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- BIOGRAPHY
Maria was born on 1 March 1656, the daughter of General Borso d'Este and Ippolita d'Este. She was the product of a marriage between niece and uncle, her father being a son of Caesare d'Este, duke of Modena, and her mother a daughter of Luigi d'Este, lord of Montecchio and Scandiano, younger son of Caesare. The youngest of seven children, she lost her mother in the year of her birth and her father the following year. The unmarried princess was noted for her good looks and for having such a fine figure for one of her age at the time of her marriage.
The arrangements for Maria's marriage to Emanuele Filiberto de Savoie, prince de Carignano, son of Tommaso Francesco de Savoie, prince of Savoy and duke of Carignano, and Marie de Bourbon, comtesse de Soissons, were not without complications. His cousin Vittorio Amadeo II, duke of Savoy had given his permission for the match, but it was opposed by Louis XIV of France, who had wanted Emanuele Filiberto to marry a French princess, given his position as heir to the duchy of Savoy until Vittorio Amadeo II produced a male heir. Nevertheless a proxy ceremony took place in Modena where Maria's unmarried brother Caesare Ignace d'Este acted as her husband to be. In a private ceremony at the castle of Racconigi, the summer residence of the princes of Carignano, the ceremony took place on 10 November 1684, the bride being 28 and the groom 56. Maria and Emanuele Filiberto had two girls and two boys, of whom only their son Vittorio Amadeo would have children.
Their marriage was important to the house of Savoy, but poorly viewed by the kingdom of France for its lack of political connection. Louis banished Emanuele Filiberto and his new spouse from the French court. However in 1685, after the intercession of Vittorio Amadeo II, Emanuele Filiberto obtained permission from Louis XIV to return to Turin.
Emanuele Filiberto died in 1709, and their only surviving son Vittorio Amadeo succeeded as prince de Carignano. Maria died on 16 July 1722, aged 66.
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