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Bl Principessa Maria Cristina of Sardinia
(1812–36)

Other names: Maria Cristina Carolina Giuseppina Gaetana

Biographical

Maria Cristina's parents, Vittorio Emanuele I, king of Sardinia and Maria Teresa of Austria, were very religious sovereigns who educated their last daughter austerely. At the age of nine, her father abdicated his throne, and she was taken to Nice. After the death of her parents, she settled in Genoa, but she frequently visited her sisters, the duchesses of Modena and Lucca. Her hand in marriage was sought by Louis Philippe for the Duke of Orléans, by the Grand Duke of Tuscany for his eldest son, by the court of Lisbon for the infante Don Sebastiano, and by Naples for Ferdinand II, who at that time had ascended the throne of the Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina had initially refused to marry, and had considered becoming a nun after the death of her mother. But then, due to the insistence of all those around her, especially her cousin, King Carlo Alberto, she decided to accept Ferdinand II's proposal, and the wedding was celebrated in the sanctuary of Voltri near Genoa on the 21st of November 1832. A little more than three years later, on the 31st of January 1836, she died in childbirth, giving birth to the future king Francesco II. It was often said that Maria Cristina had been an unhappy bride because of the behaviour of her husband, and that her situation at the Bourbon court had been disappointing for her; but, apart from the inevitable disagreements between two people with a differing temperament and upbringing, she was, in reality, content with her fate. She loved her husband and was loved in return as much as he could. It was also said that her death had marked the end of the liberalism of the Bourbon monarch; but this too is inaccurate. Their marriage was sought by the Sardinian court for political reasons: to avoid and alliance between Ferdinand and the royal family of France, and to monitor his conduct, as there was a fear that he would embrace the liberal cause. However, the union proved ineffective in this regard because the king, jealous of his authority, prevented any intervention of the queen in political life, and this did nothing to support the Sardinian directives. Considered a woman of very pure virtue, Maria Cristina devoted herself entirely to works of piety and religion during her short life, and her tomb at Santa Chiara in Naples became an object of popular worship. In 1859 Pope Pius IX declared her venerable, and in 2014, she was declared blessed.

Place of birth: Cagliari
Place of marriage: Voltri
Place of death: Caserta
Place of burial: Church of Santa Chiara, Naples

Daughter of King Vittorio Amedeo I of Sardinia and Maria Therese of Austria-Este (Habsburg). She married Ferdinando II (Borbone), king of the Two Sicilies, in 1820, and had issue.

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