father reign predecessor succession successor house mother birth_place death_date death_place religion styles spouse birth_date image article_title name type
rannuccio ii farnese 11 december 1694 -- 26 may 1727 ranuccio ii duke of parma and piacenza antonio house of farnese maria d'este parma , parma 26 may 1727 parma , parma roman catholicism '' hh '' the duke -lsb- of parma -rsb- dorothea sophia of the palatinate 19 may 1678 anonym herzog francesco farnese.jpg francesco farnese , duke of parma
 francesco farnese monarch
francesco farnese , duke of parma

francesco farnese -lrb- 19 may 1678 -- 26 may 1727 -rrb- reigned as the seventh and penultimate 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 .
the second son of ranuccio ii farnese and maria d'este of modena , the duke , despite the his efforts otherwise , saw parma declared a fief of the duchy of milan , an austrian province in italy , towards the end of the war .
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 .
