Clementina Sobieska

[Marc]

I would like to know more about her,her life,her role in political life since I read that she was one of the richest princesses of her time...and also I would like to see some of her portraits!

[Prince_Lieven]

Hi Marc!

Here's the marriage of James Francis Edward and Clementina:



And Bell_the_cat posted this info on another thread:

Maria Clementina Sobieska (1702-1735), granddaughter of the Polish king, John III Sobieski. They had two sons:
 
Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart, (December 31, 1720- January 31, 1788), aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie"  
Henry Benedict Stuart, (March 11, 1725-July 13, 1807)
 
The events surrounding her marriage were quite dramatic. the Emperor wouldn't allow her to travel through his territories so she had to be smuggled into Italy disguised as a servant.
 
Her marriage with the Pretender was not a happy one , and they separated after the birth of Henry Benedict, her second son.  
 
She may have suffered from an eating disorder (anorexia).
 
She lived her final years in Rome. She died in 1735 aged 32/3 and is buried in St Peters. She was good friends with the Pope (I think Benedict XV). They went out driving together. Scandalmongers said they were having an affair!

[Prince_Lieven]

[elena_maria_vidal]

I think that Benedict XV was Pope during WWI, so it must have been one of the other Benedicts the queen went driving with through Rome.  I never knew she separated from her husband. Did he drink like their son Charles Edward? I wonder what made her marriage so unhappy?

[bell_the_cat]

I think that Benedict XV was Pope during WWI, so it must have been one of the other Benedicts the queen went driving with through Rome.  I never knew she separated from her husband. Did he drink like their son Charles Edward? I wonder what made her marriage so unhappy?

It may have been Clement XII - he was about 80 though! Still she spent enough time in his company for tongues to wag.

I don't think she drank. She accused the OP of being unfaithful - but maybe the stress and uncertainty of their situation was a contributory factor. She must have felt that she was the one who was providing the money, so that was an added tension in the marriage.

[Marc]

Was the fact that she was one of the richest princesses of her time the reason for this marriage?Maybe Sturats had in mind financing their jacobite army with her money etc?

[elena_maria_vidal]

It may have been Clement XII - he was about 80 though! Still she spent enough time in his company for tongues to wag.

I don't think she drank. She accused the OP of being unfaithful - but maybe the stress and uncertainty of their situation was a contributory factor. She must have felt that she was the one who was providing the money, so that was an added tension in the marriage.

I am glad she did not drink, but did her husband? It must have been a very stressful situation - monarchs without a country.

[bell_the_cat]

I am glad she did not drink, but did her husband? It must have been a very stressful situation - monarchs without a country.

I don't think he did drink - it might have made him more interesting!

[Daniela]

James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales 'the Old Pretender', Clementina's husband

[Daniela]

Maria Klementyna

[Daniela]

The granddaughter of John III Sobieski, she was one of Europe's wealthiest heiresses. Princess Maria Klementyna was betrothed to Prince James Stuart. King George I of England was opposed to the marriage because he feared that there would be an heir. In order to placate him, the Austrian Emperor, Charles VI arrested Princess Maria Klementyna while on her way to Italy to marry James Stuart. She was confined in Innsbruck Castle but eventually the guards were deceived and Maria Klementyna escaped to Bologna, Italy, where, just to be safe from further intrusions, she was married by proxy to James who was in Spain at that time. Maria Klementyna's father, Prince James Louis Sobieski, approved her escape declaring that, as she became engaged to Prince James she ought to "follow his fortune and his cause".

Maria Klementyna and James Stuart were formally married on September 3, 1719 at Montefiascone, Italy in the Cathedral of Santa Margherita. Following their marriage, James and Maria Klementyna were invited to reside in Rome at the special request of Pope Clement XI, who acknowledged them as the (Catholic) King and Queen of Britain. The Pope provided them with a papal guard of troops, gave them the Palazzo Muti in the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli in Rome to live in, plus a country villa at Albano. The Catholic Church also provided them with an annual allowance of 12,000 crowns out of the papal treasury.

Maria Klementyna and James Stuart had two sons:

Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart (1720-1788), aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie"
Henry Benedict Stuart (1725-1807)
The married life of James and Maria Klementyna proved turbulent and unhappy. Soon after their second child's birth, Maria Klementyna left him and went to live in Rome in the convent of St. Cecilia. She accused her husband of adultery and he said it was sinful to leave him and her children. It was more than two years before they reconciled. Maria Klementyna was prone to depression and anorexia. She spent most of her time praying.

Maria Klementyna died at the early age of 32 on January 18, 1735. She was interred with full royal honors in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Benedict XIV commissioned Pietro Bracchi (1700-1773) to sculpt a monument to her memory to be erected in the Basilica.

[Daniela]

The above account I've taken from Wikipedia site.

Well, she had a life of advantures, so to say! :-/

Daniela

[elena_maria_vidal]

I don't think he did drink - it might have made him more interesting!

You are funny!

[elena_maria_vidal]

The above account I've taken from Wikipedia site.

Well, she had a life of advantures, so to say! :-/

Daniela

Thank you for the fascinating account, Daniela. I am very interested in the family of Bonnie Prince Charlie! Maybe Queen Clementina's "anorexia" was not an attempt to be thin for the sake of being thin but an attempt at fasting for religious reasons. Many devout people fasted in those days and very often they overdid it through misplaced zeal and destroyed their health. I am just speculating, because I really know nothing about her at all.

[bell_the_cat]

Thank you for the fascinating account, Daniela. I am very interested in the family of Bonnie Prince Charlie! Maybe Queen Clementina's "anorexia" was not an attempt to be thin for the sake of being thin but an attempt at fasting for religious reasons. Many devout people fasted in those days and very often they overdid it through misplaced zeal and destroyed their health. I am just speculating, because I really know nothing about her at all.

I always feel a bit sorry for Clementina  :'(ieska !