Maria Theresa of Austria

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780) was a powerful female ruler. She reigned over Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia for decades.

Appearance
Maria Theresa was a beautiful woman in her youth with piercing blue eyes, ash blonde hair and pinkish skin. She also had a big forehead and lush lips, like all Habsburg women.

Personality
Empress Maria Theresa was strict, but fair. She was very pious and doubled the size of the army, reformed the military and the judiciary, and established a high court. She also set up new structures in the educational system with the objective of introducing compulsory schooling, and standardized measurements and weights.

The capital city Vienna got a facelift and the stock exchange (Boerse) and Burgtheater were built. Streets in the city were paved, and the Schönbrunn Palace, originally a hunting lodge, was enlarged and transformed into a prestigious landmark

Private life
Empress Maria Theresa married Francis of Lorraine, whom she had known since childhood and with him she had many children. Their marriage was one of pure love and she made it fashionable for couples to share a bedroom.

She had six daughters and four sons that reached adulthood. She wanted the very best for her children but was guilty of having a favorite: her third child Christina. She was proud of her children when they had a strong personality and regularly inspected them. She also wanted them to have a good education, unlike herself. She married some of her children off for political gain (Joseph, Amalia, Leopold, Charlotte, Ferdinand and Antoine) but always cared about their well-being.

Death
Maria Theresa fell in in 1780, and felt the end was near though her son Joseph felt she would be alright.

She died at age 63 after being nursed by her daughters Marianne (42), Christina (38) and Elisabeth (37). Her youngest son Maximilian (24) heard the news first, Maria Antoinette lastly.

Maria Theresa