page_title: Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1737)
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1737) / Life
caption_attribution_description: English: From left to right: Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1740–1741), Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (1748) and Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1737–1740)
context_page_description: Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria, was the eldest child and daughter of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, later Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Duke Francis of Lorraine, later Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.
context_section_description: Maria Elisabeth was born on 5 February 1737 at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. There was, however, no great jubilation at the birth of the child, since her parents had wanted a son and heir.
  A lively and lovely child, she soon became the favorite of both her parents. Her grandfather, Emperor Charles VI, spoke with pleasure of his eldest granddaughter, whom he nicknamed Liesl, and often played with her.
  During a visit to Laxenburg castle on 7 June 1740, Maria Elisabeth became suddenly ill with stomach cramps and vomiting. Throughout the day, the stomach cramps alternated with ever-renewed vomiting until the little Archduchess died that night at 9 p.m. aged 3. Her father Francis reported the death of his firstborn child:
  At eight o'clock I was summoned and handed over to me a letter of the doctor, from which I deduced that it is time to take my wife away, for the child will not live longer. I walked away a little confused, and found my wife completely burst in tears when I arrived. I took them by the hand and took them to her apartments. Then I went back with the sick child. I had only been for a while when she sat up, looked at me, and said with a clear voice, "I commend myself, O my God!". Then she fell back and died in my arms.
  Maria Elisabeth was the first member of the Habsburg-Lorraine family to be buried in the Maria Theresa Vault at the Imperial Crypt, Vienna. One of her younger sisters was also given her name.
caption: Three floating children of Martin van Meytens: The young deceased daughters of Maria Theresia (Maria Elisabeth right).
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