Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (13 August, 1752 – 8 September, 1814) as Queen Marie Caroline was queen consort and de facto ruler of Naples from 1768 to 1799 and from 1799 to 1806, and of Sicily from 1768 until her death in 1814, though she had lost the de facto power in 1812. She was born an Austrian princess and was a sister of Marie Antoinette.

Early life and marriage

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Her Majesty Queen Marie Caroline Luise Josephe Johanna Antonie of Naples and Sicily, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany was born in 1752, the daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.

On 12 May, 1768, she married the young Ferdinand IV of Naples who was also Ferdinand III of Sicily. Ferdinand was not very intelligent, and Marie Caroline took advantage of that to control him, and she became the true ruler of the kingdom. On 14 August, 1777, when she gave birth to a male heir, Francis, she became a Counsellor of State, and she took advantage of this position of political influence. She inherited much of her mother's intelligence, but was also ambitious and cruel, wanting to raise the kingdom to a position of power. Marie Caroline eventually established a tyrannical reign through her husband's power.

Like her sister, Marie Antoinette, her daughter, Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies became queen consort of France. Another of her daughters Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies became the wife of the Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. Later, the eldest daughter of Maria Teresa, Marie Louise, became the second wife of Emperor Napoleon I of France.

The First Coalition

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During the French Revolution, the queen actually sympathized with the French rebels until the French monarchy was abolished on 21 September, 1792. She further turned against the rebels with the execution of first her brother-in-law Louis XVI of France (21 January, 1793) and then her own younger sister Marie Antoinette (16 October, 1793).

The Queen and her husband were horrified, and Marie Caroline used her uxorious husband to bring the Neopolitan and Sicilian armies into the First Coalition against France. Peace was made in 1796.

The Parthenopaean Republic

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Early in 1799, Naples had its own (albeit short-lived) revolution, which replaced the Kingdom of Naples with the Parthenopaean Republic. In June, restoration forces commanded by Cardinal Ruffo destroyed the republic, returning the royal family to control. Before entry of the British fleet, allied to the court and commanded by Lord Nelson into the Bay of Naples, a capitulation treaty had been signed by Ruffo giving many republicans safe-passage to France. The king and queen, intent on crushing the republican spirit and showing no mercy to the rebels, worked through Lady Hamilton, wife of the British Ambassador and mistress of Lord Nelson (and, it was said, of Queen Marie Caroline), to dupe the republicans into putting themselves into a position in which they could be captured. Several thousand of them were summarily judged and hanged.

Deposition and death

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In 1806, her husband was deposed as King of Naples (thus deposing her as de facto ruler) by Napoleon Bonaparte. However, Marie Caroline retained her status and power in Sicily until 1812, when her husband essentially (but not officially) abdicated, appointing his son Francis regent, which deprived the queen of her influence, and Marie Caroline was exiled to her homeland Austria, where she died in 1814. After her death, her husband became subservient to the will of Austria with his top advisor Marie Caroline gone.

1752 births | 1814 deaths | Non-ruling Austrian royalty | House of Habsburg-Lorraine | Italian queen consorts | Contemporary Italian history | Archduchesses of Austria

Maria Karolina von Österreich | María Carolina de Austria | Marie-Caroline d'Autriche | Maria Carolina d'Asburgo | Maria Carolina van Oostenrijk