biography
- BORN: May 13, 1717
- Death: November 29, 1788 at 63 years old.
- She was the archduchess and Holy Roman Emperor of the Habsburg Dynasty 1740 to 1780.
- She was the first daughter to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elizabeth Christine of Brunwick- Wolfenbüttel
- Charles reformed the Salic law which did not allow females to rule.
- Charles issued the 1713 Pragmatic Sanction to make sure Maria inherited the throne.
- Charles VI allowed his daughter to marry for love.
- In 1736, Maria married Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, France.
- In October of 1740, Charles Vl died and Maria Theresa took the throne at 23.
- She ruled Austria, Netherlands, Bohemia and Hungary.
- Frederick ll, King of Prussia lead an army that claimed Silesia, an Austrian providence.
- Bavaria and France invaded their own Habsburg territories, which became an eight year war called the War of Austrian Succession.
- The war ended in 1748 when Austria gave Prussia Silesia, and let France have three Italian territories.
- She approved Frederick William Haugwitz's reform, which gave Austrian more military power and money.
- She formed an alliance with France to prepare for a war with Frederick ll.
- In 1776, the war began becoming the Seven Years War. Austria's allies withdrew, and in 1763 Maria Theresa and Frederick ll signed a peace treaty, that Prussia would keep Silesia.
- In 1765, Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen, died.
- Maria Theresa appointed Joseph ll, her eldest son as emperor and co-regent. She allowed Joseph ll to take control of the military.
- The War of the Bavarian Succession broke out, lasting from 1778 to 1779.
- At Hofburg Palace, Maria Theresa died on November 29, 1780.
- Joseph ll became the Holy Roman Emperor.