Maria Theresa
by Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
Category: Biography & Autobiography

"In her time, Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was the most powerful woman in the world. She ruled the Habsburg Empire from 1740-1780, an era when empires dominated Europe. She was the sovereign of a vast empire, ruling Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Flanders, and other Habsburg territories, and by marriage she was, among other titles, the Holy Roman Empress. Maria Theresa began her reign at the age of 23 after her father, Emperor Charles VI, died. Immediately after his death, her right to inherit the throne was challenged by most of the sovereign rulers of Europe. Despite setbacks such as the loss of Silesia, her richest province, to her life-long enemy Frederick II of Prussia, Maria Theresa proved to be a highly effective ruler. She initiated financial and educational reforms, promoted commerce, and reorganized the army, all of which strengthened Austria's resources. She was a key figure in the power politics of eighteenth-century Europe and she brought unity to the Habsburg Monarchy and was considered one of its most capable leaders. Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I also had sixteen children, most famously Marie Antoinette. Stollberg-Rilinger's biography challenges many of the myths that surround Maria Theresa's reign, such as that she came to the throne completely naïve and unprepared. Stollberg-Rilinger shows that from early childhood on, Maria Theresa carefully observed what went on in court and how her father acted as a monarch dealing with sovereigns across Europe. She clears away the gendered misconceptions surrounding Maria Theresa's life and, through fresh, critical readings of the source material, reveals the historical reality. She also refutes anachronistic narratives that assume a false continuity between Maria Theresa's time and later periods. Unlike previous biographers, Stollberg-Rilinger is able to paint a detailed portrait of Maria Theresa as Empress, "king," and reformer, and as a mother and master manipulator, by reconstructing the world in which the Austrian Empress lived and reigned"--