The Habsburg Monarchy and Dynasty

[Julia]

= post moved =

[Fiona]

A good Link: http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/habsfamily.htm

[Asma2]

She is my role model because of her courage, devotion to her husband and for being mother to 16 kids. Here is her brief biography.

Maria Theresa of Austria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Maria Theresa (May 13, 1717 - November 29, 1780) was a Habsburg by birth and a Holy Roman Empress by marriage, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780. She was the eldest daughter of Charles VI whose sole male heir - his son Leopold - died in 1711. In 1713 Charles issued the Pragmatic Sanction which guaranteed his daughter the right to succeed to the Austrian throne and inherit his lands on his death. While many European monarchs agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction when it was issued, on Charles' death (1740) the War of Austrian Succession began. Maria was one of the so-called "enlightened monarchs".
At the time, Maria Theresa was married to Francis Stephen of Lorraine with whom she had sixteen children, the youngest daughter of the sixteen was Marie Antoinette who would be promised in marriage to Louis, the Dauphin of France who would become King Louis XVI.

Maria Theresa's father had assumed that she would yield the true power to her husband. Because of this, her father had not given Maria Theresa any information on the workings of the government, leaving her to learn the job on her own. Additionally, the army was weak and the treasury depleted due to two wars near the end of her father's reign.

The War of Austrian Succession began with Frederick II of Prussia invading and occupying Silesia. While Bavaria and France also invaded Austrian western territories, it was Frederick (later known as Frederick the Great) who became Maria Theresa's main foe during her reign. Therefore she focused her internal and external policies on defeating Prussia and regaining the lands that had been taken from Austria.

She doubled the number of troops in the army, changed taxes to guarantee a steady annual income to support the government and military. She centralized the government by combining the Austrian and Bohemian chancelleries, formerly separate, into one administrative office. Before this, justice and administration were overseen by the same officials, but she created a supreme court with the sole responsibility for upholding justice in her lands. These reforms strengthened the economy. She dropped Great Britain as an ally on the advice of her state chancellor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, and allied with Russia and France. In 1752 she established a military academy, and in 1754 she established an academy of engineering science. She also demanded that the University of Vienna be given the resources to make the medical faculty more efficient. When she felt her army was strong enough, she prepared to attack Prussia in 1756. Frederick II attacked first however, invading Saxony, another ally of Austria, beginning the Seven Years' War. The war ended in 1763 with Maria Theresa signing the Treaty of Hubertusberg which recognized Prussian ownership of Silesia.

Her husband died two years later. Her devotion to him was so great that she dressed in mourning clothes until her own death 15 years later and became more closeted from her people. Her focus changed from attempting to regain Silesia, to maintaining the peace. She also recognized Joseph II, her eldest son, as coregent and emperor. She only allowed him limited powers because she felt he was too rash and arrogant.

In the later years of her reign, she focused on reforming the laws regarding serfs. In 1771, she issued the Robot Patent, a reform that regulated the serf's labor payments in her lands, providing them some relief.

She died in 1780, the only female to rule during the 650-year-long Habsburg dynasty that ended with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria in 1914 led to the outbreak of World War I .

Names in other languages: German: Maria Theresia, Czech: Marie Terezie, Hungarian/Slovak: Mária Terézia, Slovenian: Marija Terezija.

[Fireweaver]

16 children? wow

[Asma2]

Maria Theresia

[ally_cooper]

She had 16 children but only 9 arrived at the 20 years, the others didn't survive.
She was the mother of Emperors Joseph II and Leopold II. Also of Marie Caroline, wife of the King of Parma, and Marie Antoinette, wife of the King of France and Navarra.

[Layla]

Maria Theresa was also called "The Mother of Europe" as most of her children married different sovereigns in Europe. Ironically, she was both Marie Antoinette's mother (wife of Louis XVI) and a great-grandmother to Marie-Louise who married Napoleon ca 1810.

Marie-Louise

[Charles]

Originally posted by rollin_keef@Apr 19th, 2004 - 9:11 pm
i thought the hapsburg line finished with the abdication of Emperor Karl in 1918?

The Habsburg family died out with Maria-Theresa. Her agnatic descendants are Habsburg-Lothringens. They are Lothringen because they are agnatic descendants of Franz Stefan von Lothringen (Francis Stephan of Lorraine).

It's the same situation as the Romanovs. They are really Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp-Romanovs.

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by ally_cooper@Apr 20th, 2004 - 1:07 am
Marie Antoinette, wife of the King of France.

Maria Theresa fretted and worried constantly about Marie Antoinette. She was too frivolous, was not producing heirs (not all her fault because Louis XVI needed an operation to permit him to have intercourse), and did not listen to any sense or reason in her mother's opinion. Maria Theresa wrote Marie Antoinette constantly and her advice was ignored. Perhaps if Marie Antoinette had listened to her mother, she might not have ended up as she did.

It has been said one of the greatest regrets Maria Theresa had was not seeing a French grandson and heir for France. She died 1 year before he was born.

[Jil]

What happened to the children of Archduke Franz Ferdinand after he and his wife were killed? Who raised them? Did they remain in Austria? I hope they were able to grow up and have happy lives later on.

[Lady Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Jil

What happened to the children of Archduke Franz Ferdinand after he and his wife were killed? Who raised them? Did they remain in Austria? I hope they were able to grow up and have happy lives later on.

Got info from here- this is where you can find out what happened to them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria
Sophie von Hohenberg- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_von_Hohenberg
Maximilian von Hohenberg- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_von_Hohenberg
Ernst von Hohenberg- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_von_Hohenberg

[Jil]

Thanks Lady jennifer for the info! It is sad that all of the children of Franz Ferdinand ended up in a concertraction camp!

[Danielane]

Originally Posted by Jil

Thanks Lady jennifer for the info! It is sad that all of the children of Franz Ferdinand ended up in a concertraction camp!

They didn't die in the concentration camp, actually.

[karolinabraganza]

2001: otto, his wife and eldest son carl with wive francesca
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050577.jpg

http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050274.jpg

http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050272.jpg

http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050572.jpg

[karolinabraganza]

more family celebration in 2001
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050266.jpg

beautiful francesca, born thyssen
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050265.jpg

http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050221.jpg

fürst und fürstin zu windisch-graetz (in vintage valentino)
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050215.jpg

francesca with two of her children
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050214.jpg

with cute little gloria
http://www.seegerpress-online.de/topixx/da...GER00050211.jpg

[Dennism]

Francesca is the daughter of the former model Fiona Campbell, right?

Originally posted by Dennism@May 10th, 2004 - 9:21 am
Francesca is the daughter of the former model Fiona Campbell, right?

Yes ...but Fiona also is a member of the Campbell family - ancient Scots feudal family.

[Duke]

Hi, what the occasion? what are they celebrating? And being an non-ruling house, are they still connected to the other ruling royal house? Example are they going to the danish and spainish wedding? Thanks!!!

[grecka]

In 1918, following the First World War, the Hapsburgs of Austria (and Hungary), along with half a dozen or so other European monarchical dynasties were overthrown, primarily for their part in opposing the British, French, and Americans in World War I. Most of their worldly possessions, reliquaries, homes, and titles were taken from them and they were disgraced. Do you think the Hapsburgs deserved this, and do you think they deserved to remain rulers of Austria following the aggression they unleashed against the Western Allies in WWI?

[kcc]

being a monarchist, i would have prefered a constitutionl(modern european style) monarchy,but they were quite despotic though.