I. Humble Beginnings
On 1 March 1798, the Hofburg Palace was in a hustle; the granddaughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa had given birth to her sixth child—a girl, named Maria Clementina Franziska Josepha. A boy would have been received with greater affection from the Imperial court and public, but this child was nonetheless cared for greatly by its parents. Maria Teresa Carolina Giuseppina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the mother of the certain Maria Clementina, was a daughter, amongst eighteen children, of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his consort, Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. Maria Carolina came from a grand lineage: her mother, Maria Theresa, was a Queen-Empress and a daughter of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, while her father, Francis Stephen, was himself an Emperor and Grand Duke, born a son of Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans and Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. King Ferdinand was the son of Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. He was practically born a king, as his reign as King of Naples begin in 1759, at the age of eight.
At the time of Clementina's birth, her father, Francis, was the then Holy Roman Emperor. His reign began in 1792, after the death of his father Leopold. Francis ascended to the throne much earlier than expected, at the age of twenty-four, and the only surviving child he had was a girl, Maria Ludovica. Before his marriage to Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, he had married the Duchess of Württemberg, Elisabeth. Elisabeth bore him a daughter, the Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth in 1790, but the archduchess tragically died in 1791. Elisabeth never survived to 1791, and instead died in childbirth in 1790. In September 1790, only a few months after the death of Elisabeth, Francis married Maria Teresa of Bourbon. Their marriage, despite personality differences—Francis was shy and had reserve, while Maria Teresa was vivacious and outgoing—was rather happy. It was also true that Maria Teresa was more cold and stern to their children than Francis. In 1806, Maria Teresa and Francis had nine children together, and in August or September 1806, Maria Teresa was found pregnant with another child.
The siblings of Clementina in 1800, when Clementina herself was barely two years old, included Maria Ludovica, who was born in 1791 and was the eldest of the surviving children of the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand, who was born in 1793, Leopoldina, who was born in 1797, and Joseph Franz, who was born in 1799, only a year after Clementina. Two children, born in 1794 and 1795, respectively, both died young. The first child, the Archduchess Maria Caroline, died in 1795, aged only a few months. The second child, the Archduchess Caroline Ludovika, died in 1797, aged only a year.
Clementina seemed to be closer to her elder surviving sister Leopoldina. The two were similar in personalities, both thriving in educational studies and enjoying learning, and both had artistic talents. Bernhard von Guérard painted a portrait of Clementina and her sister Leopoldina in 1810. The two sisters were clad in beautiful white dresses, possibly symbolic of their innocence, with embroidered sleeves and ribbons around their waists. Their hair was high and curled in ringlets, with their arms wrapped around each other's waists. Clementina seems to have been painted on the right, with blonde hair and blue eyes—an appearance which has been repeated in the following portraits of her.
By the time of Clementina's birth in 1798, the Holy Roman Empire's existence was being challenged by France. The French Revolution, which resulted in the death of Clementina's great-aunt, Queen Marie Antoinette of France, did nothing to help the imposed Empire. In 1805, when Clementina was seven years old, the Holy Roman Empire (Austria) joined a coalition against France, of which ultimately ended in the end of the Empire after the Austrian and Russian armies lost. The Holy Roman Empire was reduced to the Austrian Empire, of which Francis now ruled, and his consort, Maria Teresa, was denoted to the Empress of Austria. The road to this act was not easy, and Clementina's family had to flee their homeland many times. The upbringing in which the children of Francis and Maria Teresa received is a footnote for the futures of the children. Archduchess Maria Ludovica, the elder sister of Clementina, married Austria's enemy, Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1810—mainly due to the War of the Fifth Coalition, in which Austria became a French ally.
The years 1806 and 1807 were not good to the Imperial family. During the winter of 1806, Empress Maria Teresa, pregnant with her twelfth child, fell ill with tuberculous pleurisy. The Imperial physician, Andreas Joseph von Stifft, attempted bloodletting, but to no avail. On 6 April 1807, Maria Teresa gave birth to Amalie Theresa, Clementina's youngest sister. When Maria Teresa went into labor, Francis was in Hungary. When he heard of the news, he rushed to Vienna to be at the side of his consort when she gave birth. However, the birth was premature, brought on by the bloodletting. Three days later, on 9 April, young Amalie Theresa died. Maria Teresa died on 13 April 1807 due to a high fever, only four days after the death of her newly born daughter. It was a terrible and tragic scene. The unlucky emperor was inconsolable and had to be removed from the bed of his dead wife. Francis wrote to his mother-in-law, the Queen of Naples and Sicily, "You can imagine my condition after such a happy marriage as it was with my wife and children, a good number of whom still need a mother." Clementina was only nine years old at the funeral of her mother. Her father, who was terribly saddened by the death of his wife, and her two eldest siblings, Maria Ludovica and Ferdinand, went to Ofen instead of attending.
In 1808, only a few months after the death of his wife, Francis married Maria Ludovika Beatrix of Modena. Maria Ludovika was the daughter of Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este, the fourth son and fourteenth child of Holy Roman Emperor Francis Stephen and Empress Maria Theresa. He was the founder of the House of Austria-Este. His wife, Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa, was the daughter of Ercole III, Duke of Massa, and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina. Maria Beatrice was the only child of Ercole III and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina to survive to adulthood. Their son, Rinaldo Francesco, born nearly three years after Maria Beatrice, died in infancy. Empress Maria Ludovika took on a maternal role for Clementina's elder sister Maria Ludovica, and she was well-received within the family; she, too, hated the French for depriving her father of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio.
The rest of Clementina's early life and childhood is shrouded in mystery. Of course, in 1810, Clementina's eldest sister, Maria Ludovica, married Napoleon Bonaparte. A painting of the Imperial children by Pauline Auzou, completed in 1812, two years after Maria Ludovica's arrival in France, as they receive diamonds from their eldest sister. This painting included Clementina with Maria Ludovica, Ferdinand, Leopoldina, Caroline, Franz Karl, and Marie Anne. The diamonds distributed were those of their mother, Maria Teresa.
At the instigation of the Austrian Chancellor Fürst von Metternich, Clementina was wed to Prince Leopold of the Two Sicilies, her uncle. Leopold was the fifteenth and penultimate son of King Ferdinand I of Naples and Sicily and his consort, Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. Leopold was also the Prince of Salerno, a title held since the reign of King Charles I of Naples in the thirteenth-century. Clementina's marriage was celebrated on 28 July 1816 at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Clementina was eighteen years old at the time of her marriage celebration; Leopold was twenty-six, his birthday being celebrated on 2 July 1790, eight years before the birth of Clementina herself. It must be noted that, during 1816, Clementina's stepmother, Maria Ludovika Beatrix, died due to tuberculosis. During that same year, two months after the death of Maria Ludovika, Francis married Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria. Carolina Augusta was the daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. Frederick Lamb, an English diplomat, claimed Carolina Augusta was "ugly, clever and amiable".