Family and early years

Born in the castle of Capodimonte in the Duchy of Castro on 29 March 1588, Margherita was the eldest child and daughter of Gianfrancesco Aldobrandini and Olimpia Aldobrandini,^{[lower-alpha 1]} niece of Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini, who became in Pope Clement VIII in 1592.^[1] In 1593, at the invitation of her uncle, the pontiff, Margherita's parents moved to Rome. The Pope wanted to strengthen the position of the Aldobrandini family in the Papal States and provided patronage to his relatives. Margherita's father enjoyed special confidence in the pontiff, who bestowed on him the titles of Count of Sarsina and Meldola (later elevated to the rank of Prince in 1597), and her mother was his favorite niece. The pontiff also patronized the children of the spouses: he elevated their eldest son Salvestro to the rank of Cardinal, and for the eldest daughters Margherita and Elena began to look husbands of sovereign houses.^[2]

As suitors for Margherita, the Pope considered the candidacies of princes from the Houses of Savoy and Medici, and even King Henry IV of France. However, the candidates were not interested in the proposal. From 1598, the Pope began negotiations for the marriage of Margherita with Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. This marriage was supposed to stabilize the relationship between the Houses of Aldobrandini and Farnese and lead to a political alliance between the Holy See and the Duchy of Parma. In the course of lengthy and difficult negotiations, the parties came to an agreement on the amount of the bride's dowry, most of which was paid from the treasury of the Papal States. The marriage agreement was signed in Rome with the active participation of Spanish diplomats and Cardinals Pietro Aldobrandini and Odoardo Farnese.^[2]

Duchess of Parma

On 7 May 1600 in Rome, Pope Clement VIII celebrated the marriage between Duke Ranuccio I Farnese and Margherita Aldobrandini. At the request of the Pope, the wedding took place without any special celebrations, but this event in an allegorical form was reflected in the art and literature of that time. The union of a 30-year-old groom and an 11-year-old bride was glorified by contemporary poets in epithals and madrigals. It is believed that the wedding of the Duke and the grand-niece of the Pope inspired the cycle of frescos called The Loves of the Gods, a work of the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci and his studio, which is located in the west wing of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. On 4 June, together with her husband, Margherita left Rome for Parma, accompanied by armed guards and a cortege from the Parma nobility. On the way, the newlyweds visited Vittoria Farnese, Duchess consort of Urbino, the paternal aunt of Margherita's husband. On 1 July they arrived in the Duchy of Parma. The young Duchess spent the summer at the Castello di Torrechiara, awaiting the completion of renovations at the Ducal Palace in Parma. In early October, her solemn entry into the capital of the Duchy took place.^[2]

The Duchess couldn't get pregnant for a long time; she had several miscarriages and the first two children she gave birth to in the first ten years of her marriage, in 1602 and 1603, only lived for a few hours. Margherita's relatives knew about her gynecological problems before her marriage; in addition, she underwent several operations. The question of the probable infertility of the then bride of the Duke of Parma was also known by his younger brother Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, who, nevertheless, didn't inform the groom. Historians believe that the Cardinal hoped in this way to be the successor of the Ducal throne of Parma after the death of his childless older brother; but in 1605, Duke Ranuccio I legitimized his illegitimate son Ottavio Farnese, whom, much to Margherita's chagrin, he took to the Ducal Palace and began to train and educate him as his heir.^[2]

The superstitious Duke Ranuccio I, who believed in the effectiveness of witchcraft, convinced himself that he was the victim of someone's curse. After trying all medical methods, he turned to astrologers and exorcists, began to fast and generously give alms. Finally, he ordered the initiation of an investigation into the witchcraft case, which established that his wife had been damaged by the Duke's former mistresses, the beautiful noblewoman Claudia Colla and her mother Elena, nicknamed "the Roman Woman" (le Romane). The women were convicted and imprisoned in the Rocchetta prison.^[2][3]

In 1610, Margherita finally gave birth a child who survived, a son, named Alessandro after his paternal grandfather, and who momentarily raised the hopes of the court. But soon became clear that the child was deaf and, as a result, dumb. After numerous attempts to correct the boy's condition, in 1618 his inability to govern the state was officially declared; the heir of the Ducal throne of Parma was the second surviving son, Odoardo, born in 1612. Following Alessandro and Odoardo's births, the gynecological problems of Margherita apparently became resolved: between 1613 and 1620, she gave birth five more children, three of whom survived infancy.^[2] According to some researchers, she passed the hereditary obesity to the later representatives of the House of Farnese.^[4] To the delight of Margherita, the illegitimate Ottavio Farnese was removed from court; unsatisfied with the loss of his position of heir, he became a member of a conspiracy against his father, which was revealed, after which he was also imprisoned in the Rocchetta prison until his death.

Like most political marriages in the House of Farnese House, Margherita's union was unhappy. The interests of the relatives of the Duchess and her husband often overlapped, which led to conflicts between them. The hot-tempered and cruel Duke Ranuccio I did not change his love habits: Margherita had to be patient with the Duke's promiscuous relationships with other women.^[4][5] According to contemporaries, the Duchess had a meek character. She was a pious woman, helped the poor and the sick, patronized the monks, especially the Theatines, whom in 1629 she helped to settle down at the Church of St. Christina in Parma. Margherita loved art and poetry, patronized the poet Claudio Achillini, whom she helped to take a chair at the University of Parma. Only once during the years of marriage did the Duchess travel with her husband outside Parma: in 1620, they paid an official visit to Piacenza, where they attended the unveiling of the equestrian monuments of the Duke and his father Alessandro Farnese.^[2]

Regent of Parma

Duke Rannucio I died on 5 March 1622.^[2] His younger brother, Cardinal Odoardo, acted as Regent of the Duchy of Parma on behalf of his 10-years-old nephew and new Duke Odoardo. The Cardinal's death in February 1626 allowed Margherita, now Dowager Duchess, to become in the new Regent for her son. Her 2-years regency occurred during the Thirty Years' War; she managed to maintain stability in the Duchy, observing neutrality. In the War of the Mantuan Succession she supported Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, who became in the next Duke of Mantua and Montferrato.^[2]

In 1628 Duke Odoardo Farnese attained his majority, and Margherita resigned to her functions as Regent. In October of the same year, the Duke married Margherita de' Medici. Back in 1620, Duke Ranuccio I agreed on the marriage of his heir to Maria Cristina de' Medici, the eldest daughter of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, but because of Maria Cristina's health problems (she was born with a deformity and was possibly mentally disabled) in February 1627 was decided that the Grand Duke's second daughter Margherita de' Medici became in the new bride and eventually Duchess consort of Parma.^[2]

Little is now of the Dowager Duchess after the end of her regency; the only certainty is that she lived at the court of her son. Margherita Aldobrandini died in Parma on 9 August 1646; her son Duke Odoardo died a few weeks later, on 11 September.^[2]