Saintly Birthday

Today, in 1812, was the birthday of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen consort of the Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies. This is a good day to reflect on her life and to ask for her intercession for Italy and the House of Savoy today. Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy, Pray for Us!

Blessed Umberto III

Today, March 4, is the feast day of Blessed Count Umberto III of the House of Savoy. Monarchici in Rete has a short bio on him here. Blessed Umberto III had wanted to go into a monastery rather than be a prince but the duties and responsibilities of the secular life prevented this. Putting duty to his people and the House of Savoy before his own happiness, he set aside his plans for the religious life and entered the rough-and-tumble world of Medieval European politics. It was his duty to continue the Savoy family line but he had a hard time at it. His first wife died young, his second marriage ended in divorce and at that point, Umberto III decided he had done all that he could do and retired to a Carthusian monastery. However, his subjects, his nobles and other authorities begged him to return to his secular duty and so he finally did so, marrying again but having only two daughters. Once again he wished to give up and return to the monastery but again he was prevailed upon to try again and finally, on his fourth wife (his third died) he had a son who eventually succeeded him to leadership of the House of Savoy. His was a life of sacrifice, sacrificing personal happiness for royal duty -back when that sort of thing was still appreciated.

Beatification and Reconciliation

It became official this weekend in a ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples that the last Queen of the Two-Sicilies, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele I, is now Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy. For more information, you can read a profile on Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two-Sicilies. This was an extremely special occasion and one longed for by the people of Naples for many, many years. The Savoy princess who became their Queen was quite beloved by the common people, respected by all and was a shining example of Christian devotion, principles and compassion. It may also be that this occasion moved the House of Bourbon Two-Sicilies, which she was married into, to come together in reconciliation in another historic event last Friday.

On that day, the Duke of Noto (acting in place of the Duke of Calabria) and the Duke of Castro signed a document of reconciliation to end the feud between the two rival branches of the House of Bourbon Two-Sicilies which they represent. By this agreement, the heads of both branches of the family will be treated equally and will share leadership of the House. They will both represent the family together and the future succession will be undisputed since the Duke of Castro has no male children. The eldest son of the Duke of Noto, Prince Jaime, is also being prepared for a greater leadership role and is learning Italian. Now, in this case, some will undoubtedly raise the issue, held to by a small minority of separatists, about the restoration of the Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies. It is entirely a moot point as the House of Bourbon Two-Sicilies and the House of Savoy were themselves reconciled some time ago and the Bourbon heirs accepted the unification and independence of the Kingdom of Italy. Prince Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria (the last undisputed head of the Bourbon Two-Sicilies family) recognized the place of the House of Savoy, visited HM King Vittorio Emanuele III and was made a Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation by HM King Umberto II of Italy in 1948. The Duke later gave the King the Collar of the Constantinian Order. It is also worth repeating that the leaders of the House of Bourbon Two-Sicilies have never called for the secession of the south and the break-up of the united Italy (as some northern groups have).

On This Day in History

On this day in 1812 the Servant of God Maria Cristina of Savoy, daughter of the King of Piedmont-Sardinia and Queen consort of the Two-Sicilies was born. Support her cause for canonization!

Queen Maria Cristina

Her Cause Started

Support her Cause

Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of The Two-Sicilies

Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Cristina Carlotta Giuseppina Gaetana Elisa of Savoy was born on November 14, 1812 to HM King Vittorio Emanuele I of Piedmont-Sardinia and HM Queen Maria Teresa of Austria-Este in Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. The youngest of seven children, Princess Maria Cristina was born during a difficult period for the House of Savoy. The French Revolution, following by wars of expansion, had forced the family out of their ancestral homeland and the traditional citadel of Turin, which was occupied by French troops, to the island of Sardinia. As her very conservative and traditional parents refused to have anything to do with the revolutionaries or the Bonaparte regime, they had to wait until the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo before the Savoy family was able to return to Turin to fully restore the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to what it had been before the invasion. A little girl by that time, Princess Maria Cristina was educated privately at court and from an early age she had it impressed upon her that there was no greater duty than to God. She had an extensive religious education (her father had restored education to the clergy after it had been secularized by the French) and she was also taught about the long and illustrious history of the House of Savoy and her responsibilities to her family as a princess.

Of course, during this time, part of the duty of any royal princess was to be the source of a marriage alliance advantageous to her own country and dynasty. King Vittorio Emanuele I had aspirations to remove the Austrian presence in Lombardy and consolidate northern Italy under the House of Savoy. Ultimately this would be done but not by Vittorio Emanuele I and the marriage of Maria Cristina would have nothing to do with it at all. Nonetheless, it was thought practical to arrange a marriage between the princess and the King of the Two-Sicilies in Naples in an effort to keep southern Italy on friendly terms. So, while his second-to-the-youngest daughter was married to the heir to the Hapsburg throne (she would one day become Empress of Austria), it was decided that Maria Cristina would be married to King Ferdinando II and become Queen of the Two-Sicilies. She was still a teenager when the engagement was agreed to in 1830 and the local aristocracy in Turin held a magnificent engagement party for her. Onlookers remarked on how lovely the young princess of Savoy looked with her large deep eyes, light complexion and thick dark hair, charmingly shy and reserved. The princess had to be a little nervous about the marriage, not only because she was leaving her family for the first time but also because there was not a great deal she had in common with her husband-to-be.

However, it was ever “duty first” in the House of Savoy and Princess Maria Cristina was married a couple of years later with the wedding being celebrated in Genoa on November 21, 1832. Maria Cristina became Queen of the Two-Sicilies and began her married life in Naples. Sometimes such arranged marriages resulted in devotion and true romance but, sadly, this was not the case for the new Queen Maria Cristina. King Ferdinando II was rather crude where his Queen was refined, abusive where she was gentle, outgoing and bombastic where she was modest and reserved. The Queen was disturbed by the morals of the court at Naples and rather shocked by the oppressive policies of her husband who, to be fair, certainly had a great deal of malice and treachery among his people but who is most known for dealing with it by means of violent retaliation. Queen Maria Cristina was quite lonely as the King had little patience for her shy nature. The only close companion she had was her younger sister-in-law Princess Maria Antoinette (named after the ill-fated Queen of France Marie Antoinette) but even that relationship was short-lived as not long after her arrival in Naples the princess left for Florence to be married to Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany.

Yet, though she had almost no one close to her for company, Queen Maria Cristina was greatly loved by the ordinary people of the Two-Sicilies who were charmed by her demure beauty, kindness and sympathized with her for the way she was treated by her seemingly cold and indifferent husband. In fact, at times he seemed to delight in offending her, whether by his vulgar language or having dancers perform in their underwear. Originally quite popular as a “man of the people” the public reputation of Ferdinando II suffered both by the perception of how he treated his wife as well as the violent suppression of any calls for constitutional government (hence his eventual nickname of ‘King Bomb’). But Queen Maria Cristina was always adored because of the care and compassion she showed toward her adopted country and because of how she endured her less than ideal life, with patience and pious devotion.

Maria Cristina had always been a devout Catholic and she came to rely on her faith ever more in times of trial. Her commitment to God and the Church, serene detachment and beautiful appearance caused many people to see her as an almost angelic figure and even then many began to refer to her as a saint. Tragically, her life was not to be a long one. She had not yet celebrated her twenty-fourth birthday when she gave birth to her one and only child, the future King Francesco II, and complications soon set in. Her condition deteriorated rapidly and only five days later she passed away on January 21, 1836. She was buried in the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, the King married again in less than a year and his new wife would be the major influence on the life of little Francesco II. Nonetheless, as a boy he was always taught to honor the memory of his late mother, who had died bringing him into the world, as the ‘saintly queen’ or ‘holy queen’. He would be the last King of the Two-Sicilies and after he had lost his throne and was living in exile he began to push for the Church to take up the cause of his late mother. Her pious reputation was such that there was great support for it and in 1872 Pope Pius IX recognized her status as a Servant of God. The cause continued to progress and on May 6, 1937 Pope Pius XI recognized the Queen as a Venerable Servant of God and, most recently, on May 3, 2013 Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to her intercession, opening the way for her to be beatified, the last step on the road to canonization as a saint.

Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy, new Servant of God

On Friday, at the Vatican, His Holiness Pope Francis officially endorsed a miracle attributed to the intercession of Her Majesty Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy, consort of King Ferdinando II and mother of King Francesco II of the Two-Sicilies. Queen Maria Cristina was the daughter of HM King Vittorio Emanuele I of Piedmont-Sardinia, sister of Duchess Maria Beatrice of Modena ("Queen Mary" to British Jacobites) and Empress Maria Anna (consort to Kaiser Ferdinand I of Austria). Queen Maria Cristina died when she was only 23-years old, a few days after giving birth to the last King of the Two Sicilies but who already had a reputation for great faith and piety. In 1859 her cause for canonization was opened and 13 years later she was declared venerable. With the recognition of this miracle by the Pope the late queen is on the way to being beatified, the final step before sainthood. Religious devotion is nothing new for the House of Savoy, especially among the female members, and Queen Maria Cristina is in good company with Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy (daughter of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy), wife of Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, who has been declared a ‘Servant of God’ and also has a cause for canonization open. Princess Maria Felicita of Savoy (daughter of King Charles Emmanuel III) had such a reputation for faith that if she has no cause open she probably should have, Queen Elena of Montenegro (wife of King Victor Emmanuel III) has a cause being considered and among the male members of the family there have been cases such as Blessed Amadeus IX and Blessed Umberto III to point to and, I would say, the case of King Charles Emmanuel IV would be worth investigating.

The Faithful House of Savoy

King Umberto II and Pope Paul VI

This anniversary year of the unification of Italy has had my mind occupied quite a bit as of late with the Royal House of Savoy. A recent post which mentioned the deep faith of King Umberto II and Queen Maria Jose by MM member Matterhorn at her informative site The Cross of Laeken reminded me again of the injustice with which the House of Savoy is often treated, even by those who might be expected to be among their staunchest supporters; namely Catholic monarchists. However, as anyone with experience can attest, Catholic monarchists can be amongst the most impossible to please which is probably why so many (and God love them) are really what I like to call “theoretical monarchists”. They support monarchy in theory but do not actually support any existing monarchies nor do most have time for monarchist efforts which strive for anything less than a restoration of an absolutist confessional state under the guidance of a revived inquisition. I admit, such a thought warms my heart, but real results requires one to be realistic and face the facts.

When it comes to the House of Savoy, it seems many hold a grudge against the entire family, going backward and forward in time, all because of the unification of Italy and particularly because of “the Roman Question”. I can certainly understand their sympathies in that regard, and I have mentioned my opinion on the subject before and do not need to again here. However, I do not like to see an entire royal family smeared or rejected because of a few individuals or even a few unsavory associations. The House of Savoy is one of the oldest royal lines in Europe and was once among the most preeminent Catholic royal families. And the Catholic part is important because we are addressing that aspect in particular here. This was something that Blessed Pope Pius IX constantly stressed to King Victor Emanuel II during their many long years of correspondence, with the Pope reminding the King of what an old and honorable Catholic dynasty he represented.

Italian Royals at the Vatican

There was Count Amadeus V, better known as Amadeus the Great, who fought with the Knights of St John to defend Rhodes from the Muslims in 1315. There was Duke Louis I who obtained the famous Shroud of Turin which was held by the House of Savoy from 1453 to 1946. Duke Charles Emanuel II, known as “the Hadrian of Piedmont” was a tireless campaigner against heresy in his dominions (some would even say a little too zealous). King Victor Amadeus III was known for being very religious and an early and unshakable enemy of the French Revolution. King Charles Emanuel IV (a good friend of his cousin Cardinal York and who inherited the Jacobite claim to Britain upon his death) was also a very devout Catholic who, toward the end of his life, abdicated his royal status and joined the Society of Jesus. But, you may be thinking, that was all a long time ago, what about those around the time of and since the unification of Italy? The story does not really change that much.

It was King Charles Albert (Carlo Alberto) who got the ball rolling in that direction and remember that his mother was Queen Maria Theresa of Austria who was a descendant of the Italian branches of the Hapsburg and Bourbon families and a very devout, traditional Catholic women who did her best throughout her life to pass on her values to her children. One of those was, of course, King Victor Emanuel II who made the unification of Italy a reality. He was a man being pulled in all directions and many, many books can (and have) been written about his role in the process and his dealings with the Church. Suffice it to say that things were not so simplistic as many seem to believe. In their many letters the King never ceased to ask the Pope for his pardon and blessing, the Pope never ceased to remind the King of his august family history and there was so much mutual admiration expressed one could at times forget that the two were, technically, enemies in the political arena. St John Bosco was an intermediary between the two and toward the end of their lives they began a secret correspondence again. As most also know, when the Pope learned that the King was near death, he sent a priest to him with powers to lift the excommunication he had previously pronounced so that the King could die in good standing with the Church.

Pope John Paul II and King Umberto II

The wife of King Victor Emanuel II, Queen Adelaide of Austria, was also a very devout and pious woman, very charitable and she likewise did her best to pass these values on to her children. The youngest, Princess Maria Pia, married the King of Portugal and was known in that country as an absolute angel of mercy. The older daughter, Princess Maria Clotilde, was also known for her piety and charity but suffered from being forced into an unhappy marriage into the Bonaparte clan. All of the Kings of Italy were staunch Catholics, even if not always devout ones. King Umberto I was known for matching the no-compromise of the attitude of the papacy during his reign but he became much more religious toward the end of his life and this can be taken as sincere since he obviously had no idea he was going to be assassinated and thus a fear of mortality could not have been his motivation. Likewise he was supportive of his very religious queen, Margherita of Savoy.

King Victor Emanuel III was, likewise, a very religious man who quickly challenged anyone who expressed anti-clerical sentiments in his presence. The “Roman Question” remained a complicated problem and the King did have his doubts when Mussolini presented his proposal for coming to an agreement with the Church in what eventually resulted in the Lateran Treaty. He was concerned about what actual territory the Papacy would control as a result of the compromise, in the end this was restricted to the Vatican and a few extra-territorial buildings, but given this, it must also be kept in mind that the Italian kingdom had, in the past, offered the Papacy control over a much larger area, all of the land within the Leonine wall, but the Church had turned it down. However, it was finally worked out to the satisfaction of both sides and King Victor Emanuel III and Pope Pius XI exchanged messages of congratulation to each other on that occasion.

The King & Queen with Pope Pius XII

On the part of the Church, support for the monarchy was displayed at the highest levels. The children of the unfortunate Princess Mafalda were sheltered in the Vatican when the Nazis arrested her husband (Philipp of Hesse) and later herself. Princess Giovanna, who became Queen of Bulgaria, was very close to future Blessed Pope John XXIII and also played a key role in safeguarding the people of her adopted land from Nazi persecution. Padre Pio, now St Pio of Pietrelcina, had many devotees amongst the household of Queen Elena and gave spiritual assistance to Princess Maria Jose and others of the Royal Family. A book could be written about the position of the Church regarding the 1946 referendum on the monarchy, which was quite complicated, however it is sufficient to note that, despite how highly favored Alcide De Gasperi was in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII (who came from a Roman “Black Nobility” family) was very upset to see the monarchy abolished. He had long been on good terms with the House of Savoy and, as a cardinal, King Victor Emanuel III had awarded him the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Anunciation.

For some, no amount of contrary information will ever change their point of view. However, I think it is important to defend any royal house that is unjustly defamed. Again, any royal house with so long a history is going to have individuals of every variety. However, I would hope that the good and admirable should be the primary focus and the faults of a few individuals should not override the fidelity and piety of so many other upstanding sons and daughters of this venerable Catholic dynasty.

Servant of God Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy

Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy may not be one of the best known royal figures of history but she certainly deserves to be. I cannot help but think she would be better known and more widely celebrated if not for the fact that those most would expect to did not often hold a considerable grudge against many of her relatives and in-laws. She was born HRH Princess Ludovica Teresa Maria Clotilde on March 2, 1843 in Turin to HM King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia (who would go on to become the first King of Italy) and his first wife Queen Adelaide of Austria. She was the first of eight children and, as such, had to take on more responsibility as a girl than her younger siblings. As befitting a princess she had quite an illustrious heritage behind her. Her paternal grandparents were King Carlo Alberto of Piedmont-Sardinia and Queen Maria Theresa of Tuscany and her maternal grandparents were Archduke Rainer of Austria (son of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II) and Archduchess Elisabeth of Savoy.

From the time she was quite young Princess Maria Clotilde was known for her modesty, piety and good nature. Her mother was a very devout Catholic woman and impressed upon her the importance of religion, the Church and good moral character, lessons she learned well. However, the Princess did not have much time for childhood. As was the fate of princesses everywhere her marriage was soon the subject of political considerations. At this time, the French Second Empire was the largely dominant power on the continent and King Victor Emmanuel II had it impressed upon him constantly that the goal of a united Italy required the good will of the French Emperor Napoleon III. A Savoy-Bonaparte marriage seemed like just the thing to help bind Paris and Turin together; something which the House of Savoy at least would have thought absolutely unthinkable in the past. Arrangements were soon being made for Princess Maria Clotilde to marry Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, son of Jerome Bonaparte the one-time King of Westphalia.

The princess was less than overjoyed at the news she was to marry Bonaparte. In fact, she was absolutely horrified by the prospect and with good reason. She was an intensely religious, innocent, petite girl of barely fifteen. Her husband-to-be was a very large, very anti-clerical and worldly man of more than thirty-seven. She was so young in fact that the wedding had to be postponed for a time and the Piedmontese were less than impressed with how anxious the lumbering Bonaparte was to come and scoop up their dear little princess. The two were married in Turin on January 30, 1859 in what some onlookers described as the union of a gazelle and an elephant.

No two people could possibly have been less suited to each other. He was an anti-clerical liberal who liked lavish parties and fast living; a big man with big appetites. She was a deeply religious conservative who preferred peace and quiet, a small woman with a big heart, bound by royal duty to serve God and the people. He liked to party, she liked to pray, his instincts were ambitious, her instincts were charitable. Princess Maria Clotilde was, needless to say, a very unhappy wife. Yet, she had finally agreed to the marriage because of her devotion to royal duty and in so far as the politics of the match were concerned the marriage worked out well. Plon-Plon (as her husband was known) was a tireless advocate for French intervention in Italy on the side of Piedmont-Sardinia and the Italian nationalist movement. The policies of Emperor Napoleon III regarding Italy were not entirely consistent (his wife constantly urging him in the opposite direction) but French support against Austria was crucial in the eventual triumph of the House of Savoy and the unification of Italy.

Princess Maria Clotilde therefore had the satisfaction of knowing she had done her duty as her father wished but it is doubtful how much that meant to her when her daily life was filled with such unhappiness. She gave Plon-Plon three children; Prince Napoleon Victor in 1862 (who later married Princess Clementine of Belgium), Prince Louis in 1864 and Princess Maria Letizia in 1866 who later married the one-time Savoy King of Spain Amedeo I. She was devoted to her children and was a very good mother but her husband caused her no end of grief with his numerous affairs which was difficult for a proud Savoy princess to take. However, she was nothing if not a woman of duty and proved she could and would endure almost anything that her royal duties demanded of her. It was small comfort that most of the French disliked her husband as much as she did and one thing the French and Italians both agreed on was that he was not worthy of such a good, dutiful wife. However, she carried on, devoting herself to prayer and charity which also earned her a great deal of respect and affection among the people of her adopted country.

Eventually though, the star of Emperor Napoleon III began to decline and with the disastrous war with the German states in 1870 the French Second Empire came crumbling down and Paris soon broke out in yet another chaotic revolution, in some ways more horrific than those of the past. The Bonaparte clan began to flee Paris and France but Princess Maria Clotilde was reluctant, even in the face of frenzied revolutionaries and the Prussian army. She was adamant that as an Italian princess of the House of Savoy she did not run away but preferred to stay proudly at her post even as the ship of state was sinking beneath the waves. However, for the sake of her family she was finally persuaded to leave Paris and the family moved to Switzerland. When King Victor Emmanuel II died in 1878 it was, in many ways, the final straw for the long suffering princess. With her older sons staying with their father, she took her young daughter with her to Turin for the funeral and remained in Italy afterwards. Shutting herself off from the outside world for the most part in Moncalieri Castle outside Turin, she spent her remaining years in seclusion, prayer and keeping up her charitable work. She died there on June 25, 1911 at the age of sixty-eight.

No one who ever knew her could not sympathize with her for all she had to endure in her life nor could they not but admire her for the stoic pride with which she did endure it. The Princess was a responsible woman, a woman of deep faith, great compassion and devotion to duty. She strove at all times to carry out her responsibilities to God, her country, her family and her people. She had a very magnificent sense of what it really means to be royal. For her, to be royal was to be the servant of her people and she showed that by enduring an unhappy marriage and in her many, many years spent helping the less fortunate. She was an example and an inspiration and, as such, it is entirely fitting that she has since been declared a Servant of God and her cause for beatification is currently underway.