Biography
Maria Theresa, sometimes referred to as “The Iron Fist”, was the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. She was born in Vienna on May 13, 1717. She was the daughter of the Emperor Charles VI and Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. Before she was born her father was worried he would not have an heir to the throne so he created the Pragmatic Sanction in 1713. This allowed Maria to inherit the throne if no sons were born. Her father was still hoping for a son to reign so he had her learn all the normal things a queen should know like painting and playing music. On February 14, 1736 she married her cousin Francis of Lorraine. The couple had five sons and eleven daughters. One well known daughter was Marie Antoinette. Theresa’s family was a priority just as much as her nation. When her father died in 1740 she found that she didn’t know what to do with the country. She turned to her husband for help. Soon after Maria began her reign in 1740 the War of Austria Succession began. In this war Frederick II of Prussia fought for and won Silesia from Austria. Later Maria, with the help of Spain, France, and Russia, tried to take back Silesia during the Seven Years’ War but was unsuccessful. During the wars Maria would marry off her children. In I765 Francis (Maria’s husband) died. From then on Maria mourned and secluded herself from the public. In 1767, as she continued to mourn, she became ill with small-pox from her daughter-in-law. Later the daughter-in-law and one of Maria’s daughters died of the illness but Maria survived. This affected her health and in 1780 she died.