coolchicksfromhistory: Maria Theresa (1717-1780)Art by Snowwhitekt (tumblr, instagram)Maria Theresa
coolchicksfromhistory: Maria Theresa (1717-1780)Art by Snowwhitekt (tumblr, instagram)Maria Theresa was the eldest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and his wife, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Fearing that he would not produce a surviving son, Charles reformed Salic Law to allow a female ruler with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Thus, Maria Theresa was born as the heir to the Hapsburg throne.At the age of 18, Maria Theresa married Francis Stephen of Lorraine. The couple eventually had 16 children, 10 of whom survived into adulthood. Maria Antonia, better known as Marie Antoinette, was the couple’s youngest daughter.In October of 1740, Charles VI died and Maria Theresa ascended to the throne. Maria Theresa had little education and inherited a financially strained country. She faced resistance from European leaders who had previously agreed to her father’s Pragmatic Sanction. The King of Prussia soon invaded Austria starting the War of the Austrian Succession. The war ended in 1748 with the Austrian loss of Silesia and some Italian territories.Despite this rocky start, the hallmark of Maria Therea’s rule is her domestic reform. She doubled the state revenue, created a council of advisers, promoted vaccination, and instituted a form of universal primary education. A devout Catholic, Maria Theresa was tolerant of Orthodox Christians but harsh towards Protestants and Jews in the early part of her reign though she later softened. She increased the size of the military and by the end of her life, the Holy Roman Empire was thriving. Maria Theresa died in 1780 at the age of 63. -- source link