Maria Theresa

**Maria Theresa** (13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the only female ruler of the Habsburg Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire.

## Overview

Maria Theresa was queen of Hungary and Bohemia, archduchess of Austria, and held many other titles. She changed the royal palace outside Vienna (Austria's capital) to look much like Versailles. Vienna itself became an important center for the arts, especially classical music. Maria Theresa added support to her absolute power by tightening her hold on the government. She also improved conditions for the peasants. She is generally known to history as the **Empress Maria Theresa**.

## Biography

Maria Theresa was born in Vienna, Austria, on 13 May 1717. Her parents were Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her father had made the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, a decree which allowed a female ruler despite the Salic law's prohibition. Maria Theresa married Duke Francis Stephan I of Lorraine. They had sixteen children:
1. Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1737 – 1740)
1. Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1738 – 1789)
1. Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1740 – 1741)
1. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (1741 – 1790)
1. Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Duchess of Teschen (1742 – 1798)
1. Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743 – 1808)
1. Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria (1745 – 1761)
1. Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (1746 – 1804)
1. Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II (1747 – 1792)
1. Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (stillborn 1748)
1. Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria (1750 – 1762)
1. Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (1751 – 1767)
1. Queen Maria Carolina of Austria of Naples and Sicily (1752 – 1814)
1. Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Navarre, born Maria Antonia (1755 – 1793)
1. Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (1756 – 1801)
Maria Theresa died in Vienna, Austria, on 29 November 1780.

## Infobox (royalty)

- **image**: Kaiserin Maria Theresia (HRR).jpg
- **caption**: Portrait by Martin van Meytens, 1759
- **succession**: Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empress
Queen, Queen of Germany
- **reign**: 13 September 1745 –
- **reign-type**: Tenure
- **succession1**: Archduchess of Austria
Queen of Hungary and Croatia
- **reign1**: 20 October 1740 –
- **coronation1**: 25 June 1741
- **predecessor1**: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles III
- **successor1**: Joseph II
- **succession2**: Queen of Bohemia
- **reign2**: 20 October 1740 –
- **predecessor2**: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles II
- **successor2**: Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles Albert
- **reign3**: 12 May 1743 –
- **coronation3**: 12 May 1743
- **predecessor3**: Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles Albert
- **successor3**: Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II
- **birth place**: Hofburg Imperial Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Austria
- **death place**: Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria
- **burial place**: Imperial Crypt, Vienna
- **full name**: Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina
- **house**: House of Habsburg, Habsburg
- **father**: Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
- **mother**: Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- **religion**: Roman Catholicism
- **signature**: Signature Maria Theresa.svg