Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily

Luisa of Naples and Sicily (Luisa Maria Amalia Teresa; 27 July 1773 – 19 September 1802), was a Neapolitan and Sicilian princess and the wife of the third Habsburg Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Background

Luisa Maria Amalia Teresa was born at the Royal Palace in Naples. Her father was the future King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and her mother, born Maria Carolina of Austria, was a sister of Marie Antoinette. Her paternal grandparents were Charles III of Spain and his Saxon wife Maria Amalia; her maternal grandparents were Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria. She was one of eighteen children, seven of whom survived into adulthood.

Marriage

On 15 August 1790, she married her double first cousin, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. The wedding ceremony took place in Florence, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany which her husband had ruled since the beginning of the year. Her husband ruled the Grand Duchy till 1801, when in the Treaty of Aranjuez, he was forced by Napoleon to make way for the Kingdom of Etruria.

The couple went into exile and lived in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire which was ruled by Archduke Ferdinand's older brother, Emperor Francis II; later on Ferdinand was compensated by being given the secularized lands of the Archbishop of Salzburg as Grand-Duke of Salzburg.

Luisa died in childbirth the next year at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna; the princess is buried in the Imperial Crypt with her stillborn son in her arms. Her husband outlived her by 23 years, and in 1814 had his Tuscan title revived after the title was held by Elisa Bonaparte; he also married again on 6 May 1821 to Princess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony; there was no issue from this marriage.

Issue

1. Archduchess Carolina Ferdinanda Teresa (1793–1802), died in infancy.
2. Archduke Francesco Leopoldo (1794–1800), died in infancy.
3. Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1797–1870), married Maria Anna of Saxony and had issue. Remarried Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies and had issue.
4. Archduchess Maria Luisa Giuseppa (1799–1857), born disabled and suffered a severe deformity. Was affectionately called "the little hunchback" by the people of Florence.
5. Archduchess Maria Theresa (1801–1855), married Charles Albert of Sardinia and had issue.
6. Stillborn son (1802).

Ancestry

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 27 July 1773 - 15 August 1790 Her Royal Highness Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily
• 15 August 1790 - 19 September 1802 Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Tuscany