guastalla), theGonzaga rulers of neighbouringGuastalla having died out in 1746.
In 1796, the duchy was occupied by French troops underNapoleon, and the political situation of the state became extremely confused.Ferdinand maintained his throne under French military governors until theTreaty of Aranjuez of 1801, when a general agreement between theHouse of Bourbon and Napoleon formally decided the cession of the duchy toFrance in exchange forTuscany, but the Duke remained in Parma until he died in 1802.
Napoleon Bonaparte was undecided about the future of the duchy, aspiring to a total engagement of the Bourbons in the European wars as his allies. Even as French laws and administration were gradually introduced, the formal annexation to theFrench Empire was declared only in 1808 after the outbreak of thePeninsular War. The duchy was reformed as thedépartement ofTaro.
In 1814, the duchies were given to Napoleon's Habsburg wife,Marie-Louise, styled in Italian Maria-Luigia, who ruled them for the rest of her life. After her death in 1847, the Duchy was restored to the Bourbon-Parma family, which had been ruling the tinyDuchy of Lucca. Guastalla was ceded toModena. The Bourbons ruled until 1859, when they were driven out by a revolution following the French and Sardinian victory in the war against Austria (called Austrian War in France andSecond War of Independence in Italy). It was the only case in Italy where the ruling monarchs were successfully driven out by two consecutive uprisings, both in 1848 and 1859: the reasons behind this are to be found both in the rising aspiration for Italian unification and a strong despise towards the Bourbons, after the less reactionary reign of Marie Louise.
In December 1859, the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza was combined with theGrand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena to form theUnited Provinces of Central Italy. In March 1860, after a referendum, this merged with theKingdom of Sardinia, which in 1861changed its name to theKingdom of Italy.
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