- Clementina Sobieski
Maria Klementyna Sobieska (sometimes spelled: Maria Clementina Sobieski) (1702-1735) was a Polish princess who was born on July 18, 1702 in
Poland , the daughter of Poland's Prince James Louis Henry Sobieski, (1667-1737), and Hedwig Elisabeth Amelia of Neuburg, (1673-1722).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 Great Britain was opposed to the marriage because he feared that there would be an heir. In order to placate him, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI arrested Princess Maria Klementyna while on her way to Italy to marry James Stuart. She was confined inInnsbruck Castle but eventually the guards were deceived and Maria Klementyna escaped toBologna ,Italy , where, just to be safe from further intrusions, she was married by proxy to James who was inSpain 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 inRome at the special request ofPope Clement XI , who acknowledged them as the (Catholic) King and Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.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. The Popes Clement XI andInnocent XIII considered James and Maria Klementyna to be the rightful and, more importantly,Catholic King and Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland: the cousin of Pope Innocent XIII, Francesco Maria Conti, fromSiena , was here the "Gentiluomo di Camera" (the chamberlaine) in the little Roman Jacobite court.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), later known as the Cardinal Duke of YorkThe 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, spending much of her time praying Fact|date=February 2007.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 inRome .Pope Benedict XIV commissionedPietro Bracchi (1700-1773) to sculpt a monument to her memory to be erected in the Basilica.Gallery
ee also
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