Francesco Farnese

Francesco Farnese (19 May 1678 – 26 February 1727) reigned as the seventh Farnese Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1694 until his death. He was the second son of Ranuccio II Farnese and Maria d'Este of Modena. His marriage to Dorothea Sophia of the Palatinate, his brother Odoardo's widow, was undertaken in order to avoid the return of her dowry.

Francesco curtailed court expenditure, which had been enormous under his father and predecessor, Ranuccio II, and sought to prevent the occupation of his Duchy of Parma, nominally a Papal fief, during the War of the Spanish Succession. However, despite his efforts otherwise, Duke Francesco 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, led to the accession of his niece the Queen of Spain's eldest son, Don Carlos, in 1731.