Early life
Charles Louis was born at the Royal Palace of Madrid. His father, a member of the house of Bourbon-Parma, was Louis, Prince of Piacenza, son and heir of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma. His mother, Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain, was a daughter of King Charles IV of Spain. They had married in 1795 when the hereditary Prince of Parma came to Madrid in search of a wife. The couple remained in Spain for the first years of their married life. It was for this reason that Charles Louis was born in Madrid at his maternal grandfather court and included in Francisco de Goya's famous portrait of the family of Charles IV, in the arms of his mother.
Charles Louis early life was marked by Napoleon Bonaparte who was interested in conquering the Italian states. French troops invaded the Duchy of Parma in 1796. In 1801 for the Treaty of Aranjuez Charles Louis became Crown Prince of the newly-created Kingdom of Etruria, formed from the former territories of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, as heir to his father, whom Napoleon had made King of Etruria in compensation for giving up his right in Parma. On 21 April 1801 Charles Louis left Spain with his parents. After a short visit to Napoleon in Paris, they moved to Florence taking residence in the Pitti palace, the former home of the Medeci family. Only a few months after settling in Florence, the Etrurian royal family was called back to Spain. It was during this trip that Charles only sibling, Princess Maria Luisa Carlota of Parma, was born. Their visit was cut short by the death of Charles Louis' paternal grandfather, Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, who had clung to his throne until his death on 9 October 1802 when Parma passed to France, under the terms of a treaty which he had signed. In December 1802 the royal family of Etruria returned to Florence, but King Louis, who suffered from epilepsy and was frequently ill, died few moths later on 27 May 1803.
King of Etruria
After his father's death, Charles Louis, who was only three years old, succeeded him as King Charles Louis I of Eturia. He was under the regency of his mother Maria Louisa. In 1807, Napoleon dissolved the kingdom and had Charles Louis and his mother brought to France. Charles Louis was promised the throne of a new Kingdom of Northern Lusitania (in the North of Portugal), but this plan never materialized, due to the break between Napoleon and the Spanish Bourbons in 1808. Charles Louis his mother and sister looked for refuge in Spain, arriving at the court of Charles IV on 19 February 1808. Spain was in unrest, and less than three months after they arrival, all members of the Spanish Royal family were taken to France on Napoleon's orders, while he gave the Spanish crown to his brother Joseph. Charles Louis left Spain with his mother and sister on May 2 1808 for Bayonne and then Compiegne, the residence which had been assigned to them. Maria Luisa was promised the palace of Colorno in Parma and a substantial allowance, but Napoleon did not keep his word and Charles Lous with his mother and sister were held captive in Nice. When Charles Louis mother tried to escape from Napoleon's grip, she was arrested and locked up in a convent in Rome in August 1811. Charles Louis did not share his mother and sister imprisonment. He was giving in custody to his grandfather Charles IV, the deposed King of Spain. For the next four years, (1811- 1815), Charles Louis lived under the care of his grandfather in the household of the exiled Spanish royal family in Rome.
After Napoleon's downfall in 1815, the House of Bourbon was not restored to the Duchy of Parma, which was instead given to Napoleon's wife, the Empress Marie Louise. The Congress of Vienna compensated the Bourbons with the Duchy of Lucca, which was given to Charles Louis' mother, with Charles Louis as her heir with the title Prince of Lucca. He was also promised the right of succession to Parma upon Empress Marie Louise's death.
In December 1817, few weeks before his eighteen birthday, Charles Louis made his entry in Lucca with his mother. Due to the vicissitudes of the early years of his life he had not received a formal political education, but through self-teaching he acquired a vast knowledge. He was a Renaissance man with a wide range of interests, yet his fickle nature drawn him from his early youth to many different branches of knowledge, from medicine to music (he composed sacred music), to foreign languages. He was particularly oriented to humanities, biblical and liturgical studies captured his interest. His ideology was influenced by the enlightening and romanticism of the period that followed the restoration of the European peace after the end of the Napoleonic wars. As crown prince, he found himself subjected to continuous monitoring by his mother. Restless as he was, he clashed with his conservative mother who in her later years turned increasingly to religion. He was ad versed aging her absolutist form of governing. However from his mother, he inherited the love of the Spanish Bourbon for court's pomp. The relationship between mother and son turned sour with the years. He later complained that his mother had "ruined him physically, morally and financially".
Marriage
In 1820 his mother arranged his marriage with Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy (1803–1879) , one of the twin daughters of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. The wedding took place in Lucca on September 5, 1820. Charles Louis, age twenty one, was a handsome young man of great sensibility. Maria Theresa, who turned seventeen two weeks after the wedding, was tall and beautiful. They were said to be the most handsome royal couple. They had two children:
Charles Louis was witty charming and with a gregarious nature. Maria Theresa was melancholic and, unlike her husband, she was very religious. They were a mismatched couple who lived most of their married life apart from each other. "Even if there was no love", Charles Louis later commented, "there was respect"
Duke of Lucca
On March 13, 1824 Charles Louis' mother died and he succeeded her as Charles I, Duke of Lucca. Age twenty five, he inherited a small but well kept Duchy. However he showed a lack of interest in ruling. The turbulent episodes of his early life had affected him badly. In his own words " The stormy nature of my life, my inexperience, my good faith have unfortunate resulted in a complete lack of faith in myself and a diffidence, often involuntary but none the less inevitable towards, others." Charles Louis was initially uninterested in government preferring giving free reign to his love for traveling. During the first few years of his reign he was largely absent from the duchy, leaving its government to his ministers led by Ascanio Mansi. From 1824 to 1827 Charles Louis traveled throughout Italy. He visited Rome and the courts of Naples and Modena often, he was less keen in staying with his in laws at the Piedmont Court which he disliked due to its austerity. From 1827 to 1833 he traveled thorough Germany where he owned two castles: Uchendorff and Weisstropp (near Dresden). While in Vienna, he rented theKinsky Palace. He also spent time in Berlin, Frankfurt, Prague and in the capitals of other German states.
In the early 1830s Charles Louis began to take an increased interest in state affairs. His Duchy was not affected by the revolutionary moments that ran across Rome and central Italy in 1831. In foreign relations, he recognized King Louis Philippe of France, who had come to power in the July Revolution of 1830. He was also allied with the Carlists in Spain. In 1834, his uncle the Carlist claimant Carlos V made Charles Louis an Infante of Spain. He also side with the legitimate cause in Portugal. In 1833, after staying away for three years, Charles Louis returned to Lucca and granted a general amnesty. This was in stark contrast to the attitude of others Italian states that opted for repression and imprisonment. The same year Thomas Ward arrived in Lucca and in few years he became Charles Louis' adviser and minister. Charles Louis studied and collected biblical and liturgical texts and was interested in different religious rituals. He had built a Greek Orthodox chapel at his villa in Marlia. He also flirted with protestantism which was unfavorable viewed by other catholic courts.
Charles Louis made a number of administrative and financial reforms that were popular. Between 1824 to 1829, some measures were taken relating to duties, to a certain freedom of trade, tax cuts, at the Land Registry. He gave especial encouragement to education and medicine, favoring the establishment of schools. These reforms were implemented thanks to the initiative of his Minister Mansi during the duke's absence. Charles disappointed his subjects who had hoped for a return to the constitution of 1805 and the hopes of Liberals in his duchy shifted to his only son and heir. He tried to copy in Lucca things he saw made abroad regardless if the conditions in the duchy were favorable. His love for traveling created many difficulties in governing and he often sign decrees according to his state of mind at the moment without any real knowledge of the issues. The real power rested in his minister Mansi. It was said that while Charles Louis was the Duke Mansi was king. Aware that Lucca was headed to be annexed by Tuscany, Mansi alined his policies with those of Florence, these was resented by Charles Louis. However his weakness and his restless character did not allow Charles to escape the oppressive relations of protection and control exerted upon Lucca by the courts of Austria, Tuscany and Modena. He was viewed with suspicion by both Louis Philippe of France and Metternich
After 1833, Charles Louis, chronically short of money, stayed abroad less frequently. In 1836 he returned to Vienna and in 1838, after being in Milan for the coronation of Emperor Ferdinand, he went to France and then to England where he contracted debts. In 1837 he authorized the opening of a casino in Pieve Santo Stefano. The same year he promoted a reform of the State Council and the Council of Ministers. In 1840, while he was staying in Rome his minister Ascanio Mansi died. Mansis's death heralded a new period during which Charles Louis took more the initiative but his court drew adventures from different nationalities and Lucca became a safe haven for liberals fugitives from other states. Some of them were unscrupulous adventures of dubious reputation. He chose Antonio Mazzarosa, an eminent man, as presidency of the Council of State, but under Austrian pressure, he appointed Fabrizio Ostuni as Foreign Minister representing him at the Austrian court. Ostuni tenure lasted only three years (1840-1843) and coincided with a period of increasing financial distress. The economy of the duchy was in decline since 1830 and deteriorated further with the years. In 1841 the paintings of the Palatine Gallery had to be sold. The irregularities committed by Ostuni were discovered and denounced by Charles Louis' new right hand man Thomas Ward, a former English jockey.
Charles Louis rarely saw his wife, who after 1840 retired from public life and lived in religious seclusion in Pianore. He visited her but commented that her weak intellect and lack of sensitivity "would enable her to live a century ". Charles Louis admired female beauty, but was believed to be homosexual. While in his Duchy, Charles was really little in his capital preferring to stay in the country in Marlia. In 1845 his son married princess Louise Marie Thérèse d'Artois, a daughter of the Duke of Berry and the only sister of the French legitimate pretender the the Count of Chambord.
Under pressure by Austria, Charles Louis agreed on some territorial adjustments that were detrimental to his future inheritance in Parma. By the treaty of Florence, on 28 Nov 1844, between Charles Louis and the dukes of Tuscany and Modena, he had to give up his claim to the Duchy of Guastalla and the land east of the Enza. This territories would be given to Modena receiving in compensation only Lunigiana. The treaty of Florence remained a secret for nearly three years, but once it became known it contributed to Charles Louis growing unpopularity both in Lucca and in Parma. Need for money led the Duke, on the advice of Ward, who became Minister of Finance, to claim tax credits for titles dating back thirty years. All these resulted in general dissatisfaction. A liberal movement began to grow in Lucca where in 1847 there was a series of demonstrations, culminating in July in a full-scale riot. At first Charles Louis tried to assert his authority, but the continuous unrest forced him to take refuge in the Villa of San Martino in Vignale. On 1 September 1847, alarmed at the sight a crowd that wanted to submit some reforms, he signed a a series of concessions. Three days later, under pressure from many citizens, he returned to Lucca, where he was welcomed triumphantly. However he was unable to cope with the pressure and on 9 September he left for Modena. From there, he issued a decree that converted the Council of State in a Council of Regency. On October 4 he abdicated in favor of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who would in any case have taken the duchy when Charles Louis became Duke of Parma, meanwhile he was to receive a a monthly economical compensation. Thomas Ward arranged the premature handover; in a letter Charles told him " I can't describe to you how I feel and what a sacrifice I have made. He left for Saxony while his family went to live in Turin under the protection of King Charles Albert of Sardinia.
Duke of Parma and abdication
The ex Duke wandered dejected and short of money from Modena to his German states. However he soon received news from Parma that Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Napoleon's former Empress, was dying. On December 17 1847 Empress Marie Louise died. Charles Louis succeeded as Charles II, Duke of Parma. The Duchy of Lucca was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, while Parma lost Guastalla but acquired Lunigiana.
Parma was totally dominated by Austria and there was no room for Charles's easy going ways. He was not free to follow his own political ideas and wrote to Ward. " It is better to die than to live like this. During the day, and when I am alone and can weep I weep. But that does not help." He lacked the support of his cousins in Madrid and in Paris. Charles II had never recognized Isabella II in Spain, and in France Charles X had lost his throne in the 1830 revolution. He was a virtually prisoner in the palace and more than once he announced his intentions to abdicate.
In 1848, revolution broke out in Parma. Only four months after regaining the throne of his ancestors, he was forced to flee from Italy. On 19 April 1848 Charles abdicated in favor of his son, who had himself escaped. Later, Austrian troops led by Marshall Radetzki occupied the duchy and restored Charles II, but a second offensive by the Kingdom of Sardinia obliged Charles' final resignation on May 17, 1849. He lived the rest of his life in France, where he used the title Count of Villafranca. He died at Nice.
