#theresa christina of the two sicilies

[royalty-nobility]

Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

Artist: Francesco Torr

Date: 1837

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Palace of Caserta, Caserta, Southern Italy

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure (in her own right). She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Galicia and Lodomeria, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress.

[widvile-blog]

Theresa Christina of the Two Sicilies, Empress of Brazil (14 March 1822 - 28 December 1889)

[athousandtales]

“Teresa Cristina was not beautiful, but she was sweet, intelligent, sensitive and patient with her husband. Over time, they 46-year marriage would remain on the basis of friendship, companionship and complicity. ” - REZZUTTI, Paulo. Pedro II: O último imperador do Novo Mundo revelado por cartas e documentos inéditos.

[edwardslovelyelizabeth]

historicwomendaily celebration week: Favourite Matriarch

Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (German: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress.

Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, had sixteen children, including the Queen of France (Maria Antonia/Marie Antoinette), the Queen of Naples and Sicily (Maria Carolina), the Duchess of Parma (Maria Amalia) and two Holy Roman Emperors, Joseph II and Leopold II. Out of the sixteen, nine of them did not make it to adulthood. She had eleven daughters and five sons. Though she was expected to cede power to Francis and Joseph, both of whom were officially her co-rulers in Austria and Bohemia, Maria Theresa was the absolute sovereign who ruled by the counsel of her advisers. Maria Theresa promulgated financial and educational reforms, with the assistance of Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz and Gerard van Swieten, promoted commerce and the development of agriculture, and reorganised Austria’s ramshackle military, all of which strengthened Austria’s international standing.

Pictured: Maria Theresia (Ausschnitt), Werkstatt des Martin van Meytens (1745)

[galleryofunknowns]

Unknown, ‘Queen Maria Theresia of Austria as the Goddess Minerva’, n.d., unsold for est. 60,000 - 70,000 SEK in Bukowski’s Classic Sale, December 2015

Maria Theresa (b.1717 - d. 1780) was the heir - and the last ruler of - the domains of the Hapsburg family, who ruled a significant portion of Europe in the 1500s to the 1700s. As the eldest surviving child of her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, and with her only brother dead after seven months of life, she was the inheritor of his realms; this was not uncontested however, and was the catalyst for the War of the Austrian Succession.

Her marriage to Francis, Duke of Lorraine (b.1708 - d.1765) was successful, in both love - the two holding a genuine love for one another and her reaction to his death similar to Queen Victoria’s reaction to Prince Albert’s death over a hundred years later - and in progeny, resulting in 16 births. Of the surviving children, two would become Holy Roman Emperors (Joseph II & Leopold II), as well as Duchess of Teschen (Maria Christina), Duchess of Parma (Maria Amalia), Queen of Naples and Sicily (Maria Carolina), Duke of Briesgau & Massa (Ferdinand), Queen of France (Marie Antoinette), and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (Maximillian Franz).

[tiny-librarian]

An engraving depicting Maria Theresa, her husband Francis I, and their children (including the daughters who died in infancy). As well is shows two of their grandchildren, Joseph’s daughter Maria Theresa and Maria Christina’s daughter, Maria Christina Theresa, who only lived a day.

There does not appear to be three Maria Carolina’s present, as the couple named two daughters who died in infancy that before the birth of the future Queen of Naples and Sicily, so it’s likely the one infant labeled Maria Carolina represents both of those girls.

(click on the cropped images for the names, it can be difficult to read the tiny print)

[widvile-blog]

Blessed Maria Christina of Savoy (Maria Cristina Carlotta Giuseppa Gaeta Efisia), Queen of the Two Sicilies (14 November 1812 - 21 January 1836)

born in Cagliari, Sardinia, to Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (1759-1824) and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1773-1832)

married Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (1810-1859) on 21 November 1832

had one child: Francis II of the Two Sicilies (1836-1894)

died at the age of 23 in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

[tiny-librarian]

The Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies was founded by Maria Theresa in 1755, as a religious order for impoverished noblewomen. It was run by a Princess-Abbess, who was selected by the Emperor, and had been born an Archduchess of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The ten women who held the position before the institution’s closure in 1919, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire are:

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria - Daughter of Maria Theresa and Francis I.

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria - Daughter of Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain

Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Charles and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg

Archduchess Hermine of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Joseph and  Hermine of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Charles and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg

Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria - Daughter of Arckduke Karl Ferdinand and  Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

Archduchess Maria Antonietta of Austria - Daughter of  Ferdinand IV and Anna of Saxony

Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Karl Ludwig and Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Archduchess Karoline Marie of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Karl Salvator and Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Archduchess Maria Annunciata of Austria - Daughter of Archduke Karl Ludwig and Maria Theresa of Portugal