(21) 1. BORBÓN Y FARNESIO, Luis Antonio Jaime de (1727-1785)

Birth. July 25, 1727, Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, Spain. Royal Infant of Spain. Youngest son of King Felipe V of Spain and his second wife, Isabel de Farnesio. Brother of Kings Fernando VI of Spain (1713-1759) and Carlos III of Spain (1716-1788), Queen María Ana of Portugal (1718-1781), Duke Felipe of Parma (1720-1765), María Teresa (1726-1746), wife of the dauphin of France, and Queen María Antonia of Sardinia (1729-1785), as well as of King Luis I of Spain (1707-1724), Felipe (1709), Felipe Pedro (1712-1719) and Francisco (1717), all already dead by the time he was born. He was given the name Luis in honor of his deceased brother. He was the father of Cardinal Luis María de Borbón y Vallábriga (1800)

Education. Studied at home (geography, history, religion, music, drawing, French, Italian, Castillian and all what a royal infant of the time should learn).

Sacred orders. Never received any of the sacred orders.

Episcopate. In 1734, when Cardenal Diego de Astorga y Céspedes, archbishop of Toledo died King Felipe V manifested to the pope his wish that his son Luis Antonio become the successor. Pope Clement XII objected because of his young age (seven years old) and because he was very unhappy with the Borbons because of their claims in Italy. Nevertheless, he appointed the boy perpetual administrator of the temporal matters of the archdiocese on November 10, 1735.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of December 19, 1735; received the deaconry of S. Maria della Scala, December 19, 1735. He was only eight years old. Took official possession of the archdiocese, March 13, 1736. Received the red biretta in Madrid, March 23, 1736. Administrator of spiritual affairs of Toledo, assisted by Bernardo Froilán Saavedra, titular archbishop of Larissa, November 26, 1737. Did not participate in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Administrator of spiritual affairs and temporal matters of the archdiocese of Sevilla, with the assistance of Gabriel de Torres y Navarra, titular archbishop of Melitene, September 19, 1741. On February 12-14, 1743, took place in Madrid the celebrations for the concession of the red hat to the cardinal. At 27, conscious of his lack of religious vocation and of his strong sexual drive, he decided to submit his resignation from all his ecclesiastical posts to King Fernando VI and to Pope Benedict XIV. During the secret consistory of December 18, 1754, resigned the cardinalate and the administration of the sees of Toledo and Sevilla, through Cardinal Joaquín Fernández Portocarrero, who acted as his procurator.

Later life. Became the 12th count of Chinchón in 1761; and fifteen years later, on June 27, 1776, married morganatically Maria Teresa de Vallábriga y de Rozas, who was thirty two years younger, in the palace of the dukes of Fernandina in Olías del Rey. In that year, King Carlos III had issued a pragmatic sanction by which any royal infant who would marry a person not of royal blood, or whose marriage was not approved by the king, would be excluded from the succession to the throne. If the marriage took place, the children would not inherit either the last name or the arms of the Borbons. He was an unfortunate victim of the ambition of his mother and the meanness of his brother, King Carlos III, who hampered his marriage, fearing problems because his children had been born in Naples, and legally this posed difficulties for the succession to the throne.

Death. August 7, 1785, at 5:45 a.m., Arenas de San Pedro, Ávila; on August 5, he had received the last rites. Exposed for five days in Arenas and buried in the royal chapel of the shrine of San Pedro de Alcántara (he had requested to be buried in the chapel of his palace of Boadilla and if not possible, in the chapel of the palace of Chinchón but the king ordered otherwise). In 1800 the remains were transferred to the Panteón de Infantes of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (1) (2).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1794, VIII, 276-277; González, R. "Borbón, Luis Antonio Jaime de." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España. 4 vols and Supplement. Dirigido por Quintín Aldea Vaquero, Tomás Marín Martínez, José Vives Gatell. Madrid : Instituto Enrique Flórez, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1972-1975; Suplemento (1987), I, 274; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. ; Tovar Martín, Virginia. "Ventura y desventura de Don Luis Antonio Jaime de Borbón y Farnesio, hermano de Carlos III." Reales Sitios: Revista del Patrimonio Nacional, 101 (1989), 32-44.

Webgraphy. Biography by Francisco Vázquez García, in Spanish, Diccionario Biográfico Español; biography, in Spanish, with portraits, Boadilla del Monte; his portrait, arms and biography, in Spanish, Wikipedia; portraits, arms, genealogy and biography, in English, Wikipedia; his portrait, genealogy and biography, in Spanish, Asociación de Amigos del Palacio de Boadilla del Monte; his portrait as a child, by Jean Ranc, ca. 1731, Wikipedia; his arms, portrait and engraving, Arldica Vaticana; his portrait as a youngster, private collection Viuda de Núñez de Prado, fototeca, Universidad de Sevilla; portrait as a six years old child, Biblioteca Colombina, Sevilla; his portrait, as an adult, Palacio de Velada, residence of Infante don Luis Antonio de Borbón and his family, in the locality of Velada, province of Toledo; his portrait, as a child, from the same source.

(1) On his tomb were inscribed the arms of the Borbons and the following inscription:

(2) This is the text of his Rogito in the primatial and metropolitan cathedral of Toledo, kindly provided by Mr. Alex Jabonero, from Toledo:

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