Background
Her mother died in childbirth in 1666 after giving birth to Odoardo, Hereditary Prince of Parma (father of the famous Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain).
Duchess of Modena Duke of Modena
Her mother died in childbirth in 1666 after giving birth to Odoardo, Hereditary Prince of Parma (father of the famous Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain).
Her father Ranuccio had previously been married to Margaret Yolande of Savoy but the marriage produced no surviving issue. As such, Margherita Maria was the first of Ranuccio"s children to survive infancy. Her younger half brothers Francesco Farnese and Antonio Farnese were successively the rulers of Parma.
When the latter died, the House of Farnese became extinct.
Francesco was the son of the late Alfonso IV d"Este, Duke of Modena and Laura Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. He was also the brother of Mary of Modena, wife of James II of England
The couple had no children, Francesco dying in 1694 after just two years of marriage of gout and polyarthritis.
The widowed Duchess of Modena retired to ner native Parma where she died in the summer of 1718 at the Ducal Palace of Colorno, the summer residence of the Farnese. She was buried at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma.
Titles and styles
24 November 1664 – 14 July 1692 Her Highness Margherita Maria Farnese, Princess of Parma
14 July 1692 – 6 September 1694 Her Highness the Duchess of Modena
6 September 1694 – 17 June 1718 Her Highness the Dowager Duchess of Modena.