Editing Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma

{{Short description|Italian duke (1524–1586)}}
{{distinguish|Ottavio Farnese (1598–1643)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Ottavio Farnese
| image        = Tommaso Manzuoli, called Maso da San Friano (1531–1571) - Ottavio Farnese (1525-86), 2nd Duke of Parma and Piacenza - CC446 - Cobbe Collection.jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Maso da San Friano]], {{circa|1551}}
| succession   = [[List of Dukes of Parma|Duke of Parma and Piacenza]]
| moretext     = 
| reign        = 10 September 1547 – {{awrap|18 September 1586}}
| predecessor  = [[Pier Luigi Farnese]]
| successor    = [[Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alessandro Farnese]]
| regent       = 
| reg-type     = 
| spouse       = [[Margaret of Parma]]
| spouse-type  = Spouse
| house        = [[House of Farnese|Farnese]]
| issue        = [[Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma]]
| father       = [[Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma]]
| mother       = [[Gerolama Orsini]]
| succession1  = [[Duchy of Castro|Duke of Castro]]
| reign-type1  = 1st reign
| reign1       = 23 September 1545 – {{awrap|10 September 1547}}
| predecessor1 = [[Pier Luigi Farnese]]
| successor1   = [[Orazio Farnese, Duke of Castro|Orazio Farnese]]
| reign-type2  = 2nd reign
| reign2       = 18 July 1553 – {{awrap|18 September 1586}}
| predecessor2 = [[Orazio Farnese, Duke of Castro|Orazio Farnese]]
| successor2   = [[Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alessandro Farnese]]
| royal house  = 
| birth_date   = 9 October 1524
| birth_place  = [[Valentano]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1586|09|18|1524|10|09}}
| death_place  = [[Piacenza]], [[Duchy of Parma and Piacenza]]
| burial_place = [[Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata|Santa Maria della Steccata]]
}}

'''Ottavio Farnese''' (9 October 1524 – 18 September 1586) reigned as [[Duke of Parma]] and [[Piacenza]] from 1547 until his death and [[Duchy of Castro|Duke of Castro]] from 1545 to 1547 and from 1553 until his death.

==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}}

== Issue ==
Ottavio and his wife [[Margaret of Parma|Margherita]] had:
* Charles Farnese ({{langx|it|Carlo Farnese}}, {{langx|es|Carlos Farnesio}}, {{langx|de|Karl Farnese}}; 27 August 1545{{spaced ndash}}September 1545), heir to the [[Duchy of Parma]].
* [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Alexander Farnese]] (27 August 1545{{spaced ndash}}3 December 1592), [[Dukes of Parma|3rd]] [[Duke of Parma]]; married [[Infanta Maria of Guimarães|Infanta Maria of Portugal]]{{sfn|Gamrath|2007|p=25}}

Ottavio also had two other daughters: 
* Violante, married to Torquato Conti (not to be confused with his grandson, [[Torquato Conti]]) (c. 1520 – c. 1575) and had issue,
* Ersilia (1565–1596), married to Renato Borromeo, Conte di Arona (1555–1608), first cousin of [[St. Charles Borromeo]], and had issue.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=Farnese: Pomp, Power and Politics in Renaissance Italy |first=Helge |last=Gamrath |publisher="L'Erma" di Bretschneider  |year=2007 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Hero of Italy: Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, His Soldiers, and His Subjects in the Thirty Years' War |first=Gregory |last=Hanlon |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019  }}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Farnese|display=Farnese s.v. Orazio|first=Luigi|last=Villari|author-link=Luigi Villari|volume=10|pages=183–184}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Farnese]]|9 October|1521|18 September|1586|}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma|Pier Luigi]] |
title=[[Duke of Parma]] |
years= 1547–1586|
after=[[Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza|Alessandro]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Dukes of Parma}}
{{Princes of Parma}}
{{Authority control}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnese, Ottavio, Duke Of Parma}}
[[Category:1524 births]]
[[Category:1586 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century dukes of Parma]]
[[Category:House of Farnese|Ottavio]]
[[Category:Dukes of Castro|Ottavio]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Viterbo]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Burials at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata]]