Maria Theresa biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and his wife, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, welcomed their first daughter, Maria Theresa, into the world on May 13, 1717. She was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Maria Theresa’s father was the last remaining male heir to the Habsburg throne, so before she was born, fearing that he might not produce a son, Charles VI reformed the Salic Law, which prevented any female heir from succeeding her father. In 1713 he issued the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure his eldest daughter’s right to take over the throne when he died, provided he never had a son. In 1720 Charles worked tirelessly to earn support for the sanction from his crown lands and several of the great European powers. Over time, they begrudgingly agreed to honor the sanction.

Maria Theresa’s education and upbringing were typical of a princess’s at the time. Her studies focused on frivolous skills thought befitting a young noblewoman. Despite the fact that Maria Theresa, who indeed still did not have a brother, was increasingly likely to inherit the Habsburg throne, she was ill-acquainted with affairs of state.

Marriage and Children

Charles VI had been encouraged by his trusted adviser, Prince Eugene of Savoy, to marry Maria Theresa off to a powerful prince. Instead, Charles VI allowed his daughter to marry for love. In 1736 Maria Theresa and her beloved Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, France, were wed. Since Lorraine could potentially be incorporated into the Habsburg Empire, Duke Francis appeased France by conceding to trade his province for Tuscany, which was of considerably lesser value.

Over the course of her marriage, Maria Theresa would give birth to a sizable brood. Her 16 children consisted of 5 sons and 11 daughters, including the future queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

Succession and Resistance

In October of 1740, Charles VI died. It was time for Maria Theresa, then 23 years old, to succeed to the Habsburg throne. Subjects of her crown lands—the Austrian duchies and Netherlands, and Bohemia and Hungary—were quick to accept Maria Theresa as their empress. But Maria Theresa immediately faced resistance to her succession from European powers who had previously agreed to her father’s Pragmatic Sanction. Under the leadership of Frederick II, King of Prussia, those powers formed a coalition against Maria Theresa.

By December of that year, Frederick II’s army invaded Silesia, an Austrian province, and claimed it for his kingdom. Bavaria and France followed suit with their own invasion of Habsburg territories, resulting in an eight-year conflict dubbed the War of the Austrian Succession.