Maria Theresa of Austria
Encyclopedia
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions
and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria
, Hungary
, Croatia
, Bohemia
, Mantua
, Milan
, Lodomeria and Galicia
, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma
. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress.
She started her 40-year reign when her father, Emperor Charles VI
, died in October 1740. Charles VI paved the way for her accession with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
and spent his entire reign securing it. Upon the death of her father, Saxony
, Prussia
, Bavaria
and France
repudiated the sanction they had recognised during his lifetime. Prussia proceeded to invade the affluent Habsburg province of Silesia
, sparking a nine-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession
. Maria Theresa would later unsuccessfully try to reconquer Silesia during the Seven Years' War
.
She married Francis Stephen of Lorraine
and had sixteen children, including Queen Marie Antoinette
of France, Queen Maria Carolina
of Naples, Duchess Maria Amalia of Parma and two Holy Roman Emperors, Joseph II
and Leopold II
. Though she was expected to cede power to Francis and Joseph, both of whom were officially her co-rulers in Austria and Bohemia, Maria Theresa was the absolute sovereign who ruled by the counsel of her advisers. She criticised and disapproved of many of Joseph's actions. Although she is considered to have been intellectually inferior to both Joseph and Leopold, Maria Theresa understood the importance of her public persona and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection from her subjects.
Maria Theresa promulgated
financial and educational reforms, with the assistance of Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
and Gottfried van Swieten
, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganised Austria's ramshackle military, all of which strengthened Austria's international standing. However, she refused to allow religious toleration
and contemporary travellers thought her regime was bigoted and superstitious. As a young monarch who fought two dynastic wars, she believed that her cause should be the cause of her subjects, but in her later years she would believe that their cause must be hers.
and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
, Archduchess Maria Theresa was born early in the morning of 13 May 1717, at the Hofburg Palace, Vienna
, shortly after the death of her elder brother, Archduke Leopold, and was baptised on that same evening. The dowager empresses, her aunt Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg
and grandmother Eleonor Magdalene of the Palatinate-Neuburg, were her godmothers. Most descriptions of her baptism stress that the infant was carried ahead of her cousins, Archduchesses Maria Josepha
and Maria Amalia
, the daughters of Charles VI's elder brother and predecessor, Joseph I
, before the eyes of Joseph's widow, Empress Wilhelmine Amalia. It was clear that Maria Theresa would outrank them, even though their grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I
, had his sons sign the Mutual Pact of Succession
, which gave precedence to the daughters of the elder brother. Her father was the only surviving male member of the House of Habsburg and hoped for a son who would prevent the extinction of his dynasty and succeed him. Thus, the birth of Maria Theresa was a great disappointment to him and the people of Vienna; Charles never managed to overcome this feeling.
Maria Theresa replaced Maria Josepha as heiress presumptive to the Habsburg realms the moment she was born; Charles VI had issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
which had placed his nieces behind his own daughters in the line of succession. Charles sought the other European powers' approval for disinheriting his nieces. They exacted harsh terms: in the Treaty of Vienna (1731)
, Great Britain demanded that Austria abolish the Ostend Company
in return for its recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction. In total, Great Britain
, France
, Saxony
-Poland
, United Provinces
, Spain
, Venice
, States of the Church
, Prussia
, Russia
, Denmark
, Savoy-Sardinia
, Bavaria
and the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire recognised the sanction. France, Spain, Saxony-Poland, Bavaria and Prussia later reneged.
Little more than a year after her birth, Maria Theresa was joined by a sister, Archduchess Maria Anna, and another one, named Maria Amalia, was born in 1724. The portraits of the imperial family show that Maria Theresa resembled Empress Elisabeth Christine and Archduchess Maria Anna. The Prussian ambassador noted that she had large blue eyes, fair hair with a slight tinge of red, a wide mouth and a notably strong body. Neither her parents nor her grandparents were closely related to each other, making Maria Theresa one of few members of the House of Habsburg who were not inbred.
Maria Theresa was a serious and reserved child who enjoyed singing and archery. She was barred from horse riding by her father, but she would later learn the basics for the sake of her Hungarian coronation ceremony
. The imperial family staged opera productions, often conducted by Charles VI, in which she relished participating. Her education was overseen by Jesuits
. Contemporaries thought her Latin
to be quite good, but in all else, the Jesuits did not educate her well. Her spelling and punctuation were unconventional and she lacked the formal manner and speech which had characterised her Habsburg predecessors. Maria Theresa developed a close relationship with Countess Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard
, who taught her etiquette. She was educated in drawing, painting, music and dancing – the disciplines which would have prepared her for the role of queen consort
. Her father allowed her to attend meetings of the council from the age of 14 but never discussed the affairs of state with her. Even though he had spent the last decades of his life securing Maria Theresa's inheritance, Charles always expected a son and never prepared his daughter for her future role as sovereign.
, who was supposed to visit Vienna and meet the Archduchess in 1723. However, news reached Vienna that he had died of smallpox
.
Leopold Clement's younger brother, Francis Stephen
, was invited to Vienna. Even though Francis Stephen was his favourite candidate for Maria Theresa's hand, the Emperor considered other possibilities. Religious differences prevented him from arranging his daughter's marriage to the Calvinist prince Frederick of Prussia
. In 1725, he betrothed her to Charles of Spain
and her sister, Maria Anna, to Philip of Spain
. However, other European powers compelled him to renounce the pact he had made with the Dowager Queen of Spain, Elisabeth Farnese, as the marriage of heirs to the thrones of Spain and Austria would have destroyed the European balance of power
. Maria Theresa, who had become close to Francis Stephen, was relieved.
Francis Stephen remained at the imperial court until 1729, when he ascended the throne of Lorraine, but was not formally promised Maria Theresa's hand until 31 January 1736, during the War of the Polish Succession
. Louis XV of France
demanded that Maria Theresa's fiancé surrender his ancestral Duchy of Lorraine
to accommodate his father-in-law, Stanisław Leszczyński, who had been deposed as King of Poland. Francis Stephen was to receive the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
upon the death of childless Grand Duke Gian Gastone de' Medici
. The couple were married on 12 February 1736.
The Duchess of Lorraine's love for her husband was strong and possessive. The letters she sent to him shortly before their marriage expressed her eagerness to see him; his letters, on the other hand, were stereotyped and formal. She was very jealous of her husband and his infidelity was the greatest problem of their marriage, with Maria Wilhelmina, Princess of Auersperg
, as his best known mistress.
Upon Gian Gastone's death on 9 July 1737, Francis Stephen ceded Lorraine and became Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1738, Charles VI sent the young couple to make their formal entry into Tuscany. A triumphal arch was erected at the Porta Galla in celebration, where it remains today. Their stay in Florence
was brief. Charles VI soon recalled them, as he feared he might die while his heiress was miles away in Tuscany. In the summer of 1738, Austria suffered defeats during the ongoing Russo-Turkish War. The Turks reversed Austrian gains in Serbia
, Wallachia
and Bosnia
. The Viennese rioted at the cost of the war. Francis Stephen was popularly despised, as he was thought to be a cowardly French spy. The war was concluded the next year with the Treaty of Belgrade
.
who had urged him to concentrate on filling the treasury and equipping the army rather than on acquiring signatures of fellow monarchs. The Emperor, who spent his entire reign securing the Pragmatic Sanction, left Austria in an impoverished state, bankrupted by the recent Turkish war and the War of the Polish Succession
; the treasury contained only 100,000 florins
, which were claimed by his widow. The army numbered only 80,000 men, most of whom had not been paid in months; they were nevertheless remarkably loyal and devoted to their new sovereign.
Maria Theresa found herself in a difficult situation. She did not know enough about matters of state and she was unaware of the weakness of her father's ministers. She decided to rely on her father's advice to retain his councillors and defer to her husband, whom she considered to be more experienced, on other matters. Both decisions, though natural, would prove to be unfortunate. Ten years later, Maria Theresa bitterly recalled in her Political Testament the circumstances under which she had ascended: "I found myself without money, without credit, without army, without experience and knowledge of my own and finally, also without any counsel because each one of them at first wanted to wait and see how things would develop."
She dismissed the possibility that other countries might try to seize her territories and immediately started ensuring the imperial dignity for herself; since a woman could not be elected Holy Roman Empress
, Maria Theresa wanted to secure the imperial office for her husband. However, Francis Stephen did not possess enough land or rank within the Holy Roman Empire. In order to make him eligible for the imperial throne and to enable to him to vote in the imperial election
s as elector of Bohemia (which she couldn't due to her gender), Maria Theresa made Francis Stephen co-ruler of the Austrian and Bohemian lands on 21 November 1740. However, it took more than a year for the Diet of Hungary to accept Francis Stephen as co-ruler. Despite her love for him and his position as co-ruler, Maria Theresa never allowed her husband to decide about matters of state and often dismissed him from council meetings when they disagreed.
The first display of the new queen's authority was the formal act of homage
of the Lower Austrian Estates to her on 22 November 1740. It was an elaborate public event which served as a formal recognition and legitimation of her accession. The oath of fealty to Maria Theresa was taken on the same day in Hofburg.
, married to Maria Theresa's deprived cousin Maria Amalia and supported by Empress Wilhelmine Amalia, wanted portions of her inheritance. Maria Theresa secured the recognition of King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
, who hadn't accepted the Pragmatic Sanction during her father's lifetime, in November 1740.
In December, King Frederick II of Prussia
invaded Silesia
and requested that Maria Theresa cede it, threatening to join her enemies if she refused. Maria Theresa decided to fight for the mineral-rich province. Frederick even offered a compromise: he would defend Maria Theresa's rights if she agreed to cede him at least a part of Silesia. Francis Stephen was inclined to consider such an arrangement, but the Queen and her advisers were not, fearing that any violation of the Pragmatic Sanction would invalidate the entire document. Maria Theresa's firmness soon assured Francis Stephen that they should fight for Silesia and she was confident that she would retain "the jewell of the House of Austria".
As Austria was short of experienced military commanders, Maria Theresa released Marshall Neipperg
, who had been imprisoned by her father for his poor performance in the Turkish War. Neipperg took command of the Austrian troops in March. The Austrians suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Mollwitz
in April 1741. France drew up a plan to partition Austria between Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Spain. Marshall Belle-Isle joined Frederick at Olmütz. Vienna was in a panic, as none of Maria Theresa's advisors expected France to betray them. Francis Stephen urged Maria Theresa to reach a rapprochement
with Prussia, as did Great Britain. Maria Theresa reluctantly agreed to negotiations.
Contrary to all expectations, a significant amount of support for the young Queen came from Hungary. Her coronation as King of Hungary took place in St. Martin's Cathedral, Pressburg (Bratislava) on 25 June 1741 after she had spent months honing the equestrian skills necessary for the ceremony and negotiating with the Diet
. By July, attempts at conciliation had completely collapsed. Maria Theresa's ally, the Elector of Saxony, now became her enemy. and George II declared the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg to be neutral. The Queen was once again in need of help from Hungary. In order to obtain it, she granted favours to the Hungarian noblemen and flattered them without conceding to all of their demands. She had already won their support when she appeared in Pressburg in September 1741, hoping to persuade the Diet to call a mass conscription
and recognise Francis Stephen as co-ruler. Upon achieving both goals, she showed her gift for theatrical displays by triumphantly holding her son and heir, Joseph
, before the Diet, thereby gaining sympathy of the noblemen.
In 1741, the Austrian authorities informed Maria Theresa that Bohemian populace would prefer Charles Albert to her as sovereign. Maria Theresa, desperate and burdened by pregnancy, wrote plaintively to her sister: "I don't know if a town will remain to me for my delivery." She bitterly vowed to spare nothing and no one to defend her kingdom when she wrote to the Bohemian chancellor, Count Philip Kinsky: "My mind is made up. We must put everything at stake to save Bohemia." On 26 October, the Elector of Bavaria captured Prague
and declared himself King of Bohemia. Maria Theresa, then in Hungary, wept on learning of the loss of Bohemia. Charles Albert was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor on 24 January 1742. The Archduchess, who regarded the election as a catastrophe, caught her enemies unprepared by insisting on a winter campaign; the same day he was elected emperor, Austrian troops under Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller
captured Munich
, Charles Albert's capital.
The Treaty of Breslau
of June 1742 ended hostilities between Austria and Prussia. The Archduchess soon made the recovery of Bohemia her priority. French troops fled Bohemia in the winter of the same year. On 12 May 1743, Maria Theresa had herself crowned Queen of Bohemia in St. Vitus Cathedral
.
Prussia became anxious at Austrian advances on the Rhine frontier, and Frederick sacked Prague in August 1744. The French plans fell apart when Charles Albert died in January 1745. The French over-ran the Austrian Netherlands in May.
Francis Stephen was elected Holy Roman Emperor on 13 September 1745. Prussia recognised Francis as emperor, and Maria Theresa once again recognised the loss of Silesia by the Treaty of Breslau
in December 1745. The war dragged on for another three years, with fighting in northern Italy and the Austrian Netherlands. The Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle
, which concluded the eight-year conflict, recognised Prussia's possession of Silesia and Maria Theresa ceded the Duchy of Parma
to Philip of Spain.
. Empress Maria Theresa and Kaunitz wished to exit the war with possession of Silesia. Austria was aligned with France and Russia; Great Britain with Prussia and Portugal. Giving Austria huge subsidies came back to haunt France. It could not bolster defences in New France
; the British easily captured Louisbourg in 1758, and went on to conquer all of New France.
Maximilian von Browne commanded the Austrian troops. Following the indecisive Battle of Lobositz
in 1756, he was replaced by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
, Maria Theresa's brother-in-law. Frederick was startled by Lobositz; he eventually re-grouped for another attack in June 1757. The Battle of Kolin
that followed was a decisive victory for Austria. Frederick lost one third of his troops, and before the battle was over, he had fled the scene.
Maria Theresa openly bemoaned French losses in 1758. France, having secured the Anglo-Hanoverian neutrality for the rest of the conflict, in September 1757, lost it in January of the next year. France suffered a crushing defeat at Krefeld
that June. French forces withdrew to the Rhine.
In 1759, peace negotiations at The Hague
came to nothing. The series of Franco-Austrian losses were reversed until, in 1762, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia died. Her successor Peter III
greatly admired Frederick, and at once withdrew Russia's support from the French coalition. Prussia proceeded to kick the Austrians out of Saxony, and the French out of Hesse-Kassel
. Naturally, it was feared that Frederick would now invade Austria and France, and they capitulated. The peace treaties, Hubertusburg
and Paris
, exacted harsh terms on France, as it was forced to relinquish most of her American colonies. For Austria, though, it was status quo ante bellum
.
Over the course of twenty years, Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children, thirteen of whom survived infancy. The first child, Maria Elisabeth
(1737–1740), was born a little less than a year after the wedding. Again, the child's gender caused great disappointment and so would the births of Maria Anna, the eldest surviving child, and Maria Carolina
(1740–1741). While fighting to preserve her inheritance, Maria Theresa gave birth to a son, Joseph, named after Saint Joseph
, to whom she had repeatedly prayed for a male child during the pregnancy. Maria Theresa's favourite child, Maria Christina
, was born on her 25th birthday, four days before the defeat of the Austrian army in Chotusitz
. Five more children were born during the war: Maria Elisabeth
, Charles
, Maria Amalia, Leopold
and Maria Carolina
(1748–1748). During this period, there was no rest for Maria Theresa during pregnancies or around the births; the war and child-bearing were carried on simultaneously. Five children were born during the peace between the War of the Austrian Succession
and the Seven Years' War
: Maria Johanna
, Maria Josepha
, Maria Carolina
, Ferdinand
and Maria Antonia
. When she was in labor with Marie Antonia, she loathed not using her time efficiently. She would carry out paperwork during this time, and after Maria Antonia was born, she would return to her paperwork. She delivered her last child, Maximilian Francis
, during the Seven Years' War, aged 39. Maria Theresa asserted that, had she not been almost always pregnant, she would have gone into battle herself.
Maria Theresa's mother, Empress Elisabeth Christine, died in 1750. Four years later, Maria Theresa's governess, Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard, died. The Empress showed her gratitude to Countess Fuchs by having her buried in the Imperial Crypt
along with the members of the imperial family.
Shortly after giving birth to the younger children, Maria Theresa was confronted with the task of marrying off the elder ones. She led the marriage negotiations along with the campaigns of her wars and the duties of state. She treated her children with affection but used them as pawns in dynastic games and sacrificed their happiness for the benefit of the state. A devoted but self-conscious mother, she wrote to all of her children at least once a week and believed herself entitled to exercise authority over her children regardless of their age and rank.
Maria Theresa came down with a severe attack of smallpox
shortly after her fiftieth birthday in May 1767, caught from her daughter-in-law and empress, Maria Josepha of Bavaria
. Maria Theresa survived, but the new empress did not. Maria Theresa forced her daughter, Archduchess Maria Josepha, to pray with her in the Imperial Crypt next to the unsealed tomb of Empress Maria Josepha. The Archduchess started showing smallpox rash two days after visiting the crypt and soon died. Maria Carolina was to replace her as the pre-determined bride of King Ferdinand IV of Naples
. Maria Theresa blamed herself for her daughter's death for the rest of her life because, at the time, the concept of an extended incubation period was largely unknown and it was believed that Maria Josepha had caught smallpox from the body of the late empress.
In April 1770, Maria Theresa's youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, married Louis
, Dauphin of France, by proxy in Vienna. Maria Antonia's education was neglected, and when the French showed an interest in her, her mother went about educating her as best she could about the court of Versailles
and the French. Maria Theresa kept up a fortnightly correspondence with Maria Antonia, now called Marie Antoinette, in which she often reproached her for laziness and frivolity and scolded her for failing to conceive a child. She disliked Leopold's reserve and often blamed him for being cold. She criticised Maria Carolina for her political activities, Ferdinand for his lack of organisation and Maria Amalia for her poor French
and haughtiness. The only child she did not constantly scold was Maria Christina, who enjoyed her mother's complete confidence, though she failed to please her mother in one aspect: she did not produce any surviving children. One of Maria Theresa's greatest wishes was to have as many grandchildren as possible, but she had only about two dozen at the time of her death, of which all the eldest surviving daughters were named after her, with the exception of Caroline of Parma, her eldest granddaughter by Maria Amalia.
|| 6 October 1738 -
9 November 1789
|| died unmarried; no issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
||
|| 12 January 1740 -
25 January 1741
|| died in childhood; no issue.
|-
| Joseph II
Holy Roman Emperor||
|| 13 March 1741 -
20 February 1790
|| succeeded his father in the Imperial title but was co-ruler with his mother in the Austrian domains until her death in 1780; married firstly on 6 October 1760 to Princess Isabella of Parma and secondly on 23 January 1765 to Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria
. No surviving issue.
|-
| Maria Christina
Duchess of Teschen
||
|| 13 May 1742 -
24 June 1798
|| designated Duchess of Teschen in ocasion of her marriage and later with her husband jointly Governor of the Austrian Netherlands; married on 7 January 1766 to Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen
; no surviving issue.
|-
| Maria Elisabeth
||
|| 13 August 1743 -
22 September 1808
|| died unmarried; no issue.
|-
| Charles Joseph
||
|| 1 February 1745 -
18 January 1761
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Amalia
||
|| 26 February 1746 -
9 June 1804
|| married on 19 July 1769 to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
(1751–1802); had issue.
|-
| Leopold II
Holy Roman Emperor
||
|| 5 May 1747 -
1 March 1792
|| married on 5 August 1765 to Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain (1745–1792); had issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
||
|| 17 September 1748 -
17 September 1748
|| died inmediately after being baptized; no issue.
|-
| Maria Johanna
||
|| 4 February 1750 -
23 December 1762
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Josepha
||
|| 19 March 1751 -
15 October 1767
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
||
|| 13 August 1752 -
7 September 1814
|| married on 12 May 1768 to King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily
(1751–1825); had issue.
|-
| Ferdinand
||
|| 1 June 1754 -
24 December 1806
|| married on 15 October 1771 to Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este
, heiress of Breisgau and of Modena
; had issue (Austria-Este
).
|-
| Maria Antonia
||
|| 2 November 1755 -
16 October 1793
|| married on 16 May 1770 to King Louis XVI of France
(1754–1793); had issue (line extinct.)
|-
| Maximilian Francis
||
|| 8 December 1756 -
27 July 1801
|| Archbishop-Elector of Cologne
; no issue.
|
|}
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...
, Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)
The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Lodomeria and Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress.
She started her 40-year reign when her father, Emperor Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
, died in October 1740. Charles VI paved the way for her accession with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI to ensure that the throne of the Archduchy of Austria could be inherited by a daughter....
and spent his entire reign securing it. Upon the death of her father, Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
, Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, Bavaria
Electorate of Bavaria
The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....
and France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
repudiated the sanction they had recognised during his lifetime. Prussia proceeded to invade the affluent Habsburg province of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, sparking a nine-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. Maria Theresa would later unsuccessfully try to reconquer Silesia during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
.
She married Francis Stephen of Lorraine
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
and had sixteen children, including Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
of France, Queen Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
of Naples, Duchess Maria Amalia of Parma and two Holy Roman Emperors, Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
and Leopold II
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
. Though she was expected to cede power to Francis and Joseph, both of whom were officially her co-rulers in Austria and Bohemia, Maria Theresa was the absolute sovereign who ruled by the counsel of her advisers. She criticised and disapproved of many of Joseph's actions. Although she is considered to have been intellectually inferior to both Joseph and Leopold, Maria Theresa understood the importance of her public persona and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection from her subjects.
Maria Theresa promulgated
Promulgation
Promulgation is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative law after its enactment. In some jurisdictions this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect....
financial and educational reforms, with the assistance of Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
thumb|right|200-px|Friedrich Wilhelm von HaugwitzCount Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz , ; 11 December 1702, in Saxony - 1765, Deutschkonitz/Mißlitz , or Knönitz , both Moravia) was Supreme Chancellor of the United Court Chancery and the head of Directorium in publicis et cameralibus under...
and Gottfried van Swieten
Gottfried van Swieten
Gottfried, Freiherr van Swieten was a diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Austrian Empire during the 18th century...
, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganised Austria's ramshackle military, all of which strengthened Austria's international standing. However, she refused to allow religious toleration
Religious toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
and contemporary travellers thought her regime was bigoted and superstitious. As a young monarch who fought two dynastic wars, she believed that her cause should be the cause of her subjects, but in her later years she would believe that their cause must be hers.
Early life and background
The second but eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VICharles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary; and Archduchess of Austria by her marriage to Emperor Charles VI. She was renowned for her delicate beauty and also for being the mother of Empress...
, Archduchess Maria Theresa was born early in the morning of 13 May 1717, at the Hofburg Palace, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, shortly after the death of her elder brother, Archduke Leopold, and was baptised on that same evening. The dowager empresses, her aunt Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg was a Holy Roman Empress as the wife of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Family and early life:...
and grandmother Eleonor Magdalene of the Palatinate-Neuburg, were her godmothers. Most descriptions of her baptism stress that the infant was carried ahead of her cousins, Archduchesses Maria Josepha
Maria Josepha of Austria
Maria Josepha of Austria was born an Archduchess of Austria, and from 1711 to 1713 was heiress presumptive to the Habsburg Empire...
and Maria Amalia
Maria Amalia of Austria
Maria Amalia of Austria was the younger daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, the daughters of Charles VI's elder brother and predecessor, Joseph I
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph I , Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of the Romans was the elder son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg....
, before the eyes of Joseph's widow, Empress Wilhelmine Amalia. It was clear that Maria Theresa would outrank them, even though their grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, had his sons sign the Mutual Pact of Succession
Mutual Pact of Succession
The Mutual Pact of Succession was a succession device secretly signed by Archdukes Joseph and Charles of Austria, the future Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1703....
, which gave precedence to the daughters of the elder brother. Her father was the only surviving male member of the House of Habsburg and hoped for a son who would prevent the extinction of his dynasty and succeed him. Thus, the birth of Maria Theresa was a great disappointment to him and the people of Vienna; Charles never managed to overcome this feeling.
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI to ensure that the throne of the Archduchy of Austria could be inherited by a daughter....
which had placed his nieces behind his own daughters in the line of succession. Charles sought the other European powers' approval for disinheriting his nieces. They exacted harsh terms: in the Treaty of Vienna (1731)
Treaty of Vienna (1731)
The Treaty of Vienna was first signed on 16 March 1731 by Count Finzendorf and the Earl of Chesterfield. This treaty marked the collapse of the Anglo-French Alliance , the beginning of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance and the birth of the legend of the natural enmity between the Kingdom of France and...
, Great Britain demanded that Austria abolish the Ostend Company
Ostend Company
The Imperial Ostend Company was an Austrian private trading company established in 1717 to trade with the East and West Indies. For a few years it provided strong competition to the traditional colonial trading companies...
in return for its recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction. In total, Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
-Poland
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, States of the Church
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Savoy-Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, Bavaria
History of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...
and the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire recognised the sanction. France, Spain, Saxony-Poland, Bavaria and Prussia later reneged.
Little more than a year after her birth, Maria Theresa was joined by a sister, Archduchess Maria Anna, and another one, named Maria Amalia, was born in 1724. The portraits of the imperial family show that Maria Theresa resembled Empress Elisabeth Christine and Archduchess Maria Anna. The Prussian ambassador noted that she had large blue eyes, fair hair with a slight tinge of red, a wide mouth and a notably strong body. Neither her parents nor her grandparents were closely related to each other, making Maria Theresa one of few members of the House of Habsburg who were not inbred.
Maria Theresa was a serious and reserved child who enjoyed singing and archery. She was barred from horse riding by her father, but she would later learn the basics for the sake of her Hungarian coronation ceremony
Coronation of the Hungarian monarch
The Coronation of the Hungarian Monarch was a ceremony in which the King or Queen of the Kingdom of Hungary was formally crowned and invested with regalia...
. The imperial family staged opera productions, often conducted by Charles VI, in which she relished participating. Her education was overseen by Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. Contemporaries thought her Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
to be quite good, but in all else, the Jesuits did not educate her well. Her spelling and punctuation were unconventional and she lacked the formal manner and speech which had characterised her Habsburg predecessors. Maria Theresa developed a close relationship with Countess Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard
Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard
Countess Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard , known as Charlotte, was the governess of Maria Theresa of Austria....
, who taught her etiquette. She was educated in drawing, painting, music and dancing – the disciplines which would have prepared her for the role of queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
. Her father allowed her to attend meetings of the council from the age of 14 but never discussed the affairs of state with her. Even though he had spent the last decades of his life securing Maria Theresa's inheritance, Charles always expected a son and never prepared his daughter for her future role as sovereign.
Marriage
The question of Maria Theresa's marriage was raised early in her childhood. She was first engaged to be married to Leopold Clement of LorraineLéopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine
Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine was heir apparent to the throne of the sovereign Duchy of Lorraine....
, who was supposed to visit Vienna and meet the Archduchess in 1723. However, news reached Vienna that he had died of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
.
Leopold Clement's younger brother, Francis Stephen
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
, was invited to Vienna. Even though Francis Stephen was his favourite candidate for Maria Theresa's hand, the Emperor considered other possibilities. Religious differences prevented him from arranging his daughter's marriage to the Calvinist prince Frederick of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
. In 1725, he betrothed her to Charles of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
and her sister, Maria Anna, to Philip of Spain
Philip, Duke of Parma
Philip of Spain was Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma , a cadet line of the Spanish branch of the dynasty...
. However, other European powers compelled him to renounce the pact he had made with the Dowager Queen of Spain, Elisabeth Farnese, as the marriage of heirs to the thrones of Spain and Austria would have destroyed the European balance of power
European balance of power
The Balance of Power in Europe is an international relations concept that applies historically and currently to the nations of Europe...
. Maria Theresa, who had become close to Francis Stephen, was relieved.
Francis Stephen remained at the imperial court until 1729, when he ascended the throne of Lorraine, but was not formally promised Maria Theresa's hand until 31 January 1736, during the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
. Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
demanded that Maria Theresa's fiancé surrender his ancestral Duchy of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
to accommodate his father-in-law, Stanisław Leszczyński, who had been deposed as King of Poland. Francis Stephen was to receive the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...
upon the death of childless Grand Duke Gian Gastone de' Medici
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Gian Gastone de' Medici was the seventh and last Medicean Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, Princess of France...
. The couple were married on 12 February 1736.
Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg
Countess Maria Wilhelmina von Neipperg was the mistress of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....
, as his best known mistress.
Upon Gian Gastone's death on 9 July 1737, Francis Stephen ceded Lorraine and became Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1738, Charles VI sent the young couple to make their formal entry into Tuscany. A triumphal arch was erected at the Porta Galla in celebration, where it remains today. Their stay in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
was brief. Charles VI soon recalled them, as he feared he might die while his heiress was miles away in Tuscany. In the summer of 1738, Austria suffered defeats during the ongoing Russo-Turkish War. The Turks reversed Austrian gains in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Bosnia
Bosnia Eyalet
The Eyalet of Bosnia or Bosnia Beylerbeylik was a eyalet and beylerbeylik of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as most of Slavonia, Lika, and Dalmatia in present-day Croatia...
. The Viennese rioted at the cost of the war. Francis Stephen was popularly despised, as he was thought to be a cowardly French spy. The war was concluded the next year with the Treaty of Belgrade
Treaty of Belgrade
The Treaty of Belgrade was the peace treaty signed on September 18, 1739 in Belgrade, Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia , by the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Habsburg Monarchy on the other....
.
Accession
Charles VI died on 20 October 1740, at the Favorita Palace, Vienna, probably because he had eaten poisonous mushrooms. He had ignored the advice of Prince Eugene of SavoyPrince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene of Savoy , was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna. Born in Paris to aristocratic Italian parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV...
who had urged him to concentrate on filling the treasury and equipping the army rather than on acquiring signatures of fellow monarchs. The Emperor, who spent his entire reign securing the Pragmatic Sanction, left Austria in an impoverished state, bankrupted by the recent Turkish war and the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
; the treasury contained only 100,000 florins
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
, which were claimed by his widow. The army numbered only 80,000 men, most of whom had not been paid in months; they were nevertheless remarkably loyal and devoted to their new sovereign.
Maria Theresa found herself in a difficult situation. She did not know enough about matters of state and she was unaware of the weakness of her father's ministers. She decided to rely on her father's advice to retain his councillors and defer to her husband, whom she considered to be more experienced, on other matters. Both decisions, though natural, would prove to be unfortunate. Ten years later, Maria Theresa bitterly recalled in her Political Testament the circumstances under which she had ascended: "I found myself without money, without credit, without army, without experience and knowledge of my own and finally, also without any counsel because each one of them at first wanted to wait and see how things would develop."
She dismissed the possibility that other countries might try to seize her territories and immediately started ensuring the imperial dignity for herself; since a woman could not be elected Holy Roman Empress
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Maria Theresa wanted to secure the imperial office for her husband. However, Francis Stephen did not possess enough land or rank within the Holy Roman Empire. In order to make him eligible for the imperial throne and to enable to him to vote in the imperial election
Imperial election
The election of a Holy Roman Emperor or King of Germany was, from at least the 13th century, accomplished by a small body of the greatest princes of the Empire, the Prince-electors. Appointment as Emperor was normally for life...
s as elector of Bohemia (which she couldn't due to her gender), Maria Theresa made Francis Stephen co-ruler of the Austrian and Bohemian lands on 21 November 1740. However, it took more than a year for the Diet of Hungary to accept Francis Stephen as co-ruler. Despite her love for him and his position as co-ruler, Maria Theresa never allowed her husband to decide about matters of state and often dismissed him from council meetings when they disagreed.
The first display of the new queen's authority was the formal act of homage
Homage (medieval)
Homage in the Middle Ages was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position . It was a symbolic acknowledgment to the lord that the vassal was, literally, his man . The oath known as...
of the Lower Austrian Estates to her on 22 November 1740. It was an elaborate public event which served as a formal recognition and legitimation of her accession. The oath of fealty to Maria Theresa was taken on the same day in Hofburg.
War of the Austrian Succession
Immediately after her accession, a number of European sovereigns who had recognised Maria Theresa as heiress broke their promises; Queen Elisabeth of Spain and Elector Charles Albert of BavariaCharles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VII Albert a member of the Wittelsbach family, was Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 until his death in 1745...
, married to Maria Theresa's deprived cousin Maria Amalia and supported by Empress Wilhelmine Amalia, wanted portions of her inheritance. Maria Theresa secured the recognition of King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...
, who hadn't accepted the Pragmatic Sanction during her father's lifetime, in November 1740.
In December, King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
invaded Silesia
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies...
and requested that Maria Theresa cede it, threatening to join her enemies if she refused. Maria Theresa decided to fight for the mineral-rich province. Frederick even offered a compromise: he would defend Maria Theresa's rights if she agreed to cede him at least a part of Silesia. Francis Stephen was inclined to consider such an arrangement, but the Queen and her advisers were not, fearing that any violation of the Pragmatic Sanction would invalidate the entire document. Maria Theresa's firmness soon assured Francis Stephen that they should fight for Silesia and she was confident that she would retain "the jewell of the House of Austria".
| "She has, as you well know, a terrible hatred for France, with which nation it is most difficult for her to keep on good terms, but she controls this passion except when she thinks to her advantage to display it. She detests Your Majesty, but acknowledges your ability. She cannot forget the loss of Silesia, nor her grief over the soldiers she lost in wars with you." |
| Prussian ambassador's letter to Frederick the Great. |
As Austria was short of experienced military commanders, Maria Theresa released Marshall Neipperg
Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg
Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg was an Austrian general.Born in Schwaigern, he descended from an ancient comital family from Swabia, his father Count Eberhard Friedrich von Neipperg having been an Imperial field marshal. He spent his boyhood in Vienna and in 1702 joined the Imperial service...
, who had been imprisoned by her father for his poor performance in the Turkish War. Neipperg took command of the Austrian troops in March. The Austrians suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Mollwitz
Battle of Mollwitz
The Battle of Mollwitz was fought by Prussia and Austria on April 10, 1741, during the early stages of the War of the Austrian Succession. It was the first battle of the new Prussian King Frederick II, in which both sides made numerous military blunders but Frederick the Great still managed to...
in April 1741. France drew up a plan to partition Austria between Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Spain. Marshall Belle-Isle joined Frederick at Olmütz. Vienna was in a panic, as none of Maria Theresa's advisors expected France to betray them. Francis Stephen urged Maria Theresa to reach a rapprochement
Rapprochement
In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word rapprocher , is a re-establishment of cordial relations, as between two countries...
with Prussia, as did Great Britain. Maria Theresa reluctantly agreed to negotiations.
Contrary to all expectations, a significant amount of support for the young Queen came from Hungary. Her coronation as King of Hungary took place in St. Martin's Cathedral, Pressburg (Bratislava) on 25 June 1741 after she had spent months honing the equestrian skills necessary for the ceremony and negotiating with the Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
. By July, attempts at conciliation had completely collapsed. Maria Theresa's ally, the Elector of Saxony, now became her enemy. and George II declared the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg to be neutral. The Queen was once again in need of help from Hungary. In order to obtain it, she granted favours to the Hungarian noblemen and flattered them without conceding to all of their demands. She had already won their support when she appeared in Pressburg in September 1741, hoping to persuade the Diet to call a mass conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
and recognise Francis Stephen as co-ruler. Upon achieving both goals, she showed her gift for theatrical displays by triumphantly holding her son and heir, Joseph
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, before the Diet, thereby gaining sympathy of the noblemen.
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and declared himself King of Bohemia. Maria Theresa, then in Hungary, wept on learning of the loss of Bohemia. Charles Albert was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor on 24 January 1742. The Archduchess, who regarded the election as a catastrophe, caught her enemies unprepared by insisting on a winter campaign; the same day he was elected emperor, Austrian troops under Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller
Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller
Ludwig Andreas Khevenhüller, Graf von Aichelberg-Frankenburg , Austrian field-marshal who came of a noble family that was originally from Franconia and had settled in Carinthia.-Career:He first saw active service under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the War of...
captured Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Charles Albert's capital.
The Treaty of Breslau
Treaty of Breslau
The Treaty of Breslau was a preliminary peace agreement signed on 11 June 1742 following long negotiations at the Silesian capital Wrocław by emissaries of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick II of Prussia ending the First Silesian War....
of June 1742 ended hostilities between Austria and Prussia. The Archduchess soon made the recovery of Bohemia her priority. French troops fled Bohemia in the winter of the same year. On 12 May 1743, Maria Theresa had herself crowned Queen of Bohemia in St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral
Saint Vitus' Cathedral is as a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral...
.
Prussia became anxious at Austrian advances on the Rhine frontier, and Frederick sacked Prague in August 1744. The French plans fell apart when Charles Albert died in January 1745. The French over-ran the Austrian Netherlands in May.
Francis Stephen was elected Holy Roman Emperor on 13 September 1745. Prussia recognised Francis as emperor, and Maria Theresa once again recognised the loss of Silesia by the Treaty of Breslau
Treaty of Breslau
The Treaty of Breslau was a preliminary peace agreement signed on 11 June 1742 following long negotiations at the Silesian capital Wrocław by emissaries of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick II of Prussia ending the First Silesian War....
in December 1745. The war dragged on for another three years, with fighting in northern Italy and the Austrian Netherlands. The Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
, which concluded the eight-year conflict, recognised Prussia's possession of Silesia and Maria Theresa ceded the Duchy of Parma
Duchy of Parma
The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul III's illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, centered on the city of Parma....
to Philip of Spain.
Seven Years' War
Frederick of Prussia's invasion of Saxony in August 1756 began the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. Empress Maria Theresa and Kaunitz wished to exit the war with possession of Silesia. Austria was aligned with France and Russia; Great Britain with Prussia and Portugal. Giving Austria huge subsidies came back to haunt France. It could not bolster defences in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
; the British easily captured Louisbourg in 1758, and went on to conquer all of New France.
Maximilian von Browne commanded the Austrian troops. Following the indecisive Battle of Lobositz
Battle of Lobositz
The Battle of Lobositz or Lovosice also Lowositz on 1 October 1756 was the opening land battle of the Seven Years' War. Frederick the Great's 29,000 Prussians prevented Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne 34,500 Austrians from relieving their besieged Saxon allies during the Siege of...
in 1756, he was replaced by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
, Maria Theresa's brother-in-law. Frederick was startled by Lobositz; he eventually re-grouped for another attack in June 1757. The Battle of Kolin
Battle of Kolin
-Results:The battle was Frederick's first defeat in this war. This disaster forced him to abandon his intended march on Vienna, raise his siege of Prague, and fall back on Litoměřice...
that followed was a decisive victory for Austria. Frederick lost one third of his troops, and before the battle was over, he had fled the scene.
Maria Theresa openly bemoaned French losses in 1758. France, having secured the Anglo-Hanoverian neutrality for the rest of the conflict, in September 1757, lost it in January of the next year. France suffered a crushing defeat at Krefeld
Battle of Krefeld
The Battle of Krefeld was a battle fought on 23 June 1758 between a Prussian-Hanoverian army and a French army during the Seven Years' War.-Background:...
that June. French forces withdrew to the Rhine.
In 1759, peace negotiations at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
came to nothing. The series of Franco-Austrian losses were reversed until, in 1762, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia died. Her successor Peter III
Peter III of Russia
Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II.-Early life and character:Peter was born in Kiel, in...
greatly admired Frederick, and at once withdrew Russia's support from the French coalition. Prussia proceeded to kick the Austrians out of Saxony, and the French out of Hesse-Kassel
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...
. Naturally, it was feared that Frederick would now invade Austria and France, and they capitulated. The peace treaties, Hubertusburg
Treaty of Hubertusburg
thumb|right|300px|Hubertusburg, WermsdorfThe Treaty of Hubertusburg was signed on 15 February 1763 at Hubertusburg by Prussia, Austria, and Saxony. Together with the Treaty of Paris, it marked the end of the French and Indian War and of the Seven Years' War. The treaty ended the continental...
and Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, exacted harsh terms on France, as it was forced to relinquish most of her American colonies. For Austria, though, it was status quo ante bellum
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
.
Family life
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1737–1740)
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria was the eldest child and daughter of Maria Theresa, later Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Duke Francis of Lorraine, later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:Maria Elisabeth was born on 5 February 1737 at Schönbrunn Palace in...
(1737–1740), was born a little less than a year after the wedding. Again, the child's gender caused great disappointment and so would the births of Maria Anna, the eldest surviving child, and Maria Carolina
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1740–1741)
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria was the third child and daughter of Maria Theresa, later Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Duke Francis of Lorraine, later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:Maria Carolina was born on 5 February 1737 at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna...
(1740–1741). While fighting to preserve her inheritance, Maria Theresa gave birth to a son, Joseph, named after Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
, to whom she had repeatedly prayed for a male child during the pregnancy. Maria Theresa's favourite child, Maria Christina
Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen
Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen , called "Mimi", was the fourth daughter and fifth child of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor...
, was born on her 25th birthday, four days before the defeat of the Austrian army in Chotusitz
Battle of Chotusitz
The Battle of Chotusitz, or Chotusice, sometimes called the Battle of Czaslau, was fought on May 17, 1742 in Bohemia between the Austrians under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine and the Prussians under Frederick the Great. The battle was a part of the War of the Austrian Succession sometimes...
. Five more children were born during the war: Maria Elisabeth
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743–1808)
For the earlier archduchess of the same name, see Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria.Archduchess Maria Elisabeth Josepha of Austria was the sixth child of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Biography:Maria Elisabeth was born on 13 August 1743...
, Charles
Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria (1745-1761)
Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria was the second son of the Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....
, Maria Amalia, Leopold
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
and Maria Carolina
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1748)
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria was the ninth child and daughter of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:...
(1748–1748). During this period, there was no rest for Maria Theresa during pregnancies or around the births; the war and child-bearing were carried on simultaneously. Five children were born during the peace between the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
and the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
: Maria Johanna
Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria
Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria . She was the eleventh child of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress . She died of smallpox.-Life:Maria Johanna was born on 4 February 1750...
, Maria Josepha
Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria
Archduchess Maria Josepha Gabriela Johanna Antonia Anna of Austria . She was the daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress...
, Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
, Ferdinand
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este
Archduke Ferdinand Karl Anton Joseph Johann Stanislaus of Austria-Este was a son of Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and Maria Theresa of Austria. He was the founder of the House of Austria-Este and Governor of the Duchy of Milan between 1765 and 1796...
and Maria Antonia
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
. When she was in labor with Marie Antonia, she loathed not using her time efficiently. She would carry out paperwork during this time, and after Maria Antonia was born, she would return to her paperwork. She delivered her last child, Maximilian Francis
Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria
Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria was an Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, the last child of the Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. His siblings included two Holy Roman Emperors , as well as Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Queen Maria Carolina of...
, during the Seven Years' War, aged 39. Maria Theresa asserted that, had she not been almost always pregnant, she would have gone into battle herself.
Maria Theresa's mother, Empress Elisabeth Christine, died in 1750. Four years later, Maria Theresa's governess, Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard, died. The Empress showed her gratitude to Countess Fuchs by having her buried in the Imperial Crypt
Imperial Crypt, Vienna
The Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria lies below the Capuchin Church and monastery founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632. It is on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the imperial Hofburg Palace...
along with the members of the imperial family.
Shortly after giving birth to the younger children, Maria Theresa was confronted with the task of marrying off the elder ones. She led the marriage negotiations along with the campaigns of her wars and the duties of state. She treated her children with affection but used them as pawns in dynastic games and sacrificed their happiness for the benefit of the state. A devoted but self-conscious mother, she wrote to all of her children at least once a week and believed herself entitled to exercise authority over her children regardless of their age and rank.
Maria Theresa came down with a severe attack of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
shortly after her fiftieth birthday in May 1767, caught from her daughter-in-law and empress, Maria Josepha of Bavaria
Maria Josepha of Bavaria
Maria Josepha , Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Princess of Bavaria, was the daughter of Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria and Maria Amalia of Austria and the second wife of Emperor Joseph II...
. Maria Theresa survived, but the new empress did not. Maria Theresa forced her daughter, Archduchess Maria Josepha, to pray with her in the Imperial Crypt next to the unsealed tomb of Empress Maria Josepha. The Archduchess started showing smallpox rash two days after visiting the crypt and soon died. Maria Carolina was to replace her as the pre-determined bride of King Ferdinand IV of Naples
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
. Maria Theresa blamed herself for her daughter's death for the rest of her life because, at the time, the concept of an extended incubation period was largely unknown and it was believed that Maria Josepha had caught smallpox from the body of the late empress.
In April 1770, Maria Theresa's youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, married Louis
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, Dauphin of France, by proxy in Vienna. Maria Antonia's education was neglected, and when the French showed an interest in her, her mother went about educating her as best she could about the court of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
and the French. Maria Theresa kept up a fortnightly correspondence with Maria Antonia, now called Marie Antoinette, in which she often reproached her for laziness and frivolity and scolded her for failing to conceive a child. She disliked Leopold's reserve and often blamed him for being cold. She criticised Maria Carolina for her political activities, Ferdinand for his lack of organisation and Maria Amalia for her poor French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and haughtiness. The only child she did not constantly scold was Maria Christina, who enjoyed her mother's complete confidence, though she failed to please her mother in one aspect: she did not produce any surviving children. One of Maria Theresa's greatest wishes was to have as many grandchildren as possible, but she had only about two dozen at the time of her death, of which all the eldest surviving daughters were named after her, with the exception of Caroline of Parma, her eldest granddaughter by Maria Amalia.
Issue
|||| 6 October 1738 -
9 November 1789
|| died unmarried; no issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1740–1741)
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria was the third child and daughter of Maria Theresa, later Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Duke Francis of Lorraine, later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:Maria Carolina was born on 5 February 1737 at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna...
||
|| 12 January 1740 -
25 January 1741
|| died in childhood; no issue.
|-
| Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
Holy Roman Emperor||
|| 13 March 1741 -
20 February 1790
|| succeeded his father in the Imperial title but was co-ruler with his mother in the Austrian domains until her death in 1780; married firstly on 6 October 1760 to Princess Isabella of Parma and secondly on 23 January 1765 to Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria
Maria Josepha of Bavaria
Maria Josepha , Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Princess of Bavaria, was the daughter of Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria and Maria Amalia of Austria and the second wife of Emperor Joseph II...
. No surviving issue.
|-
| Maria Christina
Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen
Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen , called "Mimi", was the fourth daughter and fifth child of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor...
Duchess of Teschen
||
|| 13 May 1742 -
24 June 1798
|| designated Duchess of Teschen in ocasion of her marriage and later with her husband jointly Governor of the Austrian Netherlands; married on 7 January 1766 to Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen
Prince Albert of Saxony, Duke of Teschen
Prince Albert Casimir August of Saxony, Duke of Teschen was a German prince from the House of Wettin who married into the Habsburg imperial family...
; no surviving issue.
|-
| Maria Elisabeth
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743–1808)
For the earlier archduchess of the same name, see Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria.Archduchess Maria Elisabeth Josepha of Austria was the sixth child of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Biography:Maria Elisabeth was born on 13 August 1743...
||
|| 13 August 1743 -
22 September 1808
|| died unmarried; no issue.
|-
| Charles Joseph
||
|| 1 February 1745 -
18 January 1761
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Amalia
||
|| 26 February 1746 -
9 June 1804
|| married on 19 July 1769 to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
Ferdinand Maria Philip Louis Sebastian Francis James of Parma was Duke of Parma from 1765 to 1802. He was the second child and only son of Philip, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter of Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska...
(1751–1802); had issue.
|-
| Leopold II
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
Holy Roman Emperor
||
|| 5 May 1747 -
1 March 1792
|| married on 5 August 1765 to Infanta Maria Louisa of Spain (1745–1792); had issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1748)
Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria was the ninth child and daughter of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.-Life:...
||
|| 17 September 1748 -
17 September 1748
|| died inmediately after being baptized; no issue.
|-
| Maria Johanna
Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria
Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria . She was the eleventh child of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress . She died of smallpox.-Life:Maria Johanna was born on 4 February 1750...
||
|| 4 February 1750 -
23 December 1762
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Josepha
Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria
Archduchess Maria Josepha Gabriela Johanna Antonia Anna of Austria . She was the daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress...
||
|| 19 March 1751 -
15 October 1767
|| died of smallpox; no issue.
|-
| Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
||
|| 13 August 1752 -
7 September 1814
|| married on 12 May 1768 to King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
(1751–1825); had issue.
|-
| Ferdinand
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este
Archduke Ferdinand Karl Anton Joseph Johann Stanislaus of Austria-Este was a son of Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and Maria Theresa of Austria. He was the founder of the House of Austria-Este and Governor of the Duchy of Milan between 1765 and 1796...
||
|| 1 June 1754 -
24 December 1806
|| married on 15 October 1771 to Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este
Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este
Maria Beatrice d’Este was heiress of Modena and Reggio and Duchess of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1797 and from 1816 until her death in 1829.-Biography:...
, heiress of Breisgau and of Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
; had issue (Austria-Este
Austria-Este
Archduke of Austria-Este and Habsburg-Este are a title and a surname which have been used by several cadet branches of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to denote a connection with the extinct Italian princely and feudal family of Este and the Duchy of Modena ruled by them...
).
|-
| Maria Antonia
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
||
|| 2 November 1755 -
16 October 1793
|| married on 16 May 1770 to King Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
(1754–1793); had issue (line extinct.)
|-
| Maximilian Francis
Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria
Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria was an Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, the last child of the Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. His siblings included two Holy Roman Emperors , as well as Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Queen Maria Carolina of...
||
|| 8 December 1756 -
27 July 1801
|| Archbishop-Elector of Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
; no issue.
|
|}
Religious views and policies
Like all members of the House of Habsburg, Maria Theresa was a Roman Catholic, and a devout one as well. She believed that religious unity was necessary for a peaceful public life and explicitly rejected the idea of religious tolerationReligious toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
. However, she never allowed the Church to interfere with what she considered to be prerogatives of a monarch and kept Rome at arm's length. She controlled the selection of archbishops, bishops and abbots.
Her approach to religious piety differed from the approach of her predecessors, as she was influenced by Jansenist
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
ideas. The empress actively supported conversion to Roman Catholicism by securing pensions to the converts. She tolerated Greek Catholics
Greek Catholic Church
The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...
and emphasised their equal status with Roman Catholics.
Besides her devotion to Christianity, she was widely known for her ascetic lifestyle, especially during her 15-year-long widowhood.
Jesuits
Her relationship with the JesuitsSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
was complex. Members of this order educated her, served as her confessors, and supervised the religious education of her eldest son. The Jesuits were powerful and influential in the early years of Maria Theresa's reign. However, the queen's ministers convinced her that the order posed a danger to her monarchical authority. Not without much hesitation and regret, she issued a decree which removed them from all the institutions of the monarchy, and carried it out thoroughly. She forbade the publication of Pope Clement XIII
Pope Clement XIII
Pope Clement XIII , born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was Pope from 16 July 1758 to 2 February 1769....
's bull which was in favour of the Jesuits and promptly confiscated their property when Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV , born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 1769 to 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals.-Early life:...
suppressed the order.
Jews and Protestants
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Protestants as dangerous to the state and actively tried to suppress them. The empress was probably the most anti-Semitic monarch of her time, having inherited the traditional prejudices of her ancestors and acquired new ones. This was a product of deep religious devotion and was not kept secret in her time. In 1777, she wrote of the Jews: "I know of no greater plague than this race, which on account of its deceit, usury and avarice is driving my subjects into beggary. Therefore as far as possible, the Jews are to be kept away and avoided."
She imposed extremely harsh taxes on her Jewish subjects and, in December 1744, proposed expelling the Jews from her hereditary dominions to her ministers. Her first intention was to expel all Jews by 1 January, but having accepted the advice of her ministers who were concerned by the number of future expellees, had them expelled by June. She also transferred Protestants from Austria to Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and cut down the number of religious holidays and monastic orders. In 1777, she abandoned the idea of expelling Moravian Protestants after Joseph, who was opposed to her intentions, threatened to abdicate as emperor and co-ruler. Finally, she was forced to grant them some toleration by allowing them to worship privately. Joseph regarded his mother's religious policies as "unjust, impious, impossible, harmful and ridiculous".
In the third decade of her reign, influenced by her Jewish courtier Abraham Mendel Theben, Maria Theresa issued edicts which offered some state protection to her Jewish subjects. She forbade the forcible conversion of Jewish children to Christianity in 1762. In 1763, she forbade Catholic clergy from extracting surplice
Surplice
A surplice is a liturgical vestment of the Western Christian Church...
fees from her Jewish subjects. In 1764, she ordered the release of those Jews who had been jailed for a blood libel
Blood libel
Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
in the village of Orkuta. Notwithstanding her strong Judeophobia, Maria Theresa supported Jewish commercial and industrial activity.
Reforms
Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
thumb|right|200-px|Friedrich Wilhelm von HaugwitzCount Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz , ; 11 December 1702, in Saxony - 1765, Deutschkonitz/Mißlitz , or Knönitz , both Moravia) was Supreme Chancellor of the United Court Chancery and the head of Directorium in publicis et cameralibus under...
, who modernised the empire by creating a standing army of 108,000 men, paid for with 14 million gulden
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
extracted from each crown-land. The central government was responsible for the army, although Haugwitz instituted taxation of the nobility, who never before had to pay taxes. Maria Theresa oversaw the unification of the Austrian and Bohemian chancellories in May 1749.
Maria Theresa doubled the state revenue between 1754 and 1764, though her attempt to tax clergy and nobility was only partially successful. These financial reforms greatly improved the economy.
In 1760, Maria Theresa created the council of state, composed of the state chancellor, three members of the high nobility and three knights, which served as a committee of experienced people who advised her. The council of state lacked executive or legislative authority, but nevertheless showed the difference between the form of government employed by Frederick II of Prussia. Unlike the latter, Maria Theresa was not an autocrat who acted as her own minister. Prussia would adopt this form of government only after 1807.
In 1771, she and Joseph issued the Robot Patent
Robot Patent
The Robot Patent was a labour rent abolished by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who had carried out a register of all land with a division between peasant and noble holdings. Joseph II outlawed the buying of 'rustic' land by the nobility and at the same time giving the rusticalists security of tenure...
, a reform that regulated a serf's labor payments in her lands, which provided some relief. Financially, in 1775, the Monarchy's budget was balanced for the first time in history.
Medicine
Gerard van Swieten
Gerard van Swieten was a Dutch-Austrian physician.Van Swieten was born in Leiden. He was a pupil of Hermann Boerhaave and became in 1745 the personal physician of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. In this position he implemented a transformation of the Austrian health service and medical...
, whom Maria Theresa had recruited following the death of her sister, Archduchess Maria Anna, founded the Vienna General Hospital
Vienna General Hospital
The Vienna General Hospital is the University medical center of the city of Vienna, Austria. The AKH is the largest hospital of Austria and Europe, the second largest hospital in the world, and at 85-m high is one of the tallest hospital buildings in the world...
, revamped Austria's educational system and served as the Empress's personal physician.
After calling in van Swieten, Maria Theresa asked him to study the problem of infant mortality in Austria. Following his recommendation, she made a decree that autopsies would be mandatory for all hospital deaths in the city of Graz, Austria's second largest city. This law – still in effect today – combined with the relatively stable population of Graz, resulted in one of the most important and complete autopsy records in the world. Her decision to have her children inoculated
Inoculation
Inoculation is the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, and is most commonly used in respect of the introduction of a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into the body of a human or animal, especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease...
after the smallpox epidemic of 1767 was responsible for changing Austrian physicians' negative view of inoculation. The empress herself inaugurated inoculation in Austria by hosting a dinner for the first sixty-five inoculated children in Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna...
, waiting on the children herself.
Civil rights
Among other reforms was the Codex Theresianus, begun in 1752 and finished in 1766, that defined civil rights. In 1776, Austria outlawed witch burningsWitch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
and torture, and, for the first time in Austrian history, took capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
off the penal code, as it was replaced with forced labor. It was later reintroduced, but the progressive nature of these reforms remains noted. Much unlike Joseph, but with the support of religious authorities, Maria Theresa was opposed to the abolition of torture. Born and raised between Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
eras, she found it hard to fit into the intellectual sphere of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, which is why she only slowly followed humanitarian reforms on the continent.
Church
| "She is most unusually ambitious and hopes to make the House of Austria more renowned than it has ever been." |
| – Prussian ambassador's letter to Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel... . |
| "That woman's achievements are those of a great man." |
| – The writings of Frederick II of Prussia. |
Main reforms concerning the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
were initiated and carried out under Maria Theresa, while the reforms under her son concerned their non-Catholic subjects. The ecclesiastic policies of Maria Theresa, like those of her devout predecessors, were based on primacy of government control in the relations between the Church and the State, but not of organization of the Church. Maria Theresa banned the creation of new burial grounds without the prior permission of the government, thus deploring the wasteful and unhygienic burial customs.
Education
Aware of the inadequacy of bureaucracy in Austria and, in order to improve it, Maria Theresa reformed education in 1775. In a new school system based on the Prussian one, all children of both genders from the ages of six to twelve had to attend school. Education reform was met with hostility from many villages; Maria Theresa crushed the dissent by ordering the arrest of all those opposed. Although the idea had merit, the reforms were not as successful as they were expected to be; in some parts of Austria, half of the population was illiterate well into the 19th century.The empress permitted non-Catholics to attend university and allowed the introduction of secular subjects (such as law), which influenced the decline of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
as the main foundation of university education.
Late reign
Emperor Francis I died on 18 August 1765, while he and the court were in InnsbruckInnsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
celebrating the wedding of his second son, Leopold. Maria Theresa was devastated. Their eldest son, Joseph, became Holy Roman Emperor. Maria Theresa abandoned all ornamentation, had her hair cut short, painted her rooms black and dressed in mourning for the rest of her life. She completely withdrew from court life, public events, and theater. Throughout her widowhood, she spent the whole August and the eighteenth of each month alone in her chamber, which negatively affected her mental health. She described her state of mind shortly after Francis's death: "I hardly know myself now, for I have become like an animal with no true life or reasoning power."
Upon his accession to the imperial throne, Joseph ruled less land than his father had in 1740. Believing that the emperor must possess enough land to maintain the Empire's integrity, Maria Theresa, who was used to being assisted in the administration of her vast realms, declared Joseph to be her new co-ruler on 17 September 1765. From then on, mother and son had frequent ideological disagreements. The 22 million gulden that Joseph inherited from his father was injected into the treasury. Maria Theresa had another loss in February 1766 when Haugwitz died. She gave her son absolute control over the military following the death of Count Leopold Joseph von Daun.
According to Robert A. Kann, Maria Theresa was a monarch of above-average qualifications but intellectually inferior to Joseph and Leopold. He asserts that she nevertheless possessed qualities appreciated in a monarch: warm heart, practical mind, firm determination and sound perception. Most importantly, she was ready to recognise the mental superiority of some of her advisers and to give way to a superior mind while enjoying support of her ministers even if their ideas differed from her own. Joseph, however, was never able to establish rapport with the same advisers, even though their philosophy of government was closer to Joseph's than to Maria Theresa's.
After much contemplation, she chose not to abdicate. Joseph himself often threatened to resign as co-regent and emperor, but he, too, was induced not to do so. Her threats of abdication were rarely taken seriously; Maria Theresa believed that her recovery from smallpox in 1767 was a sign that God wished her to reign until death. It was in Joseph's interest that she remained sovereign, for he often blamed her for his failures and thus avoided taking on responsibilities of a monarch.
Joseph and Prince Kaunitz arranged the First Partition of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
despite Maria Theresa's protestations. Her sense of justice pushed her to reject the idea of partition, which would hurt the Polish people
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
. The duo argued that it was too late to abort now. Besides, Maria Theresa herself agreed with the partition when she realised that Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
and Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
would do it with or without Austrian participation. Maria Theresa claimed and eventually took Galicia and Lodomeira
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
, a province claimed by Hungarian monarchs since the 13th century; in the words of Frederick, "the more she cried, the more she took".
Death and legacy
| "She never bothers about her health, but relies entirely upon her vigorous body for strength and endurance. She is warm-blooded and, even in the middle of winter, often sits by an open window ... Her physician scolds her dreadfully about this, but she only laughs at him." |
| Prussian ambassador's letter to Frederick the Great, c. 1748. |
It is unlikely that Maria Theresa ever completely recovered from the smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
attack in 1767, as 18th-century writers asserted. She suffered from shortness of breath, fatigue, cough
Cough
A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes...
, distress, necrophobia
Necrophobia
Necrophobia is the abnormal fear of dead things as well as things associated with death . Necrophobia is derived from Greek nekros for "corpse" and -phob- from the Greek phobos for "fear".With all types of emotions, obsession with death becomes evident in both fascination and...
and insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
. She later developed edema
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
.
The empress fell ill on 24 November 1780, ostensibly of a chill. Her physician Dr. Störk thought her condition serious. By 28 November, she asked for the last rites
Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church)
Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of the Catholic Church that is administered to Catholics who because of sickness or old age are in danger of death, even if the danger is not proximate...
, and the next day, at about nine o'clock in the evening, she died surrounded by her remaining children. With her, the House of Habsburg died out and was replaced by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
House of Lorraine
The House of Lorraine, the main and now only remaining line known as Habsburg-Lorraine, is one of the most important and was one of the longest-reigning royal houses in the history of Europe...
. Joseph, already co-sovereign of the Habsburg dominions, succeeded her.
Maria Theresa left a revitalised empire that influenced the rest of Europe throughout the 19th century. Her descendants followed her example and continued reforming the empire. The acquisition of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
gave the empire an even more multinational character that would ultimately lead to its destruction. Her introduction of compulsory schooling, as a means of Germanisation
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
, eventually triggered the revival of Czech culture.
The empress is buried in the Imperial Crypt
Imperial Crypt, Vienna
The Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria lies below the Capuchin Church and monastery founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632. It is on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the imperial Hofburg Palace...
in Vienna next to her husband in a coffin she had had inscribed during her lifetime.
Asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
295 Theresia
295 Theresia
295 Theresia is a typical Main belt asteroid.It was discovered by Johann Palisa on August 17, 1890 in Vienna....
is named in her honour.
Full title
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Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God
By the Grace of God
By the Grace of God is an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch taken to be ruling by divine right, not a title in its own right....
, Dowager Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, etc.; Archduchess of Austria; Duchess of Burgundy, of Styria, of Carinthia and of Carniola; Grand Princess of Transylvania; Margravine of Moravia; Duchess of Brabant, of Limburg, of Luxemburg, of Guelders, of Württemberg, of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Milan, of Mantua, of Parma, of Piacenza, of Guastalla, of Auschwitz and of Zator; Princess of Swabia; Princely Countess of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Hennegau, of Kyburg, of Gorizia and of Gradisca; Margravine of Burgau, of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Countess of Namur; Lady of the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Dowager Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, Dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany.
Ancestry
See also
- Maria-Theresien-PlatzMaria-Theresien-PlatzThe Maria-Theresien-Platz of Vienna is a large square joining the Ringstraße with the Museumsquartier, a museum of modern arts located in the former Imperial Stables...
- SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria TheresiaSMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria TheresiaSMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was an armoured cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917. The German name can be translated as "Empress and Queen Maria Theresa".-Construction:...
- Military Order of Maria TheresaMilitary Order of Maria TheresaThe Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...
External links
- Maria Theresa (Catholic Encyclopaedia)
- Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria
- Maria Theresa
- Maria Theresa, (1717–1780) Archduchess of Austria (1740–1780) Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740–1780)
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