Biography of Margherita Farnese
Margherita Farnese was an Italian noblewoman born in Parma in 1567 into the House of Farnese. She was the eldest child and only daughter of Alexander Farnese, the Hereditary Prince of Parma, and Infanta Maria of Portugal. When her mother died, she entrusted the guardianship of her young daughter to her mother-in-law. As a child, Margherita was ill with smallpox, which disfigured her face. The princess didn’t receive a good education; she did not even learn Latin. But it was said of her that she had a kind and modest character and was fond of poetry and music.
Despite a long-standing feud between the Houses of Farnese and Gonzaga, marriage negotiations began, and the parties came to a mutually beneficial agreement on the marriage of Margherita and Vincenzo Gonzaga, Hereditary Prince of Mantua. The marriage was not only dynastic but also pursued political goals: it was to become the basis of an alliance between the Duchies of Parma and Mantua against the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. On December 10, 1580, the princess, accompanied by her relative Girolama Farnese, left her home, and a couple of weeks later, the bride and groom met for the first time.
On March 2, 1581, at Piacenza Cathedral, the Bishop of Parma, held the wedding ceremony of Margherita and Vincenzo. A few days after the wedding night, it was reported that the marriage was still unconsummated due to a congenital “obstruction” on the part of the bride. Doctors were brought from Padua to examine Margherita; she was advised that she would need intervention if the marriage was to be consummated.
She was examined by another doctor in Mantua who also proposed to remove the “obstacle” by artificial means. Margherita’s grandmother, Margaret of Austria, categorically opposed this, fearing for the health of her granddaughter. She declared that the young couple just needed time. But when a year after the wedding, their marriage was still unconsummated, the Duke of Mantua, wishing to continue his dynasty through his only son’s heirs, began to insist on the intervention or divorce. In June 1582, Margherita was taken back to Parma, against the wishes of her father-in-law. There she was examined by doctors once more, and she was encouraged to take the risk of intervention to save her marriage.
At the request of her father in February 1583, the Pope sent Cardinal Borromeo to Parma, where, he listened to the opinions of doctors and other interested parties, he persuaded Margherita to abandon the operation and follow him to Milan. In May 1583, she entered the Benedictine monastery in Milan as a novice, from where she soon moved to the Monastery of San Paolo in Parma. In October 1583, Cardinal Borromeo declared the marriage of Margherita and Vincenzo annulled on the basis of the canonical rule, which allows the separation of the spouses if, within three years after the marriage, their union remained unconsummated.
In 1583, Margherita took the veil and adopted the name Sister Maura Lucenia. Her father in law Duke Guglielmo withheld 100,000 of her 3000,000 ducat dowry as compensation for the “fault” of his daughter-in-law. Even before the official divorce, Duke Guglielmo had already begun negotiations with Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, for the marriage of his daughter Eleonora to Vincenzo. Before agreeing to the marriage, the House of Medici insisted Vincenzo had to prove his virility in front of witnesses by having intercourse with a virgin maid, to ensure the fault was not his.
Margherita’s life as a nun was not without its problems. In June 1585, it was revealed that she had employed a musician to come to her cell and play secular music of a sentimental nature, which was unacceptable for a nun. To avoid the scandal, conditions were imposed on her life at the monastery; she was only allowed one visit per year. Her monthly allowance of 150,000 gold scudi was paid irregularly so that she couldn’t use it to bribe anyone in order to establish communications outside of the convent. They also stopped sending her the monthly payment of 30 ducats bequeathed by her grandmother Margaret of Austria.
When her brother became the new Duke of Parma in 1592, he immediately transferred her to the monastery of Sant’Alessandro and hardened the conditions of her detention even more. The Pope threatened to move her to a convent in Rome if the duke didn’t change his attitude towards her.
In the following years, Margherita indirectly participated in court life in Parma, often speaking in defence of those who needed a voice. Margherita was elected abbess of the monastery of Sant’Alessandro nine times, dying there on April 13, 1643, aged 75. At first, she was buried in the monastery grounds like the other nuns, until 14 December 1853, when Charles III, Duke of Parma ordered to transfer her remains to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata and to bury her remains in the necropolis of the Farnese and Bourbon dynasties. Her tomb is located next to her father’s; on the tombstone are carved the coat of arms of the House of Farnese and an epitaph with a summary of her life.
Sources:
Cuckoldry, Impotence and Adultery in Europe (15th-17th century) ed. Sara F. Matthews-Grieco, p38