L’amica della regina Maria Teresa d’Asburgo-Lorena. Memorie della marchesa Faustina Roero di Cortanze (1817-1871).

The accidental discovery of a manuscript, donated in 1966 by Marquis General G. Adolfo Roero di Cortanze to the Royal Library of Turin, gave us the opportunity to discover a female figure of rare intelligence, sensitivity and remarkable education, and analyze a text that raises curiosity and interest. After a careful analysis of the original version of the diary – kept at the Library of the Castle of Racconigi – we decided to have it published. The rationale behind this decision is twofold. First of all, we want to present the acumen of Marquise Faustina Roero di Cortanze, a descendant of the Frichignono of Castellengo dynasty and, by maternal line, of the Arborio di Gattinara and Arborio di Breme. Lady Faustina served Maria Teresa of Habsburg-Lorraine since the moment she arrived in Piedmont as a princess in 1817. When Carlo Alberto di Savoia Carignano ascended to the throne in April 1831, she became Maria Theresa’s maid of honor (in cohabitation with the favorite of the king, Countess Maria di Robilant) and attended duties of high responsibility: she was in charge of the charitable activities entrusted to the queen. Secondly, we want to give readers the opportunity to appreciate an original and valuable testimony of fifty years of history of Piedmont. The Memoires can be read from multiple perspectives: the text touches on political and social aspects (such as the issue of the Piedmontese fugitives, the decadence of the nobility, the growth of the bourgeoisie); it describes travels to France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy; it gives us a sense of the social life of the time (the royal and private parties) and of the religious dimension, both in terms of private devotion and of defense of the prerogatives of the church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]