On this day, Louis XV writes to the Duke of Parma:
“My dear grandson,
I have learned with much chagrin that your marriage is delayed due to the fact that the dispensations were not requested before the death of the Pope, and rather than Amélie, it appears that you will have a visit from the Emperor, who has departed for Rome and will go from there to Naples. My arm is slowly getting better and better, of which the proof is my handwriting. I embrace you with all my heart, my dear grandson.
Louis.”
Commentary:
Ferdinand of Parma is set to marry the Archduchess Maria Amalia, more or less, but nothing more can be achieved until these dispensations come through from Rome. The old Pope, Clement XIII, was dragging his feet about them, but the hope is that the new Pope, whoever he might turn out to be, will prove more cooperative. The conclave is currently underway, but the white smoke will not go up for more than 2 months yet.
Pictured: Joseph II (1741-1790), Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 until his death, and co-ruler of the Habsburg dominions with his mother, Maria Theresa. Credit - By Anton von Maron - Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Bilddatenbank., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4892099
The Emperor is Joseph II, who will soon be Ferdinand’s brother-in-law. Perhaps he is going to Rome to speed things along. One of his other sisters, Maria Carolina, is now Queen of Naples, which probably accounts for his desire to go there.
The translation from the French is my own. Images that are not my own are in the public domain; I only explicitly credit them when the uploader has made it a condition of sharing his/her work via Wikimedia Commons. Words in italics in the body of the post or bold italics in verbatim translations and image captions are in the Glossary; the royal family and other Bourbons are in the Who’s Who guides; information about the sources is in the Bibliography; all of these are in the Resources section and freely available to paid subscribers and Grandes Entrées. If you have questions, please ask in the comments.
What a pleasure it is to have family in places, one would want to go.