Enrichetta d'Este

Princess Enrichetta d'Este (Enrichetta Maria; 27 May 1702 – 30 January 1777) was a

Biography

Early life

Princess Enrichetta was the third daughter of

She travelled to Parma where she made a magnificent entry to the city on 6 July 1728, greeted at the Porta San Michele by crowds of cheerers and onlookers. Celebrations in the local area lasted as late as 1730. Antonio frequently visited the Modenese court and was close to Erichetta's brother.

The marriage had been arranged by Antonio's secretary of state, Count Anvidi, and Bori coerced an unwilling Antonio to marry Enrichetta, his friend Francesco's sister. The marriage, despite all Antonio's attempts at conception, was childless.

The regency issue

Antonio died on 20 January 1731. The previous day, he had announced that Enrichetta was pregnant; after his death, a Regency council for the potential heir was formed, consisting of Enrichetta, a bishop, the first Secretary of State and two gentlemen of the Court.

It was decided that, should the child be female, the

Her pregnancy was questioned by the Queen of Spain though her mother, Enrichetta's sister-in-law Countess Palatine Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg, who wished to defend the right of Don Carlos, as well as the Pope, who wished to retract the Duchy to the Papal State.^[3] However, she was supported by the Emperor, who opposed Spanish influence in Parma. Of the request of Spain, Enrichetta was examined in May 1731 by doctors confirming her pregnancy.^[4] The news was reported around Parma and then around the European courts. Her regency could thus continue, with support by the Emperor.

On 22 July however, the

Queen Elisabeth in Spain convinced her mother to have Enrichetta examined again on 13 September 1731; it was then reported that there was in fact no child, and the House of Farnese was extinct. Charles of Spain was thus recognised as Duke of Parma and Piacenza, deposing the regency of Enrichetta d'Este. Since Charles was still a minor, his maternal grandmother Dorothea Sophie of the Palatinate, Odoardo's widow, was named regent.

Shunned by her father's court in Modena, the dowager duchess moved into the Ducal Palace of Colorno, where she was under virtual house arrest with an escort of Swiss Guards. In December 1731, she was forced to return to the Ducal Palace in Parma in order to return the crown jewels of Parma to Dorothea, who was formally made head of the regency council on 29 December 1731.

She stayed in Parma, splitting her time between

Leopold died in 1764 leaving Enrichetta a widow for the second time. Enrichetta herself died on 30 January 1777 aged seventy four. She was buried at the Convent of the Capuchins, in Fidenza (now church of San Francesco).

Ancestry

References