Francesco Farnese

Francesco Farnese
Attributed to Ilario Spolverini c. 1710-1720
Duke of Parma and Piacenza
Reign	11 December 1694 – 26 February 1727
Predecessor	Ranuccio II
Successor	Antonio
Born	(1678-05-19)19 May 1678 Parma, Duchy of Parma and Piacenza
Died	26 February 1727(1727-02-26) (aged 48) Parma, Duchy of Parma and Piacenza
Spouse	Dorothea Sophia of Neuburg
House	House of Farnese
Father	Rannuccio II Farnese
Mother	Maria d'Este
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Francesco Farnese (19 May 1678 – 26 February 1727) reigned as the seventh Farnese Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1694 until his death. Married to Dorothea Sophia of the Palatinate, his brother Odoardo's widow, to avoid the return of her dowry, Francesco curtailed court expenditure, enormous under his father and predecessor, Ranuccio II, while preventing the occupation of his Duchy of Parma, nominally a Papal fief, during the War of the Spanish Succession.^[1][2]

The second son of Ranuccio II Farnese and Maria d'Este of Modena, the Duke, despite his efforts otherwise, saw Parma declared a fief of the Duchy of Milan, an Austrian province in Italy, towards the end of the war.^[3] His inability to produce offspring, combined with his brother Antonio's barrenness, lead to the accession of his niece the Queen of Spain's eldest son, Don Carlos, in 1731.