The Royal Women
The Treaty of Breslau
The treaty, a preliminary peace agreement, brought about an end to the First Silesian War alongside the Treaty of Berlin. [read more]
The Year of Maria Theresa (2017)
Maria Beatrice d'Este
Maria Theresa of Austria’s fourth son Ferdinand – Founder of a new House
The fourth son and fourteenth child of Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, was born on 1 June 1754. The baby Archduke was named Ferdinand Karl. As one of the last children of the Imperial couple, it was always unlikely that Ferdinand would rule as Emperor or reign over any of [read more]
Maria Theresia of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria contracts smallpox
In May 1767, Maria Theresa celebrated her 50th birthday but an epidemic was coming to the household. Maria Josepha of Bavaria, her daughter-in-law, was the first one to fall ill and Maria Theresa was with her when she received the diagnosis. She stayed to comfort and kiss her, but then came down with smallpox herself. [read more]
Maria Theresia of Austria
The birth of a future Empress – Maria Theresa of Austria
On 13 May 1717, Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, the future Holy Roman Empress, was born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the early morning at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. She was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church later that evening. Her godmothers were named as Holy Roman Empress Wilhelmine Amalia, an aunt and Eleonor [read more]
Isabella of Parma
Maria Christina of Austria – The best wife of Albert
This article was written by Carol. Maria Christina was born on Maria Theresa’s 25th birthday, on May 13, 1742, and was her fifth child. Maria Theresa called her Mimi, and it was said that she was her favourite child. Certainly, her tutors felt she was the brightest of the Hapsburg children. She was also pretty [read more]
Bohemia
Maria Theresa’s coronation as Queen of Bohemia
In 1740, Maria Theresa should have succeeded her father as ruler of Bohemia as part of her hereditary claim. The accession did not go as planned. Doubts over Maria Theresa’s right to rule, as a woman, were a perfect excuse for European powers such as France to attempt to curtail Habsburg power. Though technically Salic [read more]