Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1849–1919)

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
Queen of Bavaria

Queen Maria Theresa of Bavaria
Queen consort of Bavaria
Tenure 5 November 1913 – 7 November 1918
Born (1849-07-02)2 July 1849
Brno, Austria]
Died 3 February 1919(1919-02-03) (aged 69)
Wildenwart Castle, Chiemgau, Bavaria
Spouse Ludwig III of Bavaria
Issue
More		 Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
Adelgunde, Princess of Hohenzollern
Maria Ludwiga, Duchess of Calabria
Prince Karl
Prince Franz
Princess Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Wolfgang
Princess Hildegarde
Princess Notburga
Princess Wiltrud, Duchess of Urach
Princess Helmtrud
Princess Dietlinde
Princess Gundelinde, Countess von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos
House Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este
Mother Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria
Religion Catholicism

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (Maria Theresa Henriette Dorothee; 2 July 1849 – 3 February 1919) was a Queen consort of Bavaria. She was the daughter and only child of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife, Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria. She was the last Queen of Bavaria.

Her paternal grandparents were Francis IV, Duke of Modena, and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Archduke Josef Anton of Austria and his third wife Duchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg.

Ancestry and Family

On February 20, 1868, at St. Augustine's Church in Vienna, Maria Theresa married the future Ludwig III, last king of Bavaria.

The couple had thirteen children:

Through her mother, Maria Theresa was the half sister of Maria Christina of Austria (1858–1929), wife of Alfonso XII of Spain. Her first cousins included the Belgian princesses, Stephanie, Crown Princess of Austria-Hungary and [[Princess Clementine of Belgium]|Clémentine], Princess Napoleon, as well as the archduchess Dorothea, Duchess of Orléans.

Biography

On February 20, 1868, she married Prince Ludwig, eldest son of Bavaria's Prince Regent Luitpold, in the Augustinerkirche in Vienna. The couple had fallen in love during a visit of Ludwig at Pfingsten in Austria to attend the burial of Archduchess Mathilda and their decision to marry initially angered the Emperor, who had wished for her to marry Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The chief witness was Count Antonius Schaffgotsch.

The family mostly lived on their farms at Leutstetten south of Munich, where Maria Theresa cultivated rose gardens.

On November 7, 1918, Ludwig III was forced to abdicate the Bavarian throne, and Maria Theresa fled Munich with her family to Wildenwart Castle near Frasdorf, in order to escape from the Bolsheviks. The health of the Queen soon declined and she died there on February 3, 1919, being buried at the local chapel. On November 5, 1921, her remains were transferred to the cathedral of Munich along with those of her husband, who died less than a month before.

Maria Theresa became queen consort of Bavaria in 1913 when her husband the reigning Prince Regent proclaimed himself king as King Ludwig III in place of his living but insane cousin King Otto. She became the first Catholic queen in Bavaria since Bavaria was made a kingdom 1806. She spoke German, Hungarian, Czech, French, and Italian.

In 1914, she hosted festivities during the royal Bavarian jubilee. She appeared with her husband when war was announced. During World War I, she visited wounded soldiers and encouraged the women of Bavaria to support the troops by providing food and clothes, including with the donations references to legendary heroines.

Jacobite succession

Maria Theresa was the niece and heir of the childless Francis V, Duke of Modena who had been, at the time of his death, the Jacobite heir-general to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland; as such, she became the heir after his death in 1875. Neither she, nor any of her Jacobite forebears since 1807, ever seriously pursued this claim.

Maria Theresa was the first Jacobite heir-general since James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) who could (but for her religion) also have claimed to be a natural-born citizen of Great Britain. While she was not born on British soil, as James had been, Maria Theresa was a descendant of the Electress Sophia of Hanover. Under the terms of the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705, the Electress Sophia and all "issue of her body" were declared to be natural-born British subjects, regardless of the actual place of their birth, unless they were Roman Catholics. The 1705 Act was not repealed until 1948 and, consequently, Maria Theresa would have been covered by its provisions.

Following her death in 1919, Maria Theresa's son Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria inherited the Jacobite claim. Like his mother, he and his descendants have also refrained from pressing their claims to the English throne.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Honours

  1. Dame of the (Austrian) Order of the Starry Cross (January 10, 1865);
  2. Grand Mistress of the (Bavarian) Order of Theresia and of the (Bavarian) Order of Saint Elisabeth (October 19, 1872);
  3. Dame of the (Spanish) Order of Maria Luisa;
  4. The (Austrian) Order of Elisabeth 1st Class, the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, the Cross of Merit for the Year 1870/71, the Cross of Merit for Voluntary Nursing, and the (Prussian) Red Cross Medal 2nd Class.
Queen Maria Theresa, King Ludwig III and their son crown prince Rupprecht.

Ancestry

Bibliography

Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1849–1919)
Cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Born: 2 July 1849 Died: 3 February 1919
German royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Marie of Prussia		 Queen consort of Bavaria
5 November 1913 – 13 November 1918 		Monarchy abolished
Titles in pretence
Republic declared — TITULAR —
Queen consort of Bavaria
13 November 1918 – 3 February 1919		 Vacant
Title next held by
Antonia of Luxembourg
Preceded by
Francis V, Duke of Modena		 Jacobite succession
1875–1919 		Succeeded by
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
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