Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa


Maria Beatrice d’Este was heiress of Modena and Reggio as well as the sovereign of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1796 and from 1815 until her death in 1829.

Biography

Maria Beatrice was born in Modena, the eldest child of two monarchs, Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, reigning duchess of Massa and princess of Carrara.
Her parents' marriage was unhappy and they lived separated from each other; they only produced two children: Maria Beatrice, born on 7 April 1750 and Rinaldo Francesco, born on 4 January 1753. The death of Rinaldo aged four months old led to Maria being acknowledged as an heiress. Her paternal ancestors included Louis XIII of France, the French regent Philippe d'Orléans, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Her maternal ancestors were members of the House of Cybo-Malaspina.
As heiress to four states, she was a very attractive wedding partner. Empress Maria Theresa sought to arrange a marriage between Maria Beatrice and Archduke Leopold but this never materialised. Instead she married Leopold's brother, Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, in a union through which the Austrians aimed to expand their influence in Italy.
The couple was engaged from 1754. As the children were so young, the marriage was not celebrated till 1771 when a ceremony in Milan on 15 October officially united them. Festivities arranged for this occasion included the operas Ascanio in Alba by Mozart and Il Ruggiero by Johann Adolph Hasse.
The couple moved between Modena and Milan, where they lived in the Royal palace. As the Duchy of Modena did not allow female succession, Maria Beatrice's rights to the throne of Modena and Reggio passed to her son when her father died. When her mother died in 1790, however, she succeeded her as Duchess of Massa and Carrara. After the French conquest of Northern Italy, she spent her life mostly in Austria and left the rule to administrators. By her marriage, the House of Austria-Este was created, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which ruled Modena between 1814 and 1859. After Maria Beatrice d'Este's death at Vienna in 1829, Massa and Carrara were added to the Duchy of Modena.

Issue

NamePortraitLifespanNotes
Archduke Josef Franz
1772
Died in infancy
Archduchess Maria Theresa
Queen of Sardinia		1773–
1832		Married Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and had issue
Archduchess Josepha
1775–
1777		Died in infancy
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine
Electress of Bavaria		1776–
1848		Married first Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria no issue;
married second Ludwig Count of Arco, had issue
Francis IV
Duke of Modena		1779–
1846		Married Maria Beatrice of Savoy and had issue
Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph
Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian army during the Napoleonic Wars		1781–
1850		Died unmarried
Archduke Maximilian Joseph
Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights		1782–
1863		Died unmarried
Archduchess Maria Antonia
1784–
1786		Died in infancy
Archduke Karl Ambrosius
Archbishop of Esztergom		1785–
1809		Died unmarried
Archduchess Maria Ludovika
Empress of Austria		1787–
1816		Married her cousin Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and had no issue

Ancestry