A Jacobite Gazetteer - Italy

Macerata - Palazzo Marefoschi

The palace of the Compagnoni Marefoschi family is located at Via Don Minzoni, 11.

Palazzo Marefoschi
Facade of Palazzo Marefoschi

In 1772 Cardinal Mario Compagnoni Marefoschi arranged for King Charles III and Queen Louise to renew their marriage vows in person in the palace of the cardinal's brother Count Camillo Marefoschi (they had already been married by proxy). The ceremony took place in the private chapel of the palace on Good Friday, April 17, 1772, with the Bishop of Macerata, Carlo Augusto Peruzzini, presiding. 1

Chapel in the Marefoschi Palace
Chapel

A Latin inscription on the wall of the chapel records the marriage:

QVOD. HEIC. XV. KAL. MAIAS
AN. R. S. CI>I>CCLXXII
HOSPES. HOSPITI
CAROLVS. III. REX. M. BRITANNIAE
FRANCIAE. ET. HIBERNIAE
PORREXERIT. DEXTERAM
LVDOVICAE. FIL. GVSTAVII
DE. STOLBERG. GVEDERN
PRINC. S. R. I. EQVIT. ORD. PALATINI
COMIT. DE. KOCNEGTEIN. ROCCAFORT
VERNIGORODE. HOHENSTEIN. &c
EAMQVE. SERVATIS. S. R. E. RITIBVS
DVXERIT. IN. MATRIMONIVM
CAMILLVS. COMPAGNONIVS. MAREFVSCHIVS
PRAESENS. PLAUDENS
FAVSTA. OMNIA. ADPRECANS
M. P.
 
On account of the fact that here on May 1st
in the year of salvation 1772,
the guest of a guest,
Charles III, King of Great Britain,
France and Ireland,
stretched out his right hand
to Louise, daughter of Gustavus
of Stolberg-Gedern,
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Knight of the Palatine Order,
Count of Konigstein, Rochefort,
Wernigerode, Hohenstein, etc.
and according to the rites of the Holy Roman Church
took her in matrimony:
Camillo Compagnoni Marefoschi
being present with his approval,
[and] praying for all good blessings,
erected [this] monument.

Inscription in the Chapel of the Marefoschi Palace
Inscription in the Chapel

The couple stayed as guests in the palace for the next two nights, leaving for Rome on the evening of Easter Sunday.

Bedroom in the Marefoschi Palace
Bedroom in the Marefoschi Palace

Macerata can be reached by bus from either Rome or Ancona. Buses arrive at the Giardini Diaz on the west side of the city. From there one can take the elevator up into the city, and then walk to Piazza della Liberta at the centre of the town, and then eastwards two blocks along Via Don Minzoni. The Palazzo Marefoschi is on the right.

Notes

1 An English-translation of an account of the wedding from the Archives of the Compagnoni Marefoschi family is printed in Amy Vitteleschi, A Court in Exile: Charles Edward Stuart and the Romance of the Countess d'Albanie (London: Hutchinson, 1903), II, 388-389.

Image 1 (Facade of Palazzo Marefoschi): © Noel S. McFerran 2004.

Image 2 (Chapel): © Noel S. McFerran 2004.

Image 3 (Inscription in the Chapel): © Noel S. McFerran 2004.

Image 4 (Bedroom): Amy Vitteleschi, A Court in Exile (London: Hutchinson, 1903), II, plate opposite page 394.

This page is maintained by Noel S. McFerran (noel.mcferran@rogers.com) and was last updated September 3, 2008.
© Noel S. McFerran 2008.