Maria Theresa of Austria

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Maria Theresa
Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia and Slavonia, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Reign 20 October 1740 - 29 November 1780
Titles HIM The Dowager Holy Roman Empress
HIM The Holy Roman Empress
HM The Queen (of Hungary and Bohemia)
HRH Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria
Born 13 May 1717
Birthplace Vienna
Died 29 November 1780
Place of death Vienna
Buried Imperial Crypt Vienna
Predecessor Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Successor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Consort Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue Archduchess Maria Elisabeth
Archduchess Maria Anna
Archduchess Maria Caroline
Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II
Maria Christina
Archduchess Maria Elisabeth
Archduke Carlos Joseph
Archduchess Marie Amalie
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II
Archduchess Maria Caroline
Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela
Archduchess Maria Josepha
Queen Maria Caroline
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este
Queen Marie Antoinette
Archduke Maximilian Francis
Royal House House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Not to be confused with Maria Theresa of Austria (1816-1867) or Maria Theresa of Spain.

Maria Theresa (German: Maria Theresia, see also other languages; May 13, 1717 – November 29, 1780) was a reigning Archduchess of Austria, a Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and a Holy Roman Empress.

Maria Theresa was the oldest daughter of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Emperor Charles VI, who promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction to allow her to succeed to the Habsburg monarchy. Opposition to her acceding to the throne led to the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740. After Emperor Charles VII, who claimed the throne, died in 1745, Maria Theresa obtained the imperial crown for her husband, Francis I. Though she was technically empress consort, Maria Theresa was the de facto ruler of the nation, and she began styling herself Holy Roman Empress in 1745. Maria Theresa had in fact already begun her rule in 1740 during the Austrian War of Succession.

Maria Theresa helped initiate financial and educational reforms, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganized the army, all of which strengthened Austria's resources. Continued conflict with the Kingdom of Prussia led to the Seven Years' War and later to the War of the Bavarian Succession. She became dowager empress after the death of Francis and ascession of her son Joseph as emperor in 1765. Maria Theresa criticized many of Joseph's actions but agreed to the First Partition of Poland (1772). A key figure in the power politics of 18th century Europe, Maria Theresa brought unity to the Habsburg Monarchy and was considered one of its most capable rulers. Her 16 children also included Marie Antoinette, queen consort of France, and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Contents

[edit] Family life

Maria Theresa (age 11)
Maria Theresa (age 11)

Maria Theresa Walburga Amaliae Christina was born in Vienna, the eldest daughter of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 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 Northern European monarchs agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction when it was issued. One of the few not to sign was Frederick the Great of Prussia who, soon after Maria Theresa assumed the throne upon Charles' death on October 20, 1740, began the War of Austrian Succession.

Maria Theresa was married to Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Lorraine in 1736. He tended to leave day to day administration to Maria Theresa.[1] Unlike many monarchs of her time, she married for love. She had 16 children by him. Their eleven daughters all had the first name "Maria". [2] They also had five sons. The youngest daughter was Maria Antonia, better known under her French name, Marie Antoinette, who would be promised in marriage to the future King Louis XVI of France.

After her husband's death, Joseph II, succeeded in the elective monarchy of the Holy Roman Empire, maintaining the imperial Crown in the Habsburg line, in accordance with tradition. Maria Theresa then made 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 Joseph could fully exercise his powers. Her children were:

Maria Theresa with her family
Maria Theresa with her family

[edit] Reign

[edit] Early years

"The world's most famous coin," the Maria Theresa thaler. The Latin inscription is M[ARIA] THERESIA D[EI] G[RATIA] R[OMANORVM] IMP[ERATRIX] HV[NGARIAE] BO[HEMIAE] REG[INA], or in English, "Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia." This particular coin was struck in Vienna in 1890, although production continued for many years after her death.
"The world's most famous coin," the Maria Theresa thaler. The Latin inscription is M[ARIA] THERESIA D[EI] G[RATIA] R[OMANORVM] IMP[ERATRIX] HV[NGARIAE] BO[HEMIAE] REG[INA], or in English, "Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia." This particular coin was struck in Vienna in 1890, although production continued for many years after her death.

Maria Theresa's father had not given her any training in government, leaving her to learn for herself. Additionally, the army was weak and the treasury depleted as a result of two wars near the end of her father's reign. Maria Theresa was crowned Queen of Hungary in the St. Martin’s Cathedral in the Hungarian royal town and coronization place Pozsony on 25 June 1741.[3] the town was called Pressburg in German, and now is Bratislava,the capital of Slovakia, after the Trianon diktat from 1920,imposed on Hungary. The War of the Austrian Succession began when Frederick II of Prussia invaded and occupied Silesia. While Bavaria and France also invaded Austria's western territories, it was "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 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), France gave the Austrian Netherlands that it conquered back to Maria Theresa. In exchange, Maria Theresa ceded Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla to the Infante Philip of Spain.

After having been defeated in the First and Second Silesian Wars, Maria Theresa began to modernize her realms with the assistance of Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz. Defeat, however, reduced her morale and effectiveness as a ruler.[citation needed] She increased the size of the army by 200% and increased taxes in order to guarantee a steady income for the government, and in particular for the military. She centralized the government by combining the Austrian and Bohemian chancellaries, formerly separate, into one administrative office. Before these changes, justice and administration had been overseen by the same officials- afterwards, she created a supreme court with the sole responsibility of upholding justice in her lands. These reforms strengthened the economy and the state in general.

Maria Theresa, like the other Hapsburgs, was a devout Roman Catholic. She was educated by Jesuits at Mariazell, and in later life lacked the religious cynicism of royal contemporaries such as Frederick II of Prussia. Her conservative outlook involved an intolerant view of other faiths. In 1741, she expelled the Jews from Prague. Her political distrust of Great Britain rested in part on her view of the established Church of England, whom she regarded as Protestant heretics.

Maria Theresa dropped Great Britain as an ally on the advice of her state chancellor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, and allied with Russia and France. She established the Theresian Military Academy (the first worldwide) in 1752 and an academy of engineering science in 1754. She also demanded that the University of Vienna be given money to make the medical faculty more efficient. When she felt her army was strong enough, she prepared an attack on Prussia in 1756. However, it was Frederick II who attacked first, invading Saxony, another ally of Austria, thus initiating the Seven Years' War. The war ended in 1763 when Maria Theresa signed the Treaty of Hubertusburg, recognizing Prussian ownership of most of Silesia.

Maria Theresa I of Austria
Maria Theresa I of Austria

Her husband Francis died two years later. Maria Theresa's devotion to him was so great that she dressed in mourning 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. However, she allowed him only limited powers because she felt that he was too rash and arrogant.

[edit] Later years: civil reforms

In the 1760s, smallpox claimed several victims in the imperial family. Maria Theresa was infected and received last rites in 1767, although she recovered. Afterward, Maria Theresa became a strong supporter of inoculation (a predecessor immunisation method to smallpox vaccination), setting a strong example by requiring all of her children to be inoculated.

In the later years of her reign, Maria Theresa focused on reforming laws along the lines of enlightened absolutism, especially to strengthen the economy of the Habsburg territories, especially after the loss of Silesia.

In 1771, she and Joseph II issued the Robot Patent, a reform that regulated a 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, as it was replaced with forced labor. It was later reintroduced, but the progressive nature of these reforms remains noted. In 1772 Maria Theresa founded the Imperial and Royal Academy of Science and Literature in Brussels. Mandatory education was introduced in 1774; the goal was to form an educated class from which civil servants could be recruited.

Another innovation of Maria Theresa's was the decency police which was to patrol everywhere, especially Vienna, and apprehend anyone suspected of doing something that could be deemed indecent (possibly due to her husband's supposed infidelity). Arrested prostitutes, for example, would be sent into villages in the eastern parts of the realm, leading some contemporary writers to note that these villages had 'exceptionally beautiful women' living there.

Maria Theresa died in Vienna 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.

[edit] Titles from birth to death

Austrian Royalty
House of Habsburg-Lorraine

Armorial of the Holy Roman Empire
Maria Theresa & Francis I
Children include
   Joseph II
   Archduchess Maria Christina
   Archduchess Marie Amalie
   Leopold II
   Archduchess Marie Caroline
   Archduke Ferdinand
   Archduchess Marie Antoinette
   Archduke Maximilian
Grandchildren include
   Francis IV of Modena
   Archduke Ferdinand Karl
Joseph II
Leopold II
Children include
   Archduchess Maria Theresia
   Francis II
   Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
   Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
   Archduke Alexander Leopold
   Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary
   Archduke Johann
   Archduke Rainer
   Archduke Louis
   Archduke Rudolph
Grandchildren include
   Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
   Archduchess Maria Theresa
   Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen
   Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska
   Archduke Joseph Karl
Francis II

Maria Theresa was actually proclaimed King, rather than Queen, of Hungary upon her ascension to the Hungarian throne. Normally, however, she was styled Queen of Hungary.

Her title after the death of her husband:

Maria Theresa, by the Grace of God, Dowager Holy Roman Empress; 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 on the Wendish Mark and of Mechlin; Dowager Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, Dowager Grand Duchess of Tuscany.


[edit] Names in other languages

[edit] Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Maria Anna of Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Philip William, Elector Palatine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Maria Theresa of Austria
Queen of Hungary & Bohemia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Duchess Elisabeth Juliana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Norburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Albert Ernest I, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Duchess Christine Friederike of Württemberg
 
 
 
 
 
 

[edit] Media portrayals

Marianne Faithfull portrayed Maria Theresa in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette.

Alma Kruger portrayed Maria Theresa in the 1938 film Marie Antoinette which starred Norma Shearer.

Maria Theresa of Austria
Born: 13 May 1717 Died: 29 November 1780
German royalty
Preceded by
Maria Amalia of Austria		 Holy Roman Empress
1745–1765		 Succeeded by
Maria Josepha of Bavaria
German Queen
1745-1764
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Charles VI
as duke, archduke and king		 Duchess of Parma and Piacenza
1741-1748		 Succeeded by
Philip
as duke
Archduchess of Austria
1740-1780		 Succeeded by
Joseph II
as archduke and king
Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia
1741-1780
Preceded by
Charles VII
as king		 Queen of Bohemia
1743–1780
Italian royalty
Preceded by
Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg		 Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany Succeeded by
Maria Louisa of Spain
Titles in pretence
Claimant after death of Charles VI — TITULAR —
Queen of Bohemia
1741–1743		 Became Queen of Bohemia

[edit] References

  1. ^ "[[wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa of Austria]". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
  2. ^ Habsburg 5
  3. ^ "Medallion for the coronation of Maria Theresia" at National Bank of Slovakia
  4. ^ Panování císařovny Marie Teresie, Josef Svátek, Praha, 1898

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


Persondata
NAME Maria Theresa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Holy Roman Empress consort
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1717
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1780
PLACE OF DEATH Vienna
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria"
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