Elizabeth Farnese And Alberoni
In 1714 certain events took place in Spain of sufficient interest to be
worth the telling. Philip V., a feeble monarch, like all those for the
century preceding him, was on the throne. In his youth he had been the
Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV. of France, and upon the death of
that great monarch would be close in the succession to the throne of that
kingdom. But, chosen as king of Spain by the will of Charles II., he
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French crown, thus bringing to an end the fierce "War of the Succession,"
which had involved most of the powers of Europe for many years.
Philip, by nature weak and yielding, became in time a confirmed
hypochondriac, and on the death of his wife, Maria Louise, in 1714,
abandoned himself to grief, refusing to attend to business of any kind,
shutting himself up in the strictest seclusion, and leaving the affairs of
the kingdom practically in the hands of the Princess Orsini, the governess
of his children, and his chief adviser.
Sorrow-stricken as was the bereaved king, affairs were already in train to
provide him with a new wife, a plan being laid for that purpose at the
very funeral of his queen, as some writers say, between the ambitious
Princess Orsini and a cunning Italian named Alberoni, while they, with a
show of grave decorum, followed Maria Louise to the grave.
The story of Alberoni is an interesting one. This man, destined to become
prime minister of Spain, began life as the son of a gardener in the duchy
of Parma. While a youth he showed such powers of intellect that the
Jesuits took him into their seminary and gave him an education of a
superior character. He assumed holy orders and, by a combination of
knowledge and ability with adulation and buffoonery, made his way until he
received the appointment of interpreter to the Bishop of St. Domino, who
was about to set out on a mission from the Duke of Parma to the Duke of
Vendome, then commander of the French forces in Italy.
The worthy bishop soon grew thoroughly disgusted with Vendome, who, high
as he was in station, displayed a shameless grossness of manner which was
more than the pious churchman could endure. The conduct of the affair was
therefore left to the interpreter, whose delicacy was not disturbed by the
duke's behavior, and who managed to ingratiate himself fully in the good
graces of the French general, becoming so great a favorite that in the end
he left the service of the Duke of Parma for that of Vendome.
Subsequently the duke was appointed to a command in Spain, where he
employed Alberoni in all his negotiations with the court of Madrid. Here
the wily and ambitious Italian won the favor of the Princess Orsini so
fully that when, on Vendome's death, he returned home, the Duke of Parma
sent him as his envoy to Spain.
The princess little dreamed the character of the man whom she had taken
into confidential relations, and who was plotting to overthrow her
influence at court. Bent on retaining her influence by the choice of a
tractable queen, she spoke to Alberoni of the urgent necessity of finding
another bride for the disconsolate king. The shrewd diplomat named several
eligible princesses, each of whom he dismissed as objectionable for one
reason or another. At the end he adroitly introduced the name of Elizabeth
Farnese, step-daughter of the Duke of Parma, of whom he spoke carelessly
as a good girl, fattened on Parmesan cheese and butter, and so narrowly
educated that she had not an idea beyond her embroidery. She might
succeed, he hinted, to the throne of Parma, as the duke had no child of
his own, in which case there would be a chance for Spain to regain her
lost provinces in Italy.
The deluded Princess Orsini was delighted with the suggestion. With such a
girl as this for queen she could continue to hold the reins of state. She
easily induced Philip to approve the choice; the Duke of Parma was charmed
with the offer; and the preliminary steps to the marriage were hurried
through with all possible rapidity.
Before the final conclusion of the affair, however, the Princess Orsini
discovered in some way that Alberoni had lied, and that the proposed bride
was by no means the ignorant and incapable country girl she had been told.
Furious at the deception, she at once sent off a courier with orders to
stop all further proceedings relating to the marriage. The messenger
reached Parma in the morning of the day on which the marriage ceremony was
to be performed by proxy. But Alberoni was wide awake to the danger, and
managed to have the messenger detained until it was too late. Before he
could deliver his despatches Elizabeth Farnese was the legal wife of
Philip of Spain.
The new queen had been fully advised of the state of affairs by Alberoni.
The Princess Orsini, to whom she owed her elevation, was to be got rid of,
at once and permanently. On crossing the frontiers she was met by all her
household except the princess, who was with the king, then on his way to
meet and espouse his bride. At Alcala the princess left him and hastened
to meet the queen, reaching the village of Xadraca in time to receive her
as she alighted from her carriage, kiss her hand, and in virtue of her
office at court to conduct her to her apartment.
Elizabeth met the princess with a show of graciousness, but on entering
her chamber suddenly turned and accused her visitor of insulting her by
lack of respect, and by appearing before her in improper attire. The
amazed princess, overwhelmed by this accusation, apologized and
remonstrated, but the queen refused to listen to her, ordered her from the
room, and bade the officer of the guard to arrest and convey her beyond
the frontier.
Here was a change in the situation! The officer hesitated to arrest one
who for years had been supreme in Spain.
"Were you not instructed to obey me implicitly?" demanded Elizabeth.
"Yes, your majesty."
"Then do as I have ordered. I assume all responsibility."
"Will your majesty give me a written sanction?"
"Yes," said Elizabeth, in a tone very different from that of the
bread-and-butter miss whom Alberoni had represented her.
Calling for pen, ink, and paper, she wrote upon her knee an order for the
princess's arrest, and bade the hesitating officer to execute it at once.
He dared no longer object. The princess, in court dress, was hurried into
a carriage, with a single female attendant and two officers, being allowed
neither a change of clothing, protection against the cold, nor money to
procure needed conveniences on the road. In this way a woman of over sixty
years of age, whose will a few hours before had been absolute in Spain,
was forced to travel throughout an inclement winter night, and continue
her journey until she was thrust beyond the limits of Spain, within which
she was never again permitted to set foot.
Such was the first act of the docile girl whom the ambitious princess had
fully expected to use as a tool for her designs. Schooled by her skilled
adviser, and perhaps sanctioned by Philip, who may have wished to get rid
of his old favorite, Elizabeth at the start showed a grasp of the
situation which she was destined to keep until the end. The feeble-minded
monarch at once fell under her influence, and soon all the affairs of the
kingdom became subject to her control.
Elizabeth was a woman of restless ambition and impetuous temper, and she
managed throughout Philip's reign to keep the kingdom in constant hot
water. The objects she kept in view were two: first, to secure to Philip
the reversion of the French crown in case of the death of the then Duke of
Anjou, despite the fact that he had taken frequent oaths of renunciation;
second, to secure for her own children sovereign rule in Italy.
We cannot detail the long story of the intrigues by which the ambitious
woman sought to bring about these purposes, but in all of them she found
an able ally in Alberoni. Elizabeth did not forget that she owed her high
position to this man. They were, besides, congenial in disposition, and
she persuaded Philip to trust and consult him, and finally to appoint him
prime minister. Not satisfied with this reward to her favorite, she, after
a few years, induced the Pope to grant him a cardinal's hat and Philip to
make him a grandee of Spain. The gardener's son had, by ability and
shrewdness, reached the highest summit to which his ambition could aspire.
From the greatest height one may make the most rapid fall. The power of
Alberoni was destined quickly to reach its end. Yet it was less his own
fault than the ambition of the queen that led to the termination of his
career. As a prime minister he proved a marked success, giving Spain an
administration far superior to any she had enjoyed for many years.
Alberoni was a man of great ability, which he employed in zealous efforts
to improve the internal condition of the country, having the wisdom to
avail himself of the talents and knowledge of other able men in handling
those departments of government with which he was unfamiliar. He seemed
inclined to keep Spain at peace, at least until she had regained some of
her old power and energy; but the demands of the queen overcame his
reluctance, and in the end he entered upon the accomplishment of her
purposes with a daring and recklessness in full accordance with the
demands of her restless spirit of intrigue.
Louis XIV. died in 1715. Louis XV., his heir, was a sickly child, not yet
five years old. Philip would have been regent during his youth, and his
heir in case of his death, had he not renounced all claim to the French
throne. He was too weak and irresolute in himself to take any steps to
gain this position, but his wife spurred him on to ambitious designs, and
Alberoni entered eagerly into her projects, beginning a series of
intrigues in France with all who were opposed to the Duke of Orleans, the
existing regent.
These intrigues led to war. The duke concluded an alliance with England
and Germany, the former enemies of France. Philip, exasperated at seeing
himself thus thwarted, declared war against the German emperor, despite
all that Alberoni could do to prevent, and sent an expedition against
Sardinia, which captured that island. Sicily was also invaded. Alberoni
now entered into intrigues for the restoration of the banished Stuarts to
the English throne, and took part in a conspiracy in France to seize the
Duke of Orleans and appoint Philip to the regency.
Both these plots failed, the war became general, Philip found his armies
beaten, and Alberoni was forced to treat for peace. The Spanish minister
had made bitter enemies of George I. of England and the Duke of Orleans,
who, claiming that he was responsible for disturbing the peace of Europe,
demanded his dismissal as a preliminary to peace. His failure had lost him
influence with the king, but the queen, the real power behind the throne,
supported him, and it was only by promises of the enemies of Alberoni to
aid her views for the establishment of her children that she was induced
to yield consent to his overthrow.
On the 4th of December, 1719, Alberoni spent the evening transacting
affairs of state with the king and queen. Up to that time he remained in
full favor and authority, however he may have suspected the intrigues for
his overthrow. Their majesties that night left Madrid for their country
palace at Pardo, and from there was sent a decree by the hands of a
secretary of state, to the all-powerful minister, depriving him of all his
offices, and bidding him to quit Madrid within eight days and Spain within
three weeks.
Alberoni had long been hated by the people of Spain, and detested by the
grandees, who could not be reconciled to the supremacy of a foreigner and
his appointment to equality with them in rank. But this sudden dismissal
seemed to change their sentiments, and rouse them to realization of the
fact that Spain was losing its ablest man. Nobles and clergy flocked to
his house in such numbers that the king became alarmed at this sudden
popularity, and ordered him to shorten the time of his departure.
Alberoni sought refuge in Rome, but here the enmity of France and England
pursued him, and Philip accused him of misdemeanors in office, for which
he demanded a trial by the Pope and cardinals. Before these judges the
disgraced minister defended himself so ably that the court brought the
investigation to a sudden end by ordering him to retire to a monastery for
three years.
This period the favor of the Pope reduced to one year, and his chief
enemy, the regent of France, soon after dying, he was permitted to leave
the monastery and pass the remainder of his life free from persecution.
His career was a singular one, considering the lowness of his origin, and
showed what ability and shrewdness may accomplish even against the
greatest obstacles of fortune.
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