Maria Theresa of Austria
|
Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria |
Maria Theresa (
Vienna,
May 13 1717 –
November 29 1780 in Vienna) was the first and only ruling
Empress of the
Habsburg dynasty. She was Archduchess of
Austria, and Queen of
Hungary and
Bohemia and ruler of other territories from 1740 until her death. She also became the Holy Roman Empress when her
husband was elected
Holy Roman Emperor. She was one of the so-called "
enlightened despots" . She was one of the most powerful rulers of her time, ruling over much of central Europe.
Family Life
Her Royal Highness Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia was the eldest daughter of
Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and
Charles VI, whose sole male heir - his son Leopold Johann - died as an infant in 1716. In 1713 Charles issued the
Pragmatic Sanction which guaranteed his daughter the right to succeed to the Austrian throne and inherit his united lands on his death. Initially, many European monarchs agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction when it was issued. However, soon after Maria Theresa assumed the throne upon Charles' death on
October 20,
1740, the
War of Austrian Succession began.
Maria Theresa was married to
Francis Stephen, Duke of
Lorraine. In the end, she had 16 children by him, with 11 daughters (all of whom had the first name "Maria") and 5 sons surviving to adulthood. Her youngest daughter was
Maria Antonia (better known under her French name
Marie Antoinette) who would be promised in marriage to Louis, heir apparent to the king of France, later
King Louis XVI. After her husband's death, she made her son Joseph II co-regent of her Austrian dominions, but she actually kept most of the power to herself, which led to tension between her and her son. It was not until her death that he could fully exercise his powers.
Her children were:
*Archduchess Maria Elisabeth (1737-1740).
Heiress-presumptive to the title
Archduchess of Austria,
Queen of Hungary, and
Queen of Bohemia: 1737-1740.
*Archduchess Marie Anna (1738-1789).
Heiress-presumptive to the title
Archduchess of Austria,
Queen of Hungary, and
Queen of Bohemia: 1740-1741.
*Archduchess Maria Carolina (1740-1741).
*Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1741-1790), married Infanta Isabel of Spain (1741-1763), then Princess Marie Josephe of Bavaria (1739-1767); no surviving issue.
Holy Roman Emperor: 1765;
Archduke of Austria,
King of Hungary,
King of Bohemia: 1780 (
Heir-Apparent: 1741-1780)
*
Archduchess Marie Christine of Saxony, née Archduchess Marie Christine (1742-1798), married Prince
Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738-1822); no issue
*Archduchess Maria Elisabeth (1743-1808)
*Archduke Karl Joseph (1745-1761)
*Archduchess
Maria Amalia of Austria (duchess of Parma), née Archduchess Marie Amalie (1746-1804), married Duke
Ferdinand of Parma (1751-1802); had issue
*Emperor
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (1747-1792), married Infanta MarÃa LuÃsa of Spain (1745-1792); had issue.
Grand Duke of Tuscany: 1765 (abdicated 1790);
Holy Roman Emperor: 1790;
Archduke of Austria,
King of Hungary,
King of Bohemia: 1790 (
Heir-Apparent: 1780)
*Archduchess Maria Carolina (1748)
*Archduchess Johanna Gabriela(1750-1762)
*Archduchess Maria Josepha (1751-1767)
*
Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily, née Archduchess Marie Caroline (1752-1814), married
HM King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily (1751-1825); had issue
*
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Duke of Breisgau (1754â€"1806), married Maria Beatrice d'Este, heiress of Breisgau and of
Modena; had issue (
Austria-Este). Duke of Breisgau: 1803
*
Queen Marie Antoinette of France, née Archduchess Maria Antonia (1755-1793); married
Louis XVI of France (1754-1793); had issue
*
Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria (1756-1801),
Archbishop-Elector of Cologne: 1784
Relationship with her family
Many people believe that Maria Theresa was the archetypical mother (indeed, many see her as a mother of the nation still today), loving but stern. Most agree that she had a very loving and caring attitude towards her husband, forgiving his many affairs. From the early years of their marital life, a number of anecdotes survive, one of which says that during their honeymoon, they managed to break a bed in one of the places they stayed. It is also said her husband had the staircases in Bratislava Castle built with a shallow slope at her request so she could ride her horse up and down them.
Another said that, when she received news that she had become a grandmother, she ran into the royal theater, only dressed in a nightgown, interrupted the play and shouted, in Viennese dialect, to the audience:
"Denkt's enk, der Poldl hat an Buam, und grad auf mein' Hochzeitstag - alstern der is galant, is net wahr?" (which can be roughly translated to:
"Can you imagine it, Leopold has a little boy, and just on my wedding anniversary â€" that's quite polite of him, isn't it`?")
First years: wars during her reign
Maria Theresa's father had assumed that she would yield the true power to her husband. Because of this, her father hadn't given Maria Theresa any information on the workings of the government, leaving her to learn the job on her own. Additionally, the army was weak and the treasury depleted due to two wars near the end of her father's reign.
The
War of the Austrian Succession began when
Frederick II of Prussia invaded and occupied
Silesia. While
Bavaria and
France also invaded Austrian western territories, it was Frederick (later known as
Frederick the Great) who became Maria Theresa's primary foe during her reign. Therefore, she focused her internal and external policies towards the defeat of Prussia, which would help her regain the lands which had been taken from Austria.
In 1748,
France gave the Austrian Low Countries that it conquered back to Maria Theresa. In exchange, Maria Theresa ceded
Parma,
Piacenza, and
Guastalla to the Infante Felipe of Spain. She increased the number of troops in the army by 200% and changed taxes to guarantee a steady annual income to support the government and military. She centralized the government by combining the Austrian and Bohemian chancelleries, formerly separate, into one administrative office. Before these changes, justice and administration were overseen by the same officials. She instead created a supreme court with the sole responsibility of upholding justice in her lands. These reforms strengthened the economy and the state in general. She dropped
Great Britain as an ally on the advice of her state chancellor,
Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, and allied with Russia and France. In 1752 she established a military academy (the first worldwide), and in 1754 she established an academy of engineering science. She also demanded that the
University of Vienna be given the money to make the medical faculty more efficient. When she felt her army was strong enough, she prepared to attack Prussia in 1756. Frederick II attacked first however, invading
Saxony, another ally of Austria, which initiated the
Seven Years' War. The war ended in 1763 when Maria Theresa signed the Treaty of Hubertusberg which recognized Prussian ownership of Silesia.
|
Maria Theresa I of Austria |
Her husband died two years later. Her devotion to him was so great that she dressed in mourning clothes until her own death 15 years later. During this time, she became more closeted from her people. Her focus changed from attempting to regain Silesia to maintaining the peace. She also recognized Joseph II, her eldest son, as coregent and Emperor. She allowed him only limited powers because she felt that he was too rash and arrogant.
Later years: civil reforms
In the later years of her reign, she focused on reforming laws and some see her as being relatively progressive for her time. However, many agree that she did not do this out of genuine care for her population (at least not directly), but for the greater good of the state.
In the 1760s, smallpox claimed several victims in the royal family. Even Maria Theresa became infected, although she recovered later. She did receive the last rites in 1767, so it may have been expected that she should not recover. After her recovery, Maria Theresa became a strong supporter of vaccination, setting a strong example by requiring all of her children to receive smallpox vaccinations.
In 1771, she issued the
Robot Patent, a reform that regulated the serf's labor payments in her lands, which provided some relief.
Other important reforms included outlawing witch-burning and torture, and, for the first time in Austrian history, taking capital punishment off the penal code - it was replaced with forced labor. It was later reintroduced, but the progressive nature of these reforms remains noted. Many historians agree that Maria Theresa did not solely act out of care for her population, but rather to strengthen the economy of the Habsburg territories, especially after the loss of Silesia.
This was also the main reason for the introduction of mandatory education in 1774 - the goal was to form an educated class from which civil servants could be recruited.
Another installation of hers was a decency police which was to patrol everywhere, especially Vienna, and apprehend anyone suspected of doing something that could be deemed indecent (some say this was due to her husband's supposed infidelity). Arrested prostitutes, for example, would be sent into villages in the eastern parts of the realm which led some contemporary writers to note that these villages had 'exceptionally beautiful women' living there.
She died in 1780, the only female to rule during the 650-year-long
Habsburg dynasty. She is buried in tomb number 56 in the
Imperial Crypt in Vienna. Her son
Joseph II succeeded her.
*
Her Imperial & Royal Highness Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (
13 May 1717–
20 October 1740)
*
Her Majesty The Queen of Hungary (
20 October 1740–
13 September 1745)
*
Her Imperial Majesty The Holy Roman Empress (
13 September 1745–
18 August 1765)
*
Her Imperial Majesty Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress (
18 August 1765–
29 November 1780)
*Croatian/Serbian/Slovenian:
Marija Terezija*Czech:
Marie Terezie*Finnish:
Maria Teresia*French:
Marie Thérèse*German/Dutch:
Maria Theresia*Hungarian/Slovak:
Mária Terézia*Romanian:
Maria Tereza*Polish:
Maria Teresa*Spanish:
MarÃa Teresa*
Maria Theresa Thaler*
Military Order of Maria Theresa*
Baroque Absolutism Country Studies - Austria
*
Book by M. Goldsmith (1936) about Maria Theresia (eLibrary Austria Project - eLib at)
