Maria Theresa
Archduchess Maria Theresa was the first female Hapsburg ruler and she lived up to her illustrious family name by holding her own on the international court and by improving the empire that she inherited. This paper will look at the rule of Maria Theresa. Maria Theresa was born to Emperor Charles VI of Austria in 1717 at Hofburg in Vienna, Austria (Crankshaw: 17, Dark: 237). ... In 1740 Emperor Charles VI died and Maria Theresa became the Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Duchess of Milan and Statthalter of the Netherlands at the age of 23 (Crankshaw: 5). ... The Pragmatic Sanction was a wasted effort because as soon as Maria Theresa ascended the throne her authority was challenged by the French, Bavarians and Prussians; all who wanted to divide her lands and depose her (Crankshaw: 13-14). ... It was during this war that Maria Theresa gained the title of Holy Roman Emperor for her husband (Crankshaw: 98). On September 7, 1741 Maria Theresa summoned to Pressburg castle the leaders of Hungary for talks of a partnership (Crankshaw: 77). ... There is some myth and legend about this incident, Maria Theresa has been portrayed as a woman distressed pleading for help with her infant son in her arms, this was not so, Maria Theresa displayed her son to the Hungarians as a pledge that they would one day have a real king (Crankshaw: 79).The war ended in 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and on the face of it all Maria Theresa looked to be the greatest loser of the war (Crankshaw: 85) She had lost Silesia and Prussia was established as a major power, rendering null and void Austrian pretensions to dominate the German states (Crankshaw: 85).