Maria Theresa Of Austria - FIERCE Female Powerhouse - Mother Of Marie Antoinette

Maria Theresa of Austria was born on May 13, 1717 and was the second child of the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Two more sisters were born later. Charles VI's only son, Leopold Johann, died in 1716. By issuing the Pragmatic Sanction on April 19, 1713, Charles VI had already prepared for the fact that he would not have a male heir. This sanction stipulated that the throne of the Austrian Habsburgs could also pass to a woman, which was very unusual at the time. Accordingly, the daughters of Charles VI took precedence in the succession over the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, Maria Josepha, as was agreed in a prior agreement between Charles and Joseph Maria Theresa's childhood was carefree and she developed into an independent and self-confident woman, knowing that she would have to ascend the throne. Due to her position, the marriage of Maria Theresa became of great significance for European politics. During a rapprochement between the courts of Vienna and Madrid, the marriage to the second son of Philip V of Spain, Charles III of Spain, was considered. However, England opposed the union with the House of Bourbon, which would put the Habsburgs in an overpowering position. In return for the recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction in 1730, Charles agreed to give his first-born daughter's hand in marriage to a prince of lesser power. This increased the prospects of another pretender who had already won Maria Theresa's heart, Francis, son and heir of Duke Leopold I de Lorraine. However, after the unfortunate outcome of the War of the Polish Succession for Austria and in accordance with the provisions of the peace treaty which ended this war, the young Duke de Lorraine had to agree to resign his throne in return for the hand of Maria Theresa. On February 12, 1736, Maria Theresa was married to Francis I, Duke de Lorraine, with whom she had 16 children. Maria Theresa's father had assumed that she would leave the rule of the country to her husband and had therefore taught her nothing about ruling a country. The unexpected death of Charles VI on October 20, 1740, made Maria Theresa only 23 years old, heiress to the monarchy and plunged her into what would become known as the Austrian War of Succession, which lasted for eight years. The young queen demonstrated an energy and determination which astonished the whole of Europe and preserved her paternal inheritance, with the exception of Cilicia, which she handed over to Friedrich II of Prussia after signing the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763. In addition, she achieved the goal of having her husband become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire after the extinction of the Wittelsbach line. Francis was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Francis I on October 4, 1745. Maria Theresa was already a multiple queen and never officially became Empress, although this had been a tradition for the consorts of the reigning Holy Roman Emperor since 1014. When the War of the Austrian Succession broke out, the Austrian treasury was almost empty and the army was heavily understaffed. Maria Theresa doubled the size of her army, reorganized taxation so that the army and the government would have a stable annual income and centralized the government. These reforms benefited the economy. One of the most important changes Maria Theresa implemented was probably the introduction of compulsory education, which introduced 6 years of compulsory school attendance for all children between the age of 6 and 12. Her husband, Francis, died in 1765. Her love for him was so great that, from his death until her own, 15 years later, she only dressed in mourning clothes. After her husband's death, the conquest of territories no longer played a major role in Maria Theresa's life. Instead, she started to focus on strategically marrying out her daughters into the royal houses of Europe. She also recognized Joseph II, her eldest son, as co-regent within the Danubian monarchy and as emperor. However, she only gave him limited power because she thought he was too arrogant and imprudent. In order to ensure her children to be attractive marriage partners, Maria Theresa ensured a strict education for them with subjects such as history, dance, theater, painting, spelling, mathematics and foreign languages. The girls also had to be able to do handicrafts and were taught how to converse. Maria Theresa was convinced that influence could be exerted through family connections with major foreign powers. This was nothing new, especially for the Habsburgs. Because of her rivalry with Friedrich II of Prussia, her plans focused on the thrones of France, Spain, Parma and the kingdom of Naples, Sicily, which belonged to the House of Bourbon. The first marriage between a Habsburg and a Bourbon was between Archduke Joseph, the later Emperor Joseph II, and Isabella of Parma. Then Leopold, who was later to become Emperor Leopold II, married Marie-Louise de Bourbon. The third son, Archduke Ferdinand Charles, married Maria Beatrice d'Este so that later, as Duke Ferdinand, he could rule over the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. In contrast to the smooth marriage negotiations of her sons, the negotiations for the marriages of her daughters were much more difficult. Maria Theresa's eldest daughter, Archduchess Maria Anna, remained unmarried due to her poor health. The marriage of Archduchess Maria Elisabeth to King Louis XV of France could not take place either because Maria Elisabeth had been diagnosed with smallpox. While Maria Christina was the only daughter allowed to choose her own groom and marry Duke Albert Casimir of Saxe-Tetien, Maria Amalia was married off by her mother to Duke Ferdinand of Parma against her will and with much opposition. Johanna Gabriela and her sister Maria Josefa both died of smallpox, so Maria Carolina had to take the place of her sisters at the side of Ferdinand I of the two Sicilies as the third betrothed. Maria Theresa's most prestigious marriage project was the marriage of Maria Antonia to the Dauphin Louis-Auguste de France, who would go on to become Louis XVI. Thus, Maria Antonia became known in history as Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Maria Theresa died of a pneumonia on November 29, 1780 and was the only ruling woman in the 650-year-long Habsburg dynasty. After her death, Maria Theresa left behind a strong Austria that remained one of the great powers of Europe for almost 140 years. She is buried with her husband in a combined tomb in the Kapuziner Gruft in Vienna. Thank you for watching.