Editing Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Coat of Arms of the Duke Octavius Farnese (1547-1586).svg|thumb|right|200px|Coat of arms of Ottavio Farnese]]
Born in [[Valentano]], Ottavio was the second son of [[Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma|Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza]] (eldest son of [[Pope Paul III]]) by his wife Gerolama Orsini.{{sfn|Gamrath|2007|p=25}} Ottavio's brother was  Cardinal [[Ranuccio Farnese (Cardinal)|Ranuccio Farnese]].

On 4 November 1538 Ottavio married [[Margaret of Parma|Margaret of Austria]], the illegitimate daughter of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]].{{sfn|Hanlon|2019|p=8}} Ottavio was 14 years old, while Margaret, recently widowed by the death of [[Alessandro de' Medici]], was 15. At first she disliked her youthful bridegroom, but when he returned wounded from an expedition to [[Algiers]] in 1541 her aversion was turned to affection.{{sfn|Villari|1911|p=183}}

Ottavio had become lord of [[Camerino]] in 1540, but he gave up that [[fiefdom|fief]] when his father became duke of [[Parma]] in 1545. After the Parmesan nobility assassinated Pierluigi Farnese in 1547, troops of the Emperor occupied [[Piacenza]]. Pope Paul III attempted to regain Piacenza; he set aside Ottavio's claims to the succession of Parma,{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} where he appointed a [[papal legate]], giving him back Camerino in exchange, and then claimed Piacenza from the emperor &mdash; not for the Farnese, but for the Church.{{sfn|Villari|1911|p=183}}

Ottavio attempted to seize Parma by force, and having failed, entered into negotiations with [[Ferrante Gonzaga]]. This rebellion on the part of his grandson is believed to have hastened the Pope's death on 10 November 1549. During the [[interregnum]] that followed, Ottavio again tried to induce the governor of Parma to give up the city to him, but met with no better success; however, on the election of Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte to the papacy as [[Pope Julius III|Julius III]], the duchy was conferred on him in 1551.{{sfn|Villari|1911|pp=183–184}}

This did not end Ottavio's quarrel with the Emperor Charles V, for Gonzaga refused to give up Piacenza and even threatened to occupy Parma, so that Ottavio was driven into the arms of [[France]]. Julius III, who was anxious to be on good terms with Charles V on account of the [[Council of Trent]] which was then sitting, ordered Farnese to hand Parma over to the papal authorities once more, and on his refusal hurled censures and admonitions at his head, and deprived him of his Roman fiefs, while Charles did the same with regard to those in [[Lombardy]]. A French army came to protect Parma, the [[War of Parma]] broke out, and Gonzaga at once laid siege to the city. But the duke came to an arrangement with his father-in-law, by which he regained Piacenza and his other fiefs. The rest of his life was spent quietly at home, where the moderation and wisdom of his rule won for him the affection of his people.{{sfn|Villari|1911|p=184}}

At his death in 1586 his only legitimate son [[Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza|Alessandro]] succeeded him.{{sfn|Villari|1911|p=184}}