Duke of Parma explained

See also: List of Parmese consorts.

Royal Title:	Duke
Realm:	Parma and Piacenza
Coatofarms:	Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma.svg
Coatofarmscaption:	Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma as Dukes of Parma and Piacenza. (1848–1859)
First Monarch:	Pier Luigi Farnese
Last Monarch:	Robert I
Style:	Royal Highness
Began:	16 September 1545
Ended:	3 December 1859
Pretender:	Carlos, Duke of Parma

The Duke of Parma and Piacenza was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese.^[1] It existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859.

The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except for the first years of the rule of Ottavio Farnese (1549 - 1556), and the time of the Napoleonic wars, when the two were established as separate positions held by two different individuals. The Duke of Parma also usually held the title of Duke of Guastalla from 1746 (when Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor occupied the Duchy of Guastalla after the last Gonzaga duke died childless) until 1847 (when the territory was ceded to Modena), except for the Napoleonic era, when Napoleon's sister Pauline was briefly Duchess of Guastalla and of Varella. The last duke, Robert I, was driven from power in a revolution following France and Sardinia's victory over Austria. Its territory was merged into Sardinia in 1860.

The position is currently claimed by a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma. A recent pretender to the extinct Parmese throne, the late Carlos-Hugo, was also a pretender to the Spanish throne in the 1970s (see Carlism).

Reigning Dukes of Parma and Piacenza (1545 - 1802)

House of Farnese 1545 - 1731

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Pier Luigi 16 September 1545 - 10 September 1547		19 November 1503 Rome son of Cardinal Alexander Farnese (future Pope Paul III) and probably Silvia Ruffini	Girolama Orsini 1519 Rome 4 children	10 September 1547 Piacenza aged 43
Ottavio 9 November 1549 - 18 September 1586		9 October 1524 Valentano son of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and Girolama Orsini	Margaret of Parma 4 November 1538 Rome 2 children	18 September 1586 Parma aged 61
Alessandro 18 September 1586 - 3 December 1592		27 August 1545 Rome son of Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma and Margaret of Parma	Maria of Portugal 11 November 1565 Brussels 3 children	3 December 1592 Saint Waast, Netherlands aged 47
Ranuccio I 3 December 1592 - 5 March 1622		28 March 1569 Parma son of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and Maria of Portugal	Margherita Aldobrandini 7 May 1600 Rome 9 children	5 March 1622 Parma aged 52
Odoardo 5 March 1622 - 11 September 1646		28 April 1612 Parma son of Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Margherita Aldobrandini	Margherita de Medici 11 October 1628 Florence 4 children	11 September 1646 Piacenza aged 34
Ranuccio II 11 September 1646 - 11 December 1694		17 September 1630 Casalmaggiore son of Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma and Margherita de Medici	(1) Marguerite of Savoy 29 April 1660 Turin 2 children (2) Isabella of Modena 18 February 1664 Modena 3 children (3) Maria of Modena 1 October 1668 Modena 9 children	11 December 1694 Parma aged 64
Francesco 11 December 1694 - 26 February 1727		19 May 1678 Parma son of Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Maria of Modena	Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg 7 December 1696 Parma no issue	26 February 1727 Piacenza aged 48
Antonio 26 February 1727 - 20 January 1731		29 November 1679 Parma son of Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Maria of Modena	Enrichetta d'Este 5 February 1728 Parma no issue	20 January 1731 Parma aged 51

House of Bourbon 1731 - 1735

House of Habsburg 1735 - 1748

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Emperor Charles VI 3 October 1735 - 20 October 1740		1 October 1685 Vienna son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg	Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1 August 1708 Barcelona 4 children	20 October 1740 Vienna aged 55
Maria Theresa 20 October 1740 - 18 October 1748		13 May 1717 Vienna daughter of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel	Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor 12 February 1736 16 children	29 November 1780 Vienna aged 63

House of Bourbon-Parma 1748 - 1802

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Philip 18 October 1748 - 18 July 1765		15 March 1720 Madrid son of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese	Princess Louise Élisabeth of France 25 October 1739 3 children	18 July 1765 Alessandria aged 45
Ferdinand 18 July 1765 - 9 October 1802		20 January 1751 Parma son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Élisabeth of France	Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria 19 July 1769 7 children	9 October 1802 Fontevivo aged 51

French dukedoms of Parma (1808 - 1814)

These did not actually rule over any territory of Parma and Piacenza, but were of the honorary, hereditary type duché grand-fief, granted by Napoleon I in 1808.

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès 1808 - 1814		18 October 1753 Montpellier son of Jean-Antoine de Cambacérès and Marie-Rose Vassal	never married	8 March 1824 Paris aged 70
Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance 1808 - 1814		19 March 1739 Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin fourth son of Paul Lebrun and Louise Le Cronier	Anne Delagoutte^[2] 17733 sons and 2 daughters	16 June 1824 Sainte-Mesme aged 85

Reigning dukes of Parma (1814 - 1859)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine, 1814 - 1847

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Marie Louise 11 April 1814 - 17 December 1847		12 December 1791 Vienna daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily	(1) Napoleon I 1 April 1810 Louvre 1 son (2) Adam Albert, Count von Neipperg 7 September 1821 Parma 3 children (3) Charles René, Count of Bombelles Parma 17 February 1834 no issue	17 December 1847 Parma aged 56

Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, the son of Marie Louise and Napoleon I, was at one time in the line of succession, but he was never Duke of Parma. He predeceased his mother in 1832.

House of Bourbon-Parma, 1847 - 1859

width=22%	Duke !	width=105px	Portrait !	Birth	width=25%	Marriages !	width=19%	Death
Charles II 17 December 1847 - 17 May 1849		22 December 1799 Madrid son of Louis of Etruria and Maria Louisa, Duchess of Lucca	Maria Teresa of Savoy 5 September 1820 2 children	16 April 1883 Nice aged 83
Charles III 17 May 1849 - 27 March 1854		14 January 1823 Pianore son of Charles II, Duke of Parma and Maria Teresa of Savoy	Louise Marie Thérèse of France 10 November 1845 4 children	27 March 1854 Parma aged 31
Robert I 27 March 1854 - 9 June 1859		9 July 1848 Florence son of Charles III, Duke of Parma and Louise Marie Thérèse of France	(1) Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies 5 April 1869 12 children (2) Maria Antonia of Portugal 15 October 1884 12 children	16 November 1907 Viareggio aged 59

Notes and References

Book: Dickens . A. G. . The Counter Reformation . 1968 . Thames and Hudson . London . 96.
Web site: Anne Delagoutte, * 1755 Geneall.net . subscription . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161018010204/http://geneall.net/en/name/993562/anne-delagoutte/ . 18 Oct 2016 . 9 July 2023 . Geneall.