Maria Theresa of Austria | |
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Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria (c. 1835). | |
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Consort | 27 January 1837 – 22 May 1859 |
Spouse | Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies |
Issue | |
Louis, Count of Trani Alfonso, Count of Caserta Maria Annunciata, Archduchess of Austria Maria Immaculata, Archduchess of Austria Prince Gaetan, Count of Girgenti Maria Pia, Duchess of Parma Prince Pasquale, Count of Bari Maria Immacolata, Countess of Bardi Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone |
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Full name | |
Maria Theresia Isabella | |
House | House of Bourbon House of Habsburg-Lorraine |
Father | Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen |
Mother | Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg |
Born | 31 July 1816 Vienna, Austrian Empire |
Died | 8 August 1867 Albano Laziale, Italy |
(aged 51)
Burial | Basilica of Santa Chiara, Naples |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Maria Theresa of Austria (Maria Theresia Isabella; 31 July 1816 – 8 August 1867) was the second wife of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.
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She was the eldest daughter of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg.
Her paternal grandparents were Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg (1768–1816) and his wife Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg.
Frederick William was the eldest surviving son of Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Wilhelmine Carolina of Orange-Nassau.
Wilhelmine Carolina was a daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal. Anne was in turn the eldest daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach.
On 27 January 1837, Maria Theresa married Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. The bride was almost twenty-one years old and the groom twenty-seven.
Queen Maria Theresa is described as badly dressed and did not answer to the ideal of a regal person: she disliked her public role and life at court and preferred to confine her self to her private rooms dedicated to needlework and her children. She had a good relationship to both her spouse and her stepson Francis: her stepson respected her and she used to demonstratively call him her son. Maria Theresa was interested in politics: she is known to have acted as the king's advisor and to have influenced him to be strict, and when she could not be present at the reception of officials and wished to hear the conversation, she listened to the talk behind the door. She nursed Ferdinand at his death bed.
At the death of her spouse, she intended to continue her political activity by being the advisor of her stepson Francis, the new monarch. Francis was willing, and her authoritarian policy has been considered to contribute to the public discontent which lead to the abolishment of the Kingdom of Naples. Francis' spouse Maria Sophia, however, disputed her influence and Francis had a difficult position in the conflict between his wife and stepmother, without being able to satisfy either. Maria Sophia informed Francis about a plot created by Maria Theresa with the attempt to put the biological son of Maria Theresa on the throne, but Francis chose to believe Maria Theresa when she swore her innocence. It was not until the revolts against the monarchy had already begun that Francis decided to listen to the advice of his wife rather than his stepmother. Maria Theresa was among the first to leave Naples during the revolt: first to Gaeta with her children and advisors, and then to Rome. She resided in the same palace as Francis and Maria Sophia would use when they arrived. She died in cholera, nursed by her stepson Francis, who mourned her greatly.
Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
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Lodovico, Count of Trani | 1 August 1838 | 8 June 1886 | Married Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria, sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Their only daughter, Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, married Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. |
Alberto, Count of Castrogiovanni | 17 September 1839 | 12 July 1844 | Died in childhood. |
Alfonso, Count of Caserta | 28 March 1841 | 26 May 1934 | Married his first cousin Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and has issue. The current lines of Bourbon-Two Sicilies descend from him. |
Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies | 24 March 1843 | 4 May 1871 | Married Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria. |
Maria Immaculata Clementina of the Two Sicilies | 14 April 1844 | 18 February 1899 | Married Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. |
Gaetano, Count of Girgenti | 12 January 1846 | 26 November 1871 | In 1868, he married Isabel, Infanta of Spain (eldest daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain) and was created Infante of Spain. |
Giuseppe, Count of Lucera | 4 March 1848 | 28 September 1851 | Died in childhood. |
Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies | 21 August 1849 | 29 September 1882 | Married Roberto I Duke of Parma and Piacenza. |
Vincenzo, Count of Melazzo | 26 April 1851 | 13 October 1854 | Died in childhood. |
Pasquale, Count of Bari | 15 September 1852 | 21 December 1904 | Married morganatically to Blanche Marconnay. |
Maria Louisa of the Two Sicilies | 21 January 1855 | 23 February 1874 | Married Prince Henry of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi. |
Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone | 28 February 1857 | 13 August 1867 | Died in childhood. |
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maria_Theresa_of_Austria_(1816%E2%80%931867) Maria Theresa of Austria (1816–1867)] at Wikimedia Commons
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