Zita Princess of Parma, the last queen of Hungary, was born 130 years ago
Zita Bourbon, Princess of Parma, Queen of Hungary and the Czech Republic, Empress of Austria, was born on May 9, 1892, in Viareggio, Italy. Princess IV from the Bourbon House. Between 1916 and 1918, Charles was the Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and the Czech Republic, through her marriage to the Archduke of Austria.
His father, Prince Robert I of Parma, sat only nominally on the throne of the Duchy of Parma, for it had to be given in Italian in order to achieve unity. Zita was the seventeenth child and eleventh daughter of the prince. The mother of the princess gave birth to twelve children as the second wife of the Portuguese infantry Maria Antónia, Robert I, just as the prince had twelve children from his first marriage. Thus, Princess Zita had thirteen brothers and sisters at birth.
In the baptism, the princess was named Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese, but of the many first names, the family chose the name Zita as the primary one, in honor of St. Zita, who lived in the 13th century.
Raised as a strict mother, the Princess of Parma raised her children in iron discipline, with a strong emphasis on learning about and following the rules of the Catholic religion. The children learned French, German, Italian, Portuguese and English.
On September 16, 1903, the princess was enrolled in the St. Joseph Daughter’s Institute in Zangberg, where several of the family’s daughters attended. The Bavarian monastery, run by the Salesian Sisters, was attended primarily by daughters of affluent civilians. In just one year, Zita became one of one of her best students, Adelheid’s sister, who was also a boarding school resident, though one of the school’s excellences never managed to catch up.
When Zita’s sister, Princess Adelheid, completed her studies in 1907, Zita was also expelled from school. His father fell ill and wanted to know his daughter, but by the time Zita returned home to Italy, Prince Robert I was no longer alive. After the time of mourning, he returned to Zangberg and was sent to the Benedictine convent of the Benedictine Order on Wirht Island the following year for further study.
The convent institution did not function as an educator, the students were taught primarily theology and philosophy, and great emphasis was placed on worship. Despite the family environment, Princess Zita did not feel comfortable with the sisters, and the humid, humid climate challenged her health. His mother took her daughter home to the family’s Austrian estate in 1909 and then sent her to Franzensbad in the Czech Republic for medical treatment.
The strictly religious environment of childhood and later during the school years therefore determines the mindset and values of the young princess for a lifetime:
“Growing up, Zita became a believer but a practical Christian. Religion has shaped him into a broad, multifaceted worldview. A little mysticism and devotion to miracles, an even more desire to practice charity, and finally a love of the liturgy of the Catholic Church and religious art, aesthetic beauty, all influenced the young Zita, ”writes historian János Estók.
Archduke Charles and Princess Zita of Parma were married in the castle of Schwarzau on October 21, 1911, with the participation of many European dignitaries. They could list themselves among the few exceptions who could choose their future of their own free will and emotions.
They lived in undeniably happy marriages, their children were born in a row, and between 1912 and 1922 Queen Zita gave birth to eight children. Their children were also raised according to the expectations and beliefs of the Catholic religion.
Charles lived in rural garrisons away from the throne until 1914, when his uncle, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo and became heir to the throne. When Emperor Franz Joseph passed away in 1916, he ascended the throne and was crowned in the Matthias Church in Budavár on December 16 under the name of King Charles I of Hungary.
Zita and her husband were also crowned, and the crown was touched over her shoulder. It is a rarity for the king and queen to be crowned one day, but this also happened to her, so she became Hungary’s first woman for two years.
he gave himself over to ordinary duties, visited hospitals, cared for soldiers, and took patronage of orphaned children.
After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, after the loss of the war, Károly relinquished the Austrian imperial throne and the right to speak in Hungarian rule, but did not formally renounce the Hungarian throne. The royal couple emigrated to Switzerland to avoid internment. As a result of the Treaty of Trianon, the Kingdom of Hungary lost significant territories. In March 1921, King Charles tried to return to the country.
The event, known as the “first royal coup,” ended in failure, and the ruler had to return to Switzerland. He tried for a second in October of the same year, by which time a battle had already taken place between the royalists and the governing forces.
Queen Zita accompanied her husband on both occasions in Hungary, while their children stayed in the castle of Wartegg, the step-grandmother of King Charles, Archduchess Maria Theresa. After the lost battle in Budaörs, the royal party was captured together in Tata Castle. At that time, the Entente authorities decided that the ruling family should be moved to a safer place and the island of Madeira was designated as the family’s residence. It was there that young Charles died as a result of Spanish fever at the age of thirty-four. Zita was expecting their eighth child, devotedly caring for her husband, who died on April 1, 1922.
“From now on, let’s work to see each other again in the sky!” Said goodbye at the man’s deathbed.
Queen Zita wore a mourning dress for the rest of her life after her husband’s death. The family lived in misery because the victorious great powers did not want to support the hostile imperial family. The widow’s XIII. King Alfonso of Spain hurried to his aid. The family left Spain in 1929 and moved to Belgium, where the young people could go to university. In 1940, before the German occupation, they fled to New York and then to Quebec. During the war, Zita collected bandages and medicines for Austria and Hungary. She settled back in Europe in 1952, where she cared for her elderly mother, the Duchess of Parma, the infant woman Maria, until her death. After that, Zita moved to the Franciscan monastery in Zizersi, where she lived in modest conditions.
After her ninetieth birthday, the health of the Empress and Queen began to decline. The family gathered in 1987 to celebrate his 95th birthday, when he was surrounded by his thirty-four grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren. It was the last time the whole family was together with the queen still alive. In 1988, when he was visiting one of his daughters, he contracted pneumonia. For the remaining nearly a year of his life, he lived in bed with a large patient. The last queen of Hungary died on March 14, 1989, at the age of 96, among her family.
Her burial took place on April 1, 1989 in the Austrian capital, and on the 67th anniversary of her husband’s death, she was laid to rest in the crypt of the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Two hundred members of the family attended the appropriate ceremony, and another six thousand were invited.
Her heart was separated from her body, and it is kept with her husband in the Loreto Chapel of Muri Abbey in the Swiss canton of Aargau, according to the Empress’s wishes. This is how the hearts of the last king and the last queen of Hungary rest side by side.
Twenty years after her death, Empress Zita and Queen Queen of Hungary were initiated the trial of Yves Le Saux, Bishop of Le Mans, twenty years after her death. Her husband, IV. Charles, the last apostolic Hungarian king, was also elevated to the ranks of the saints by the Catholic Church. II. He was inaugurated happy by Pope John Paul on October 3, 2004, in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
Source: Wikipedia
(Kornélia Berényi / Felvidék.ma)