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Parents: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elisabeth Christina of Burnswick-Wolfenbüttel
Date of Birth: 13 May 1717
House: Habsburg
Spouse(s): François, duke of Lorraine, son of Leopold, duke of Lorraine, and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans
Predecessor: Charles VI
Reign: 1740 – 1780
Brief: The resultant final heir of the House of Habsburg, Maria Theresa was destined to be queen of Bohemia and archduchess of Austria from at least 1713, when her father passed his Pragmatic Sanction. Most of the rest of his reign was spent securing the law that would allow his daughter to succeed to the throne, but it was all for nothing. This was partially because Emperor Charles VI had already signed a Mutual Pact of Succession with his elder brother that ensured that the daughters of Emperor Joseph I would supersede any daughters of Charles. But by the time Charles died, little mattered to the land-hungry magnates of Europe who only wished to dissect Austria for themselves. Raised by Jesuits and kept under harsh security, Maria Theresa was not a great student and her father did not teach her how to rule his empire. At the age of nineteen, Maria Theresa married the duke of Lorraine, who lost Lorraine the next year but gained the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation. When Charles finally died in 1740 of mushroom poisoning, he left Austria in financial bankruptcy and a small unprepared army. Maria Theresa did not have a clue how to run her new government.
Taking her father's advice, Maria Theresa campaigned to have her husband elected Holy Roman Emperor, since she could not gain the title herself. To give him a free vote from Bohemia, the queen made him joint-ruler of Austria and Bohemia, though Hungary waited a year before approving the joint leadership. Despite his joint role, Maria Theresa did not trust her husband and did not allow him to make decisions within her empire. Outside of Austria, the queen's neighbors began banging swords in a move that would prompt the War of the Austrian Succession. Charles Albert, duke of Bavaria, was married to the senior Habsburg heiress and wanted a piece of Austria. Frederick II, king of Prussia, wanted Silesia and took it from her through force after negotiations failed. The Bavarian duke invaded Bohemia in 1741 while Maria Theresa was pregnant with her second child. She threw everything into the war effort to keep Charles Albert from succeeding, but the Bavarian duke was nominated Holy Roman Emperor in early 1742. On the same day, Austrian troops occupied his Bavarian capital of Munich, sullying the coronation. In 1745, Charles Albert died, ending the Bavarian fight. François was elected Holy Roman Emperor Franz I later that year and the war ended in 1748 with the cession of Parma to Spain. For ten years, Maria Theresa had peace until Prussia invaded Saxony in 1756 sparking the Seven Years' War. Luckily, the war ended with little changed for Austria, though the queen desperately wanted Silesia back from Prussia. Domestically, Maria Theresa modernized much of the Austrian military, creating a standing army and unifying Bohemia and Austria more closely. She ended capital punishment and outlawed witch burning and torture. When Franz I died in 1765, Maria Theresa removed herself from government, leaving the management to her eldest son, Joseph II. She died in 1780, probably after a prolonged smallpox attack that left her sick with pneumonia. She was the last direct Habsburg descendant on record, her cousin having predecesed her, and her successors would be known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
Brief: The resultant final heir of the House of Habsburg, Maria Theresa was destined to be queen of Bohemia and archduchess of Austria from at least 1713, when her father passed his Pragmatic Sanction. Most of the rest of his reign was spent securing the law that would allow his daughter to succeed to the throne, but it was all for nothing. This was partially because Emperor Charles VI had already signed a Mutual Pact of Succession with his elder brother that ensured that the daughters of Emperor Joseph I would supersede any daughters of Charles. But by the time Charles died, little mattered to the land-hungry magnates of Europe who only wished to dissect Austria for themselves. Raised by Jesuits and kept under harsh security, Maria Theresa was not a great student and her father did not teach her how to rule his empire. At the age of nineteen, Maria Theresa married the duke of Lorraine, who lost Lorraine the next year but gained the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation. When Charles finally died in 1740 of mushroom poisoning, he left Austria in financial bankruptcy and a small unprepared army. Maria Theresa did not have a clue how to run her new government.
Taking her father's advice, Maria Theresa campaigned to have her husband elected Holy Roman Emperor, since she could not gain the title herself. To give him a free vote from Bohemia, the queen made him joint-ruler of Austria and Bohemia, though Hungary waited a year before approving the joint leadership. Despite his joint role, Maria Theresa did not trust her husband and did not allow him to make decisions within her empire. Outside of Austria, the queen's neighbors began banging swords in a move that would prompt the War of the Austrian Succession. Charles Albert, duke of Bavaria, was married to the senior Habsburg heiress and wanted a piece of Austria. Frederick II, king of Prussia, wanted Silesia and took it from her through force after negotiations failed. The Bavarian duke invaded Bohemia in 1741 while Maria Theresa was pregnant with her second child. She threw everything into the war effort to keep Charles Albert from succeeding, but the Bavarian duke was nominated Holy Roman Emperor in early 1742. On the same day, Austrian troops occupied his Bavarian capital of Munich, sullying the coronation. In 1745, Charles Albert died, ending the Bavarian fight. François was elected Holy Roman Emperor Franz I later that year and the war ended in 1748 with the cession of Parma to Spain. For ten years, Maria Theresa had peace until Prussia invaded Saxony in 1756 sparking the Seven Years' War. Luckily, the war ended with little changed for Austria, though the queen desperately wanted Silesia back from Prussia. Domestically, Maria Theresa modernized much of the Austrian military, creating a standing army and unifying Bohemia and Austria more closely. She ended capital punishment and outlawed witch burning and torture. When Franz I died in 1765, Maria Theresa removed herself from government, leaving the management to her eldest son, Joseph II. She died in 1780, probably after a prolonged smallpox attack that left her sick with pneumonia. She was the last direct Habsburg descendant on record, her cousin having predecesed her, and her successors would be known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
Date of Death: 29 November 1780
Successor: Joseph II
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
Successor: Joseph II
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Chlothar I, king of the Franks (561)
- Gregory III, pope of Rome (741)
- Otto II, duke of Bavaria (1253)
- Clement IV, pope of Rome (1268)
- Philippe IV, king of France (1314)
- Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1378)
- Nanda, king of Burma (1600)
- Frederick V, count palatine of the Rhine (1632)
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