First page - Vivat Maria Theresia

Second page - Archduchess Maria Theresia

Third page - The Austrian Succession War
Fourth page - The Seven Years' War
Fifth page - The Final Years
Sixth page - Topics

About Me

This page: Vivat Maria Theresia

Next page: Archduchess Maria Theresia

2017

Vivat

Maria Theresia

Just a little story before we begin.....

The military commanders standing outside of the palace were notified and then ordered the cannons of the walled city to be fired to honour the tremendous event.
The mighty 'Pummerin', the largest bell of St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) started to ring majestically and was soon joined with the sound of St. Peters (Peterskirche) and the bells of the numerous churches of the city which resonated throughout the city.
The city wakened to the sound of thousands of chiming bells which wordlessly announced the news as everyone started to join the never-ending flow of people rushing through the city streets to gather together on the main square in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansplatz) to hear the news.

The little Archduchess was the second child of Karl VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Their first child, Archduke Leopold Johann was born on the 13th April, 1716 and died on the 4th November, 1716.
The still mourning Imperial family was now rejoicing the birth of a new member of the Habsburg dynasty.

The Rittersaal (Hall of Knights) of the Imperial Palace was used as a chapel for the christening of the baby Archduchess.
Drummers and trumpeters lined the aisles of the Rittersaal and the sound of fanfares filled the candlelit magnificent hall.

The little Archduchess was baptised - Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina - and after the christening she was returned back to her mother in the Imperial Apartments.

A new era was about to begin, a golden era of which the young Archduchess would become the undisputed monarch, a sovereign, a mother - she carried the titles of the Habsburg-crown lands and was Archduchess of Austria.

Foreword

In celebration of the Tricentennial of Archduchess Maria Theresia 1717-2017.

Many powerful women have helped to shape European history.

Women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella I of Castile, Elizabeth I of England, Catherine the Great of Russia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, all had power and were prepared to use it .

Maria Theresia of Austria also fully deserves a place on this list.

As Maria grew she developed into a good-looking, brave, determined young girl who quickly became a politically astute woman.
The young Archduchess preferred to speak German in a Viennese dialect, and when she became Empress she was not familiar with the affairs of state so sought advice and reassurance from her ministers and husband. However, she soon realised that to succeed she had to rely on her own judgment and strength of character and later recalled that when she ascended to the throne, "I found myself without money, without credit, without an army, without experience and knowledge of my own, and finally without any counsel because each one of my ministers wanted to wait and see how things would develop."
Her forty-year reign covered one of the most crucial periods of European history in the 18th century. She was forced to defend her claim to the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and this action thrust her into the maelstrom of European politics.

She not only ruled over the Habsburg controlled-lands of Central Europe, but also fought two major wars, which made her a force to be reckoned with, and still found time to give birth to sixteen children.

She was responsible for all the decisions made within the Habsburg provinces and, together with her excellent advisors, led her dominions into a never-to-be-forgotten era in which many reforms took place. These reforms included raising the standard of education, centralisation of the administration, the reformation of the judiciary and stabilising the financial situation.

However, in order to fully appreciate this great woman a short account of the history of the Habsburgs prior to her reign will help to understand the factors that led to her ascending the throne and fighting two major wars.

The Habsburgs

The family expanded its domains and in the 16th century the House of Habsburg was divided into two branches, the Senior Habsburgs of Spain and the Junior House of Austria.

The Senior branch ended on the death of Carlos II of Spain in 1700.

The Junior branch ceased to exist after the death of Karl VI in 1740 when his daughter, Maria Theresia married into the House of Lorraine and the new house became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Habsburg-Lothringen), although it is often referred to as the House of Habsburg.

Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs

House of Austria

The name Ostarrîchi (Austria) was first mentioned in the year 996 AD.The Duchy of Austria in the eastern Alpine region was established in 1156. The name Austria was used for all the lands possessed by the House of Austria and not just a specific area.
Over the centuries the Austrian Habsburgs were nearly always elected Holy Roman Emperors until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.

Under the rule of the Habsburg's Austria became one of the most stable parts of Europe.

Habsburg Spain

Spain was ruled from 1506 until 1700 by the Senior branch of the Habsburg dynasty.
During the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs Spain became a great global power and possessed an Empire on which the sun never set.
However, the Spanish Empire suffered a decline of influence and power during the latter part of the seventeenth century.

The Last Habsburg King of Spain

King Carlos II of Spain

Carlos was born on the 6th November 1661, and died on the 1st November 1700. He was the only surviving son of Philip IV of Spain and Mariana of Austria.

His father, Philip IV, died on the 17th September 1665 at the age of 60.Carlos was only three- years-old when he became king, so the Council of Castile (Regency Council) appointed his mother, Mariana of Austria, to rule in the name of the young king. As the years passed by it became obvious that the young mentally retarded and physically disabled King was not capable of ruling in his own right and his mother continued to serve as regent for most of his reign.

The unfortunate young, disabled king was in a poor state of health and sadly degenerated. He had a large head and Habsburg jaw and his legs could not support him so he was unable to walk properly.His education was inadequate and he was very dependent upon his mother.Carlos married Marie Louise d'Orléans, the niece of Louis XIV of France in 1679.The 'proxy' marriage ceremony took place at the Palace of Fontainebleau on the 30th August 1679, and on the 19th November 1679 Marie Louise married Carlos in person in Quintanapalla, Spain.Marie Louise, a very pretty young lady of seventeen years, became a political pawn as her marriage to Carlos was intended to encourage better relations between France and Spain.Her marriage in 1679 was the beginning of a very isolated life at the Spanish court which she hated.Carlos was madly in love with her, but the young Queen was severely depressed and dismayed because after many unsuccessful attempts to bear a child she eventually lost hope of becoming pregnant.Carlos is assumed to have been infertile if not actually impotent.His physical health and mental deficiency earned him the nickname "El Hechizado" (The Bewitched or Hexed).

The life at Spanish Court with its very strict and confining etiquette became a cause for distress, which only deepened her depression. Marie Louise had been much happier as a child in France and became homesick. She had arrived in Spain as a young and beautiful princess, but she became increasingly overweight and could find no happiness or peace of mind. The King was in love with his wife but could do little to help her.

On the 11th February 1689 she fell ill with extreme stomach pains and died the next night. There were rumours that Marie Louise had been poisoned, but it seems most probable that the cause of her death was appendicitis.

Carlos was heartbroken after the death of his young wife, but he needed an heir and had to remarry immediately.
Maria Anna of Neuberg, a Wittelsbach, was chosen to become his second wife.

The 'proxy' marriage took place on the 28th August 1689 in Ingolstadt, Germany, but Maria Anna did not arrive in Spain until the spring of 1690 when she married Carlos in person on the 14th May 1690 in San Diego.

Their marriage also remained childless.

Maria Anna easily dominated her husband and was actively involved in several intrigues in the Spanish Court, and she too despised Spain and her life at the Spanish court as Marie Louise had done.
In 1698, Carlos became gravely ill. The young King was still in his thirties but his health was rapidly getting worse and on the 1st November 1700 he died.

Carlos was the last Habsburg King of Spain and ruler of an Empire upon which the sun never set.

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)

Carlos died without an heir but he had named Philippe Duke of Anjou to be his successor to the Spanish throne. However, the other major European powers saw the link between France and Spain as a threat to the balance of power in Europe and this was the trigger for the War of Spanish Succession (1702 - 1713).

The prospect of Spain and its huge Empire coming under the control of Louis XIV of France led to many of the European Powers opposing Philip's succession.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Emperor Leopold I, in his war against the Ottoman Empire, managed to stabilise the situation on Austria's eastern frontier and this enabled him to turn his attention to the crisis confronting the Habsburg dynasty in Spain.
Emperor Leopold I (Habsburg) and the French King, Louis XIV (Bourbon) both had claims to the Spanish throne and wanted to establish their dynasty in Spain.
Karl (Charles), Leopold's second son, and Carlos were both members of the House of Habsburg, and immediately after the death of Carlos II in 1700 Karl declared himself King of Spain.

Many of the European powers and the majority of the Holy Roman Empire supported Karl as Carlos III of Spain. Although Karl was in Spain from 1705 until 1711 he was only able to exercise his rule in Catalonia. During this time Karl married Elisabeth Christine of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel on the 1st August 1708 in Barcelona, Spain.

In 1711, Karl's brother Joseph died unexpectedly in Vienna and Karl became Holy Roman Emperor, and the political possibility of a unification of the Habsburg lines under Karl VI suddenly became a major threat to the other European powers.

This new situation led to the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain to withdraw its support from the Austrian coalition.

Austria's other allies backed out of the War of the Spanish Succession and made peace with France in 1713.

Emperor Karl VI

Karl VI was extremely discontented at the loss of Spain and hostilities between France and Austria continued until 1714 before an agreement was reached with the signing of the Treaties of Rastatt and Baden that marked the end of the War of the Spanish Succession.

After thirteen years of war Philip V was confirmed as King of Spain, but was forced to renounce his right to succeed to his grandfather's throne in France.

Philip V, Duke of Anjou, became the first Bourbon King of Spain.

The Austrian Habsburgs lost Spain and Spanish America but gained the Spanish possessions in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands, which then became known as the Austrian Netherlands.

Austria during the War of the Spanish Succession

In 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Emperor Leopold I died and his eldest son Joseph I became Holy Roman Emperor.

Joseph was an ambitious, keen, and forward-looking ruler, and he had advisers who were willing to back his reforms.He tried to make the bureaucracy more efficient and he achieved a certain amount of success in stabilising the financial situation of the Habsburgs during his short reign.

In 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession, he took an active part in the siege of Landau and continued the war against Louis XIV of France in an attempt to assist his brother Karl to become King of Spain.Between 1703 and 1709, an uprising against the Habsburgs orchestrated by Ferenc II Rákóczi led to devastating attacks on parts of Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria, and became a threat to Vienna.
Emperor Joseph was forced to take military action and finally he agreed to a compromise that eventually led to the integration of Hungary into the Habsburg domains.

Unfortunately, Joseph died on the 17th April 1711 in the Hofburg Palace during an outbreak of smallpox that struck the city.
After Joseph's death his brother Karl returned to Austria and claimed his right to the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

Karl VI

Karl continued a very successful war against the Ottoman Empire and made large military gains in Hungary and Serbia.

The lucrative 'Imperial Ostend Company' (Kaiserliche Ostender Kompanie) an Austrian/Flemish private company was established in 1722 and traded with the East and West Indies, and this led to Triest developing into an important port.
The Company competed with the British and was closed down in 1731 in exchange for Britain recognising the Pragmatic Sanction, thus creating an alliance between the two states.
The Habsburg Empire had achieved its greatest expansion during Karl's reign. The Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) and the Italian provinces Mantua, Milan, Parma, Piacenza and Tuscany all came under Habsburg rule.
Karl VI saw that Austria required far more economic and political centralisation to be able to cope with the economic needs and organisation of the growing empire.
The outbreak of the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1738) weakened Austria, and toward the end of his reign new conflicts against the Ottoman Empire resulted in the loss of most of the south-eastern territories that had been gained in 1718.

In 1740, the Habsburg lands were deep in debt and the army was ineffectively spread across the Empire.

The Pragmatic Sanction

Karl VI and the Pragmatic Sanction

One of Karl's prime concerns was the regulation of the Habsburg line of succession.
Emperor Karl VI was the sole remaining male Habsburg and was afraid that he might not produce a son, so as early as 1713, well before Maria Theresia was even born, he had decided to reform the Habsburg Hereditary Law that prevented the succession of a female heir.
Karl VI realised that the lack of a male heir to the throne was a threat to the unity of the Habsburg Empire, and in 1713 promulgated the "Pragmatic Sanction" to allow a female heir to inherit the Habsburg Lands. This new treaty would ensure that after his death, if he had no son, his eldest daughter would have the right to succeed to the throne.
The Emperor wanted to ensure the future of the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and the succession of a female heir, and he worked hard to gain support for the Pragmatic Sanction from his Crown Lands and the major European powers.
The Emperor worked hard to gain support for the Pragmatic Sanction from his Crown Lands and the major European powers.

After eight years of marriage Karl and Elisabeth Christine became parents.

On the 13th April 1716, the long awaited heir to the throne was born, but their first child Archduke Leopold Johann died only six months later on the 4th November 1716.

For a short time it had seemed as though the Pragmatic Sanction would not be needed, but the death of their first child made Karl even more determined in his efforts regarding a regulation of the Habsburg succession.

The Treaty was confirmed by the diets (Landtage) of the Hereditary Lands in the years 1720-1723.

The Hungarian Parliament voted for its own Pragmatic Sanction in 1723, and the Kingdom of Hungary accepted and supported Maria Theresia's hereditary right to become "King" of Hungary by simply ignoring the fact that she was a woman.

During the 1720s, most of the major foreign powers accepted the Pragmatic Sanction but reneged on their promises after the sudden death of the Emperor in 1740.

The price Austria had to pay to the other European powers for their approval of the Treaty was high and led to the abandonment of many centralising reforms. What Austria failed to realise at the time that these concessions were made was they would not prevent the War of the Austrian Succession from breaking out when Karl died.

First page - Vivat Maria Theresia

Second page - Archduchess Maria Theresia

Third page - The Austrian Succession War
Fourth page - The Seven Years' War
Fifth page - The Final Years
Sixth page - Topics

About Me

This page: Vivat Maria Theresia

see the next page: Archduchess Maria Theresia