Maria Theresa and the Habsburgs, Pt. 4: Bavaria

It was the Duke of Bavaria, Charles Albert, who succeeded Maria Theresa's father Charles VI as Holy Roman Emperor, breaking the Habsburg succession streak that had started fifty years before Columbus discovered America.

Charles Albert, a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, had a very good claim to becoming Emperor over his cousin Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen.

Charles Albert was also the son-in-law of a Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph I, who himself was a Habsburg.

Joseph I was Charles VI's older brother and had actually preceded Maria Theresa's father as Emperor.

Charles Albert's great-great-grandfather was Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, just as was the case for Maria Theresa, whereas Francis Stephen was Ferdinand II's great-grandson.

So, while Charles Albert, who became Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII, was officially from the House of Wittelsbach, you can see that even this short detour from the House of Habsburg succession didn't stray too far from those bloodlines.

The biggest difference came down to the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, which allowed Maria Theresa to inherit the Habsburg kingdoms and prohibited dividing those lands and thereby diluting the Habsburg holdings.

Charles Albert never signed the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, because he realized it edged out his claims to Habsburg kingdoms in favor of Maria Theresa and her husband Francis Stephen.

Emperor Charles VI had spent his lifetime gathering signatures for the document that allowed Archduchess Maria Theresa to inherit his kingdoms, undivided, but in fact he had years earlier signed a contradictory Mutual Pact of Succession written by his father, Emperor Leopold I, when the senior line of the House of Habsburg, King Charles II of Spain, died without a direct male heir.

That Mutual Pact of Succession specifically gave the heirs of Joseph I, not Charles VI, precedence in claims to the family leadership if neither had a son.

Enough Prince-Electors agreed with this legal argument to elect Charles Albert King of the Romans, and the Pope subsequently crowned him Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII.

Shortly after Charles VII's coronation as Holy Roman Emperor, Maria Theresa's Austrian troops, now revitalized under her firm, resolved leadership, counterattacked to capture most of his Bavarian holdings.

In short, Charles VII and his allies had overplayed their hands, expecting Maria Theresa to fold, but she drew to her own strengths instead.

While militaristic Prussia fielded an impressive army roughly equal in size to that of the Austrians at the time Maria Theresa came to the throne, Austria was a much larger country with far greater resources.

Prussia itself had 2 million citizens versus 16 million in Austria.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, Hungary had sent 60,000 troops to supplement Austria's 82,000 soldiers.

While France was also a powerful ally to Charles VII, the French motivation was primarily to cause trouble for Great Britain's allies so as to weaken their long time enemy elsewhere.

Great Britain's King George II, however, was actually born and raised in northern Germany and was also a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, so he wasn't going to just sit idly by and let the future of Europe be decided without him.

Realizing French power would increase if Maria Theresa lost power, King George II not only sided with Austria diplomatically but actually sent troops and personally commanded an Anglo-Allied army to help turn the tide.

However, in late 1744 Prussia and France managed to reclaim Bavaria for Emperor Charles VII.

In a rapid twist, Charles VII died three months later at the age of 47, and Maria Theresa's husband Francis Stephen succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor nine months after that, taking the name Francis I.

As the War of Austrian Succession continued, France became involved in attempting to remove King George II from the British throne by assisting the Jacobite movement to re-instate the Stuart line in Great Britain and crown Bonnie Prince Charlie as their King.

This pulled King George II's attention back to his homeland.

By 1748, France and England decided to resolve a lot of their spats all over the world with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which among other things confirmed King George II's House of Hanover succession in both the UK and Germany and allowed Maria Theresa to keep most of her Habsburg holdings, but notably allowing Prussia to keep Silesia.

Spain and Italy also received some scraps of Habsburg territories, but for the most part, Maria Theresa came out on top in the War of Austrian Succession.

Maria Theresa would continue to refer to Frederick the Great of Prussia as "that evil man," but the reason France and England allowed Prussia to keep Silesia was the realization that Prussia could be a powerful ally, so neither wanted to be the one to antagonize Frederick by taking away his conquest.  Perhaps more to the point, at the outset of the War, Frederick had offered to recognize Maria Theresa as legitimate heir to the House of Habsburg if she would let Prussia keep Silesia.

Nonetheless, just as in the twentieth century's World Wars I and II, Great Britain's side clearly won in Europe, which must have made the unexpected loss to their American colonies 35 years later all the more shocking.

Within a few years after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, America would become a major battleground for France and Great Britain in the French and Indian War, during which young colonial George Washington gained battle experience as a British officer.

In Central Europe, however, Empress Maria Theresa had successfully reclaimed what she considered her family line's rightful position, which she would pass on to her children, two of whom would go on to become Holy Roman Emperors.

All photos in this post are of Regensburg.

Maria Theresa and the Habsburgs, Pt. 3: Prague Castle

On a clear summer night, the illuminated Prague Castle shines dramatically behind the Charles Bridge.

At about 750,000 square feet, the historic complex on a hill doesn't go unnoticed at any other time of day, either.

Imagine how insurmountable this ancient fortress must have seemed 275 years ago in late 1741, when a small French force stormed Prague on behalf of Charles Albert of Bavaria.

Bohemians, however, felt little loyalty to the young Habsburg woman who had only inherited the crown a year earlier.  Maria Theresa's husband Francis Stephen, already in command of troops in Bohemia, had responded too slowly, possibly having assumed the imposing fortress would discourage attack by their newly allied enemies. 

Prussian King Frederick William I had actually passed away just a few months before the Habsburg monarch, but he had a son as his heir.

King Frederick II seized the opportunity of Austria's crisis to invade Silesia, exposing the temporary weakness of the once mighty foe during their troubled transition.

Emboldened by Prussia's impressive Silesian Campaign, France stepped out from the shadows where it had secretly schemed to divide Habsburg kingdoms and sent troops to support its allies Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Spain, attacking them on multiple fronts, including Prague, the capital of Bohemia.

In breaking its peace treaty with Austria, France had shocked Emperor Charles VI's council, who his daughter and heir Maria Theresa hoped would advise her young husband wisely as he learned the ropes of ruling multiple kingdoms.

As far as they were concerned, Maria Theresa had already done about as much as a mere woman could do.

She was pregnant, possibly with a male heir which might prevent this situation recurring for the next generation... if they survived the War of Austrian Succession with a country to rule.

She had also prepared for the coronation ceremony in Hungary scheduled for June 25, 1741, which would require expert equestrian skills to perform regally before a country that prided themselves as being the "riding nation."

Maria Theresa spent months mastering horseback riding, something her father had prohibited her to do as a child because of it being too dangerous for a girl.

She surprised the Magyars (Hungarians) with her skills with her horse, showing deep respect for their traditional ceremony and culture.  Maria Theresa chose to be crowned as King of Hungary, as there was no rule prohibiting her from claiming a masculine title.

Make no mistake; her appearance and riding style remained ladylike as befitted a Queen, and the Hungarians loved every aspect of how she presented herself. 

After she returned to Vienna, awaiting the birth of her child in an uncertain world, Maria Theresa's advisers brought the sad news that the Bohemians would prefer to be ruled by her Bavarian cousin Charles rather than her.

Maria Theresa simply refused to accept this.

"My mind is made up. We must put everything at stake to save Bohemia."

Her commander in Silesia, General Neipperg, negotiated a peaceful surrender of the final fortress held by Austria with terms that allowed his troops to retreat unmolested, probably because Frederick II thought they may be brothers in arms when Austria fell.

But they were not laying down arms.

The Austrian troops from Silesia marched to Prague to join other Austrian forces to defend Bohemia, unsure whether that show of strength would be sufficient to stem the tide.

Fortunately, Hungary, still enchanted by the coronation performance, sent 60,000 heroic troops to support their new King Maria Theresa's efforts to retain Bohemia.

The combined forces were successful.

Spoiler alert: Maria Theresa rebuilt war-damaged Prague Palace to be grander than ever, though she actually only went to this luxuriously refurbished palace three times during her forty-year reign.

Maria Theresa and the Habsburgs, Pt. 2

Maria Theresa's Schonbrunn Summer Palace in Vienna

By the time Maria Theresa ascended to the throne in 1740, her Habsburg family line had already ruled Austria for centuries.

The family name had been initiated in about 1020 when Count Radbot built a new family home in what is now Switzerland that they called Habichtsburg, or "Hawk's Castle."

A "hawk's beak" nose was a defining hereditary trait of the Habsburgs.

St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

Radbot, the Bishop of Strasbourg, oversaw construction of his grand new home which became a primary landmark in the region.

Count Radbot's grandson, Otto II, began calling himself Otto von Habichtsburg, which morphed into von Habsburg and then simply Habsburg.

By the time their name was established, the family had already been powerful within the Holy Roman Empire for decades.

In those Medieval times, noble families practiced primogeniture, whereby the first-born son inherited the bulk of ancestral lands and family leadership.

St. Stephen's Church Interior

The second son in such a family went into the clergy, like Count Radbot, meaning the Habsburgs were not the preeminent branch of the family tree from which they emerged.

In 1273, Rudolf von Habsburg was elected King of the Romans, a title Austrian Habsburg heirs would hold off-and-on --- mostly on --- until the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806 after military defeat at the hands of Napoleon.

While Rudolf I took center stage in the Holy Roman Empire, however, his family was forced to leave their home in Habichtsburg.

An uprising of Swiss farmers seeking freedom from the aristocratic rule of the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire overpowered the armor-clad nobles by sheer number and desire for liberty in a new, free Switzerland, foreshadowing our American Revolution.

The fact that the freedom fighters wore red crosses on their chests brings to mind my theory about the transition of Knights Templar from their initial limited quest of recapturing Jerusalem to more far-reaching goals that would encompass the entire world, perhaps the lofty goal of transitioning to the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

Hungarian Parliament Building from deck of our gateway to history, AmaCerto

Sorry, got a little carried away there for a moment.

In any case, the Habsburgs already controlled vast regions, so when they unceremoniously fled their beloved Habichtsburg in around 1279, they headed east on the Danube River to the eastern frontier of the Holy Roman Empire, near the border with Hungary.

They settled among the beautiful forests in Vienna, which became the family's seat of power from which they ruled the kingdom of Austria and sometimes the Holy Roman Empire.



By the time Maria Theresa took the family reigns, the Habsburgs had ruled Austria for 460 years.

Wes on road about halfway in Schonbrunn garden with gateway in the distance

Nonetheless, you may not be surprised to learn that Charles VI's advisers weren't too keen on having a 23-year-old woman unexpectedly become their ruler.

Her French husband had already been defamed as a coward or spy by unfounded rumor and innuendo, which obviously didn't help.

What you might call a "Never Maria Theresa" movement spread through the royals, including  her father's trusted advisers who should have been her support system but, while perhaps not treacherous, were at a minimum lacking faith in this presumably frivolous young woman being up to the job.

Church on the Danube from AmaCerto's port Vienna

As Maria Theresa wrote ten years later, "I found myself without money, without credit, without army, without experience and knowledge of my own and finally, also without any counsel because each one of them at first wanted to wait and see how things would develop."

Charles VI had devoted much of his energy to the "Pragmatic Sanction" needed to allow his daughter to inherit his kingdoms.

Critics say being too devoted to gathering royal signatures came at the expense of his treasury and military prowess.

Engraving Outside St. Patrick's Church, Vienna

The Habsburg way of plotting strategic marriages rather than war to acquire territories had served them well, but power abhors a vacuum, and as a woman, Maria Theresa could not ever become Emperor of Rome, no matter how many individual kingdoms she inherited.

By the way, while we refer to "the Holy Roman Empire," that is simply a convenient designation for historians to differentiate this Central Europe branch from the original Roman Empire and the Byzantines.

At the time, citizens of the realm simply called themselves Romans, even though Rome was not always part of the kingdom.

Habsburg heirs had held the position of King of the Romans since March 19, 1452, 40 years before Christopher Columbus "discovered" America.  That date was when Frederick III, having won the Electoral College, was crowned by Pope Nicholas V.

St. Patrick's Church at Hofburg complex, Vienna

The groundwork for the family's ascent had been laid by Habsburg Duke Albert V, who in 1438 vaulted to the position of King of the Romans as a result of having previously married Elisabeth of Luxembourg, who was not only the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund but also ruler of Bohemia and Hungary.

That marriage resulted in Albert essentially inheriting the position King of the Romans when his father-in-law passed away, but King Albert II of the Holy Roman Empire, as he became known, was never crowned Emperor by the Pope.

In 1439, Albert II gallantly lost his life in battle with the Turks (which I guess would send him to Valhalla if he were a Viking, but that's a different show).

As a widow of the King, who had received that title as a result of his marriage to her, Elisabeth nonetheless lost rule of Bohemia and Hungary, because they became national kingdoms ruled by warlords rather submit to rule by a mere widow.

Pool On AmaCerto, refreshing rest spot on sunny day in Vienna

When King Albert II died, Elisabeth was pregnant with his son.

Their son was crowned ruler of Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, but he died as a baby in 1440, which could have been suspicious if not for the fact that infant mortality was not that unusual back then.  Elisabeth was not allowed to reclaim her crown.

Ergo, you may better understand the considerable risk taken by Maria Theresa when one month after her father's death, she made her husband Stephen Francis co-ruler of Austria, Bohemia and finally Hungary, in order to strengthen his claim to be King of the Romans.

Yes, the Habsburgs had managed to regain rule of both Bohemia and Hungary over time.

Maria Theresa, however, never allowed her co-ruler and beloved husband to make any decisions for her ancestral kingdoms.

Arsenal Historic Military Complex in Vienna

Sensing weakness in a country ruled by a young woman, King Frederick of Prussia invaded the Duchy of Silesia, in modern day Poland.

King Frederick offered to support Maria Theresa's right to rule the rest of her lands if she would cede Silesia to him.

Her husband Stephen Francis advocated this pragmatic course, but Maria Theresa refused to cede "the jewel of the House of Austria."

In the meantime, France secretly drew up plans to split up the lands of Austria among other kingdoms.  So much for deal sweeteners to be named later.

The War of Austrian Succession was ON!