MARIA CRISTINA of Savoia, Queen of the TWO SICILIES, venerable. — Younger daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia, and of Maria Teresa of Asburgo-Este, b. at Cagliari on 14 Nov. 1812, d. at Napoli on 31 Jan. 1836. As a young girl she distinguished herself within her family by her gifts of piety and virtue. After her father’s abdication, in March 1821, she left Torino and lived with her family at Modena, at Moncalieri, where she lost her father (1824), and at Genova, where her mother died (1832).
She would have wished to devote herself to religious life, but negotiations for the marriage of M. C. to Ferdinando di Borbone had been under way between the court of Torino and that of Napoli since 1817. This in fact took place on 21 Nov. 1832 at Voltri (Nostra Signora dell'Acquasanta), and the new Queen travelled by sea with Ferdinando II to Napoli. On 14 Jan. 1836 M. C. gave birth to the long-awaited heir to the throne of Sicily, II (v.), but she died in the same month. She was buried in S. Chiara. The four years of marriage and life at the court of Napoli brought M. C.’s qualities of sanctity to light in southern Italy. Many rumours circulated concerning ill-treatment inflicted upon the bride by Ferdinando II, but these are inventions forming part of the anti-Bourbon liberal legend. On account of her virtues M. C. was declared venerable in 1853, and the cause of her beatification is in progress.
