A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Theresa, (Maria)
THERESA (MARIA), Queen of Hungary, &c.
On the death of Charles VI. Maria-Theresa, his eldest daughter, married to Francis of Lorrain, Grand duke of Tuscany, claimed, by right of blood, and in virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction, guaranteed by all the powers of Europe, the whole of the Austrian succession: this comprized the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, the provinces of Silesia, Suabia, Upper and Lower Austria, Stiria, Carinthia, Carniola, the forest towns, Burgaw, Brisgaw, the Low Countries, Friuli, Tirol, the duchy of Milan, and the duchies of Parma and Placentia. The wishes of the people immediately declared themselves, in the most unequivocal manner, in favour of their new sovereign, who from this unanimity derived her chief support. She received, at Vienna, the homage of the Austrian states; the Italian provinces, and kingdom of Bohemia, sent deputies to tender their oaths of allegiance; and she ingratiated herself with the Hungarians, by voluntarily taking the ancient oath of their sovereign, by which their subjects are allowed, if their privileges are invaded, to take up arms in their own defence, without being treated as rebels. Her first act of administration was to associate her husband in the government of her dominions, under the denomination of co-regent, in virtue of a diploma, first registered in all the Austrian tribunals, and afterwards in those of her other territories. But, resolved to fulfil the intentions of her father, she gave up no part of her sovereignty, nor violated, in the smallest degree, the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction. Her object, in investing her husband with fresh dignities, was not to derive any assistance from him in the management of her affairs, but to render him, in the eyes of the electors, more worthy of the imperial crown. But though this princess was permitted peaceably to take possession of her vast inheritance, it was not long before various competitors appeared. Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, asserted his right to Bohemia, the King of Sardinia resumed his claim to Milan, the kings of Spain and Poland urged their pretensions to the whole succession, and Lewis the XVth, that he might not awaken the jealousy of Europe, sought to aggrandize himself by gaining, in conjunction with the king of Prussia, the votes of the principal electors for placing the Imperial crown on the head of the elector of Bavaria. The king of Prussia had demanded a part of Silesia, in virtue of some obsolete and annulled treaties, and on those terms had proffered his friendship. These having been rejected with disdain by the queen, he entered Silesia with a powerful army, and pursued his conquests with great rapidity. A treaty was formed between Prussia, France, the elector of Bavaria, and Poland, to place the crown on the head of the elector, and strip the queen of the greater part of her dominions; and after a few months he made his public entry into the capital, and was inaugurated with the usual solemnities. At this period the Queen of Hungary found herself abandoned by all her allies, and apparently resigned as a prey to the ambition and rapacity of the neighbouring powers. Her courage, however, never forsook her, and she was fortunately provided with good officers and an able ministry. She retired to Presburg; having assembled the states, addressed them in a pathetic Latin speech, and holding in her arms her infant son, "I place in your hands," said she, "the daughter and son of your king, who expect to be indebted to you for their preservation." All the Hungarian Palatines, moved by her distress, drew their sabres, and unanimously exclaimed, "Moriamur pro rege nostro, Maria Theresa!" The scene was rendered more affecting by the condition of the queen, who was then pregnant, and who, in a letter to the Duchess of Lorrain, had expressed her doubts whether she should have a town left in which she could be delivered. The ban being raised, the brave Hungarians crowded to her standard, and the diet expressed their resentment against her enemy, excluding for ever the electoral house of Bavaria from the succession to the crown of Hungary. By a pecuniary supply from England, she was enabled to erect magazines, pay her army, complete her warlike preparations, and put her places of strength in a posture of defence. Her generals opening their way into Bavaria, laid the whole country under contribution, while Count Khevenhuller compelled the French troops to retreat before him, and reduced them to the greatest distress. Many battles were fought; the Austrians and Hungarians were generally victorious, until a desperate one, when, after each had been alternately victorious, the preference remained with Prussia. The Queen of Hungary perceived the necessity of getting rid of an enemy so formidable, from his vigilance, youth, activity, prudence, and valour, in short from an union of all the qualities that constitute the great general, politician, and statesman. She therefore resigned to him all he had conquered, from a conviction that by making this sacrifice she should be enabled to preserve the rest of her dominions, and perhaps to exact from the other competitors a reparation for her losses; and the king deemed himself fortunate, in securely obtaining by treaty the fruits of two campaigns. He therefore concluded a peace separate from his allies. The French were obliged to retreat, and reduced to such distress in Bohemia, by means of the Austrian army, that horseflesh, which was served up at the best tables, cost more than 2 s. 6 d. a pound. Cardinal Fleury, who had been drawn into the war against his wishes, wrote a cowardly apology to the Austrian general; at once expressive of his regret and imbecility. The consequence was such as might have been foreseen: his letter was treated with contempt, and the queen, instead of answering it, ordered it to be printed. The cardinal in a second letter, complained of this, declaring that in future he would never write what he thought. The French were blockaded in Prague, 1742, from July, till December; when at length the army effected a dangerous escape; and the garrison marched out with the honours of war. In Italy the affairs of Maria Theresa were equally prosperous, and the designs of her enemies frustrated. The king of Sardinia, who had placed himself on the list of competitors, by forming pretensions to the Milanese, had acceded to the treaty between France and the elector of Bavaria, thinking to profit by the spoils of the persecuted queen; but when he found that the Spaniards, professing the same designs as himself, had sent troops into the disputed territory, he acknowledged his mistaken policy, and perceived that by persevering in the system he had adopted, his labour would only tend to the aggrandizement of another power, and he considered that it was better the duchy of Milan should remain in the hands of the house of Austria, than be transferred to the house of Bourbon, whom he considered as a more formidable and dangerous neighbour. Impelled therefore by these motives, he renounced his alliance with France, and concluded a treaty with the queen of Hungary, joined the Austrian troops, and in conjunction with them, defeated the duke of Modena, the ally of Spain.
At this period, 1743, the Queen of Hungary seemed to triumph over all her enemies; his Imperial majesty, thinking himself unsafe even in the capital of his electorate, retired to Augsburg, and Munich fell a third time into her hands; while the Emperor, abandoned by his allies, repaired to Frankfort, where he lived in indigence and obscurity; and even his private treasures, plate, and cabinets, fell into the hands of his enemy. Various battles were fought, England now became a principal against France, by a treaty concluded at Worms, between his Britannic Majesty, the King of Sardinia, and Queen of Hungary, 1743.
The Queen refused to assent to an accommodation, hoping to obtain still more favourable terms; but her inflexibility proved favourable to the Emperor. The forlorn situation of this prince, excited the compassion, and roused the resentment of various potentates. The treaty of Frankfort was concluded, May 1744, between the Kings of Prussia and Sweden, as a German power in the empire, and the Elector Palatine; they engaged to preserve the constitutions of the Empire, and to support the Emperor in his rank and dignity; and agreed to interpose their good offices with the Queen of Hungary, that she might acknowledge the Emperor, restore his hereditary dominions, and give up the archives of the Empire that were in her possession. This confederacy broke all the measures of the King of England and Queen of Hungary. Various was the fate of the different battles fought, when, in 1745, Charles VIIth sunk beneath the united pressure of disease and calamity. The Grand-Duke of Tuscany, consort to Maria-Theresa, was immediately declared a candidate for the Imperial throne, while his pretensions were warmly opposed by Lewis and his allies.
The court of Vienna, taking advantage of the late Emperor's death, sent an army into Bavaria, and expelled the forces of the electorate. The young elector was obliged to abandon his capital, where he found himself in danger of losing all his dominions. In this emergency, he suffered the dictates of reason to prevail over the suggestions of ambition, and acceded to a negociation with the court of Vienna. A negociation was opened, and the treaty concluded. The queen consented to recognize the Imperial dignity as having been vested in the person of his father; to acknowledge his mother, as empress dowager; to restore his dominions, fortresses, artillery, stores and ammunition, which she had taken. While, on his part, he renounced all claim to the succession of his father; became guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction, and also engaged his vote for the grand-duke at the ensuing election, and acknowledged the validity of that of Bohemia in the person of the queen.
A war, the avowed object of which was to place and preserve Charles VIIth on the throne, ought to have terminated with his death, particularly after his son had formally renounced the dignity enjoyed by his father. But the French ministry, intent on having an Emperor of their own choice, had cast their eyes on the King of Poland, a monarch whom they had long considered as an usurper; but the minister of Augustus prevented his falling into the snare. The other efforts of Lewis were fruitless; the Grand-duke repaired to Frankfort, where, by a majority of votes, he was declared King of the Romans and Emperor of Germany, 1745, by the title of Francis I.
The French sought to deprive Theresa of some of her Italian territories; but having placed her consort on the Imperial throne, and concluded a treaty with her most formidable opponent, she would not quietly submit to their dismemberment. Marshal Saxe, and Prince Charles of Lorrain, brother to the Emperor, headed the different armies, which were alternately successful. Germany, England, Sardinia, Holland, and part of Italy, against France, Spain, and Genoa; until at length the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle restored peace to the distracted continent.
But the empress queen, mortified at her inability to make peace with the King of Prussia, without sacrificing Silesia, harbouring the liveliest resentment against that monarch, determined, whenever a favourable opportunity should occur, to have recourse to arms, for the recovery of the territory she had been obliged to cede. Influenced by these motives, she ceased to consider France as her rival; and a flexible policy even induced her to court the alliance. At first the Queen made some vague remarks, in a conversation with the French chargé d'affaires, on the difference between the present situation of the houses of Bourbon and Austria, and that which two centuries before had armed them against each other; and added, that the equilibrium was now so perfectly established, that it was the interest of neither to overturn it, and that their union would ensure the tranquillity of Europe, or that, if any inferior powers should attempt to overturn it, the two courts would have both right and ability to reduce them to submission. But finding the court of France at first averse to her design, she supended her projects, but did not abandon it. In 1756, she explained herself more fully; and, independent of the political reasons which might equally affect both powers, she added her resentment against the King of Prussia. "I have sacrificed," said she, "my dearest interests to the tranquillity of Europe, by ceding Silesia; but if ever a war should break out between him and me, I will either recover all my rights, or perish with my family in the attempt."
The Imperial ambassador at the court of Versailles attempted to convince the ministers of the wisdom of his plan, and particularly Madame de Pompadour, whose support, from the credit she enjoyed, he deemed it most essential to secure. Nor was this lady insensible to the idea of playing a nobler part than any she had hitherto performed in politics. She adopted the project of the ambassador; but found the ministry so hostile to it, that she durst not venture to present it to the king. Affairs were in this situation, when war broke out again between France and England: Prussia offered himself as the confederate of France; but, aware she could not accept it without a rupture with the empress queen, she took so long to determine, that he concluded an amicable one with England, in the interim of their deliberations. The Imperial ambassador still had recourse to Madame de Pompadour, who broke the matter to the king. Lewis was impressed with sentiments of esteem for a princess against whom he had waged a war unfounded injustice, while he entertained an unfavourable opinion of Frederick, whom he considered as a self-sufficient heretic, and a free-thinker. A conference accordingly took place between the Imperial and French ministers and Madame de Pompadour. The former displayed the utmost candour and frankness, and declared the empress justly conceived it would be inconsistent with the dignity of the two greatest potentates in Europe, to have recourse to those pitiful arts and subterfuges, which, by diplomatic corps, are too frequently considered as marks of political wisdom. All the views and pretensions of the court of Vienna were explained; and after much discussion, and many objections in the French council, a treaty of alliance was agreed on, and war again ravaged the nations. At first Prussia was rapidly victorious; and shortly after, such are the vicissitudes of war, every thing seemed to announce his ruin, and the successes of the Austrians. The empress had entirely engaged the influence of Madame de Pompadour, to whom she occasionally wrote, flattering her vanity in the highest degree; and though France was extremely injured by the war, and the defeat of Rosbach, yet Madame, regarding the treaty as her work, and the empress as her friend, would not suffer the encouragement of the idea of an accommodation with the enemy.
England and Prussia exerted their utmost endeavours to attack France and the Empress at the same time; and after much bloodshed, and various success, necessity obliged them to negociate for peace; although she was extremely mortified at the being obliged to suspend her resentment against Prussia: but from a change in the French ministry, effected by Madame de Pompadour, war was still continued, until 1762, when, after the peace between Spain, France, and England, a treaty was concluded between Prussia and the empress-queen, by which all conquests were mutually restored.
Maria Theresa was the patroness of Metastasio, the Italian poet, whose beautiful dramas were frequently acted at court by the archduchesses, her daughters, amongst whom was the late queen of France. She was much beloved in the neighbourhood of the court, and certainly possessed courage, address, and magnanimity in misfortune.