Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia died today in 1780. She was, to say the least, an interesting character. She ascended the throne in 1740, aged only 23, and ruled for another 40 years - the only female Empress in 650 years of the Hapsburg Dynasty. During her time on the throne, she brought about many reforms in the countries she ruled, from the structure of the army to providing adequate working conditions for the serfs. As well as this, she gave birth to no fewer than 16 children - her fifteenth child was Marie Antoinette. Some historians call her the savior of the Hapsburg Dynasty, and one of the earliest feminists. Others are more concerned with her religious intolerance and her absolute monarchy, claiming that this almost tyrannical regime means it is impossible to accept her as a true feminist, fighting for equality for all. A somewhat controversial figure, then.
The House of Hapsburg, of which Maria Theresa was a member, is almost impossible to sum up in one sentence. Very briefly speaking, they were the rulers of Austria (and the Austrian Empire, which covered much of the lands which today surround the country) from 1278-1780. After 1780, when Maria Theresa died, the dynasty became known as the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, which ruled the country until it's dissolution in 1918. Between 1440 and 1806, they were also the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, and in that time, Maria Theresa was the only female Empress - and indeed, queen (who ruled in her own right) of Hungary and Bohemia.
This came about because of a rule, known in Europe as the Salic Law, which prohibited a woman from inheriting her father's lands. When it became clear that Maria's father, Charles VI was not going to produce a son, leaving Maria as his sole heir, he had to pass a hurried law known as the Pragmatic Sanction which guaranteed her the right to the throne - but at a price, for both Maria and the Austrian Empire.
For Maria, the main problem was that, though he named her as his successor, Charles assumed that Maria's husband, Frances Stephen of Lorraine, would take control and therefore didn't bother to teach his daughter how government and state affairs worked. Maria was determined that this was not to be the case, and that she would rule her country herself. However, due to various ill-conceived wars, the Austrian army was weak, and very poor. When Fredrick II of Prussia invaded in 1740, just weeks after she had assumed the throne, he was very easily able to take Silesia (what was historically Poland) for Prussia, thus starting the (rather boringly named) War of Austrian Succession, which lasted until 1748.
Things were not looking good for Maria - she could not afford to take back the land she had lost, and to make matters worse, France and Bavaria had joined in with the conflict and invaded her country from the west. Determined not to lose any more land, she initiated various army reforms, such as doubling the number of troops and creating a centralized tax office which collected money to fund the army. Though she lost Silesia, when the war ended the rest of her empire was still in tact, and the leaders of the other European countries finally recognized her as queen in her own right.
There were a few years of peace, until Maria Theresa decided in 1756 that Austria was capable of taking Silesia back, if they formed an alliance with France and Russia. Fredrick however, decided that Prussia would not stand for this, formed an alliance with Great Britain and invaded Saxony, one of Austria's allies, starting the Seven Years' War, which ended bang on time in 1763. (So maybe I skipped over the events of this war, but again, it's something that's almost impossible to sum up in a few sentences. One of the first global wars, it involved the American colonies as well as most of Europe, and resulted in over 1 million deaths). The Austrian Empire survived the war mostly unscathed as a territory (though they lost many men in the bloodshed), although when she signed the treaty that ended that war, Maria signed away the rights to the area of Silesia, which now officially belonged to the Prussians (one wonders what the Silesians thought about all of this).
Two years after this, tragedy struck when Maria's husband, Frances, died unexpectedly. Unlike most diplomatic marriages of the eighteenth century and before, Maria and Frances had actually been very deeply in love (their sixteen children - a large number even by the standards of the day - could be seen as proof of this...) and therefore, from the day of his death until she herself died, on 29 November 1780, Maria Theresa chose to dress in the clothes of mourning, as well as becoming much more withdrawn.
She changed her foreign policy, so that it was much more focused on maintaining peace in her lands, rather than trying to win back Silesia and became very concerned with serf reform, passing rules which made working conditions easier and fairer for peasants throughout her lands. She passed also brought about several religious reforms, though these were mixed in terms of their liberalism. Although she granted equal status to Greek Catholics and Jesuits - an unusual practice for most Roman Catholic rulers - she was radical in her persecution and suppression of Jews and Protestants, believing them to be enemies of the state.
As well as this, she secured the marriage of her daughter Marie Antoinette to the heir to the throne of France, as well as several less high profile diplomatic marriages for her other children. The rest of her reign passed peaceably, though she did engage in frequent arguments with her son and heir Joseph, as his plans for the empire were radically different from hers. For that reason, she decided not to abdicate, as many of the government officials thought she should, and Joseph had to wait until her death before assuming the throne.
Though Maria Theresa was not a feminist in the true sense of the word (passing a rule which prevented courtiers from coming to watch her give birth, which they had commonly been able to do - almost like a spectator sport - was more for her own benefit to save herself embarrassment and indignity, rather than it being part of her great feminist principles), she was interested in reform for her country and actively pursued reforms for the poorest people in the empire, which was very unusual for the time. Her religious persecution, though harsh and unfair, was extremely typical of other rulers at the time, and was mostly a result of her very Catholic upbringing. Though she was not perfect, it would be fair to say that, in general, her support for the poorest in the country was radical, and her economic and military reforms helped to save the empire which, when she ascended the throne, had been on the brink of disaster.
She also did all of this without any formal education in state affairs or how to most effectively rule an extremely large empire, which either goes to show that she was a very intelligent and shrewd woman, or that being Emperor (or Empress) was not nearly as hard as some historians would have you believe...
This came about because of a rule, known in Europe as the Salic Law, which prohibited a woman from inheriting her father's lands. When it became clear that Maria's father, Charles VI was not going to produce a son, leaving Maria as his sole heir, he had to pass a hurried law known as the Pragmatic Sanction which guaranteed her the right to the throne - but at a price, for both Maria and the Austrian Empire.
For Maria, the main problem was that, though he named her as his successor, Charles assumed that Maria's husband, Frances Stephen of Lorraine, would take control and therefore didn't bother to teach his daughter how government and state affairs worked. Maria was determined that this was not to be the case, and that she would rule her country herself. However, due to various ill-conceived wars, the Austrian army was weak, and very poor. When Fredrick II of Prussia invaded in 1740, just weeks after she had assumed the throne, he was very easily able to take Silesia (what was historically Poland) for Prussia, thus starting the (rather boringly named) War of Austrian Succession, which lasted until 1748.
Things were not looking good for Maria - she could not afford to take back the land she had lost, and to make matters worse, France and Bavaria had joined in with the conflict and invaded her country from the west. Determined not to lose any more land, she initiated various army reforms, such as doubling the number of troops and creating a centralized tax office which collected money to fund the army. Though she lost Silesia, when the war ended the rest of her empire was still in tact, and the leaders of the other European countries finally recognized her as queen in her own right.
There were a few years of peace, until Maria Theresa decided in 1756 that Austria was capable of taking Silesia back, if they formed an alliance with France and Russia. Fredrick however, decided that Prussia would not stand for this, formed an alliance with Great Britain and invaded Saxony, one of Austria's allies, starting the Seven Years' War, which ended bang on time in 1763. (So maybe I skipped over the events of this war, but again, it's something that's almost impossible to sum up in a few sentences. One of the first global wars, it involved the American colonies as well as most of Europe, and resulted in over 1 million deaths). The Austrian Empire survived the war mostly unscathed as a territory (though they lost many men in the bloodshed), although when she signed the treaty that ended that war, Maria signed away the rights to the area of Silesia, which now officially belonged to the Prussians (one wonders what the Silesians thought about all of this).
Two years after this, tragedy struck when Maria's husband, Frances, died unexpectedly. Unlike most diplomatic marriages of the eighteenth century and before, Maria and Frances had actually been very deeply in love (their sixteen children - a large number even by the standards of the day - could be seen as proof of this...) and therefore, from the day of his death until she herself died, on 29 November 1780, Maria Theresa chose to dress in the clothes of mourning, as well as becoming much more withdrawn.
She changed her foreign policy, so that it was much more focused on maintaining peace in her lands, rather than trying to win back Silesia and became very concerned with serf reform, passing rules which made working conditions easier and fairer for peasants throughout her lands. She passed also brought about several religious reforms, though these were mixed in terms of their liberalism. Although she granted equal status to Greek Catholics and Jesuits - an unusual practice for most Roman Catholic rulers - she was radical in her persecution and suppression of Jews and Protestants, believing them to be enemies of the state.
As well as this, she secured the marriage of her daughter Marie Antoinette to the heir to the throne of France, as well as several less high profile diplomatic marriages for her other children. The rest of her reign passed peaceably, though she did engage in frequent arguments with her son and heir Joseph, as his plans for the empire were radically different from hers. For that reason, she decided not to abdicate, as many of the government officials thought she should, and Joseph had to wait until her death before assuming the throne.
Though Maria Theresa was not a feminist in the true sense of the word (passing a rule which prevented courtiers from coming to watch her give birth, which they had commonly been able to do - almost like a spectator sport - was more for her own benefit to save herself embarrassment and indignity, rather than it being part of her great feminist principles), she was interested in reform for her country and actively pursued reforms for the poorest people in the empire, which was very unusual for the time. Her religious persecution, though harsh and unfair, was extremely typical of other rulers at the time, and was mostly a result of her very Catholic upbringing. Though she was not perfect, it would be fair to say that, in general, her support for the poorest in the country was radical, and her economic and military reforms helped to save the empire which, when she ascended the throne, had been on the brink of disaster.
She also did all of this without any formal education in state affairs or how to most effectively rule an extremely large empire, which either goes to show that she was a very intelligent and shrewd woman, or that being Emperor (or Empress) was not nearly as hard as some historians would have you believe...
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