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Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily

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Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (6 June 1772 – 13 April 1807) was the first Empress of Austria and last Holy Roman Empress as the spouse of Francis II. She was born a Princess of Naples as the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Queen Maria Carolina.

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
Portrait by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1790
Holy Roman Empress
Tenure5 July 1792 – 6 August 1806
Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia
Archduchess consort of Austria
Tenure1 March 1792 - 13 April 1807
Coronation11 August 1793, Prague
Empress consort of Austria
Tenure11 August 1804 – 13 April 1807
Born(1772-06-06)6 June 1772
Royal Palace, Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Died13 April 1807(1807-04-13) (aged 34)
Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austrian Empire
Burial
Imperial Crypt
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1790)​
Issue
Among others..
Names
Maria Teresa Carolina Giuseppina di Borbone
HouseBourbon-Two Sicilies
FatherFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies
MotherMaria Carolina of Austria

Biography

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Maria Theresa of Naples as a young child

Early life

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Born on 6 June 1772 at the Royal Palace of Naples, Maria Theresa Carolina Giuseppina was the eldest child of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Carolina. She was her mother’s favorite child from birth, and was henceforth named after her maternal grandmother Empress Maria Theresa.[citation needed] Princess Maria Theresa was taught French, mathematics, geography, theology, music, dancing, and drawing.[citation needed]

In the February of 1790, Archduke Francis’s wife, Archduchess Elisabeth, died in childbirth, and it was announced that he would marry one of the princesses of Naples. Maria Theresa and her sister Luisa were both considered for the match. In the end, though, Luisa was chosen to marry Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Maria Theresa was to marry Francis. The marriage was in accordance with the traditional House of Habsburg marriage policy.

Marriage

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On 15 September 1790, at the age of 18, Princess Maria Theresa married her double first cousin Archduke Francis.[citation needed] Francis would, in 1792, become Holy Roman Emperor. Eventually, in 1804, he would become the first Emperor of Austria.[1] The marriage was described as a happy one based on mutual understanding,[citation needed] despite differences in personality. Francis was described as a melancholic character. He was shy and reserved, and was serious with a preference for a spartan lifestyle and duty. Maria Theresa, on the other hand, was described as a gracious blue-eyed blonde with a vivacious personality, a hot temper and a sensual nature. Despite these differences in personality, they were reported to have a good understanding of each other and had a very good relationship.[citation needed]

Maria Theresa reportedly adapted well to her new home in Vienna and did not suffer from homesickness. She participated with enthusiasm in court life, and it was noted that she enjoyed dancing and partaking in carnival balls—even while pregnant.[citation needed] She particularly enjoyed the Waltz, which had been recently introduced as an innovation and became fashionable during her years in Vienna.

Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp described the view of Maria Theresa and the relationship between the couple in her famous diary during her visit to Vienna in 1798–99:

The Empress is reputed to be so jealous that she does not allow him to take part in social life or meet other women. Vicious tongues accuse her of being so passionate that she exhausts her consort and never leaves him alone even for a moment. Although the people of Vienna cannot deny that she is gifted, charitable and carries herself beautifully, she is disliked for her intolerance and for forcing the Emperor to live isolated from everyone. She is also accused of interesting herself in unimportant matters and socializing exclusively with her lady-companions. With them she spends her evenings singing, acting out comedies and being applauded.[2]

On 12 December 1791, the firstborn child of Princess Maria Theresa and Archduke Francis was born: Marie Louise.[3] She was educated specifically in French, English, Spanish, Italian and Latin, with the expectation of her native language German.[4] Marie Louise would soon marry Emperor Napoleon, due to the ongoing wars with France that were effecting her parents and grandparents.

Holy Roman Empress

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Portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder

In 1792, Maria Theresa’s husband Francis ascended the throne as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and she became queen consort. In the same year, she would become Holy Roman Empress.[citation needed] The-then Empress Maria Theresa was interested in politics and came to play a certain role in state affairs due to her influence over her spouse, to whom she acted as an adviser. She was a conservative force and belonged to the critics of Napoleon, and was reported to have encouraged Francis in an anti-French position during the Napoleonic Wars. She has also been pointed out for being partially responsible for the dismissal of Johann Baptist Freiherr von Schloissnigg and Graf Franz Colloredo.[citation needed]

In February of 1799, her seeming indifference to the flight of her parents from Naples attracted some disfavour in Vienna.[1] Although she was her mother’s favorite child, she was biased when it came to their exile during the war.

An important patron of Viennese music, she commissioned many compositions for official and private use. Joseph Haydn wrote his Te Deum for chorus and orchestra at her request. Her favourite composers included Paul Wranitzky and Joseph Leopold Eybler, a composer of sacred music.

Death

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Empress Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies lying in state.

In the winter of 1806, Empress Maria Theresa (pregnant with her 12th child) contracted tuberculous pleurisy, which the imperial physician, Andreas Joseph von Stifft, treated with bloodletting. However, it did not trigger an improvement in health. On 6 April 1807 Empress Maria Theresa gave birth prematurely to a daughter who lived only 3 days. One week later, on 13 April, the empress died as well. The emperor was inconsolable and had to be removed by force from the corpse of his wife. She was buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. The shattered emperor stayed away from the funeral, instead traveling to Buda with his two eldest children.[5] The urn containing her heart was placed in the Heart Crypt and the urn with her entrails in the Ducal Crypt. Empress Maria Theresa is one of the 41 people who received a "separate burial" with the body divided between all three traditional Viennese burial sites of the Habsburgs (Imperial Crypt, Heart Crypt, Duke Crypt).

Issue

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Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Maria Theresa - the last Holy Roman Empress". Italy On This Day. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  2. ^ Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1927) [1797-1799]. af Klercker, Cecilia (ed.). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). Vol. VI 1797-1799. Translated by Cecilia af Klercker. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. pp. 160–61. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)
  3. ^ de Saint-Amand, p. 1
  4. ^ Schom, Alan, p. 548
  5. ^ Friedrich Weissensteiner: Frauen auf Habsburgs Thron – die österreichischen Kaiserinnen (in German), Ueberreuter Wien, 1998, ISBN 3-8000-3709-2.
  6. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. pp. 1, 9.

Literature

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  • Richard Reifenscheid, Die Habsburger in Lebensbildern, Piper 2006
  • John A. Rice, Empress Marie Therese and Music at the Viennese Court, 1792–1807, Cambridge 2003
  • Friedrich Weissensteiner: Frauen auf Habsburgs Thron – die österreichischen Kaiserinnen, Ueberreuter Wien, 1998, ISBN 3-8000-3709-2
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  Media related to Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies at Wikimedia Commons

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 6 June 1772 Died: 13 April 1807
German royalty
Preceded by Holy Roman Empress
1792–1806 		Holy Roman Empire
dissolved
Queen of the Romans
1792–1806 		Vacant
Title next held by
Augusta of Saxe-Weimar
as German Empress
Archduchess consort of Austria
1792–1807 		Succeeded by
Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia
1792–1807
New title
Creation of Austrian Empire
 Empress consort of Austria
1804–1807
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