Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1743)

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For the earlier archduchess of the same name, see Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria.
Maria Elisabeth
Meister der Erzherzoginnen-Porträt - Erzherzogin Maria Elisabeth.jpg
Portrait by Martin van Meytens
Born13 August 1743
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died22 September 1808 (aged 65)
Linzer Palace, Linz, Empire of Austria
Names
  • English: Mary Elizabeth Josephine Joanne Antonia
  • German: Maria Elisabeth Josefa Johanna Antonia
  • French: Marie Élisabeth Joséphine Jeanne Antoinette
HouseHabsburg-Lorraine
FatherFrancis I, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherEmpress Maria Theresa

Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (Maria Elisabeth Josepha Johanna Antonia; 13 August 1743 – 22 September 1808) was an archduchess of Austria and princess of Tuscany, as the semestral daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis Stephan. She was an abbess of the Convent for Noble Ladies in Innsbruck from 1780 until 1806.

Early life

Born on 13 August 1743, Maria Elisabeth Josepha Johanna Antonia was the sixth child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis Stephen. She was given the customary education of an archduchess during her time, with a focus on accomplishments designed to make her a quintessential consort. Maria Elisabeth was known as "Liesl" within the family circle.[1]

Maria Elisabeth in her childhood

Maria Elisabeth was described as somewhat unstable and eccentric, without any particular interests. Since her birth, she was considered to be the most beautiful of all her sisters—she, reportedly, was well-aware of this fact.[2] Her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, referred to her as childish and immature, and called her eine Kokette der Schönheit ("a pretty coquette") and observed: "It mattered not if the look of admiration came from a prince or a Swiss Guard, Elisabeth was satisfied."[3]

At the wedding of her brother Joseph in 1765, she played the part of Apollo in the operetta Il Parnasso Confuso by Christoph Willibald Gluck.[3]

Marriage negotiations

Maria Elisabeth was considered a valuable asset in dynastic marriage negotiations due to her beauty, of which made her a subject of marriage speculations early on. However, many marriage negotiations were denied because of the high expectations of the status of her future groom.[4]

When Charles III of Spain was widowed in 1761, there were negotiations between Spain and Austria about a marriage between Charles III and Maria Elisabeth, but these ultimately ended in failure. A marriage with King Stanislaw of Poland was suggested after his succession to the throne in 1764, but nothing came of it after Empress Catherine II of Russia had made her discontent over the proposal clear. A marriage to her cousin Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais was proposed, to which Maria Elisabeth declared herself very willing to enter, but ultimately her brother Joseph did not find such a match to be of enough political advantage, as he considered her to be a great asset in dynastic policy and wished to secure a marriage with the highest possible status. When Maria Elisabeth turned 24 in 1767, this was considered late to be unmarried by the standards of an 18th century royal.

In 1768, simultaneously with the discussions of a marriage between her younger sister Archduchess Maria Antonia and the heir to the French throne,[5] a suggestion was made to engage Maria Elisabeth to the widowed Louis XV of France, which would have resulted in a double marriage alliance between France and Austria. A marriage contract was prepared and the negotiations were almost completed. Before the negotiations could be finalised, Maria Elisabeth fell ill with smallpox.[2][4] Although she made a full recovery, it was reported that the illness had terribly scarred her face and destroyed her beauty, and thus all plans of a marriage were disrupted.[6]

Additionally, the Choiseul party at the French royal court opposed a re-marriage of King Louis XV and according to the reports of the Austrian ambassador Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau:

"Persons in power, imagine that a queen, judicious and amiable, who would succeed in gaining the affection of her husband, might open his eyes to the irregularities and the enormous abuses which exist in all departments here, and cause much embarrassment to those who direct them. They are consequently of opinion that it behoves them to divert the mind of the King from ideas of marriage; and I have very strong proofs that Madame de Gramont, more interested than any one in the mamtenance of the present abuses, has succeeded in persuading M. de Choiseul to renounce his own predilections in this affair."[7]

Abbess

Maria Elisabeth (left) with her two elder siblings: Maria Anna (right) and King Joseph. Portrait by Josef Hauzinger, 1778

Maria Elisabeth was appointed canoness of the Convent for Noble Ladies in Innsbruck by her mother. Like her sister Maria Anna, whom had a similar position, she did not in fact live in the convent but continued to share her time with the imperial court at the Hofburg Palace and the Schönbrunn Palace.

After the death of her mother Maria Theresa in 1780, Maria Elisabeth and her sisters Maria Anna and Maria Christina were asked by their brother Joseph II to leave court because he shunned the presence of women there,[2] and wanted to put an end to what he referred to as his sisters Weiberwirtschaft or “Women’s Republic”.[4] He confirmed his mother's appointment of Maria Christina and her husband as governors of the Austrian Netherlands, after which they left for Brussels, while Maria Elisabeth and her sister Maria Anna left to join their respective convents. Maria Elisabeth left for the Convent of Noble Ladies in Innsbruck, which had been established by her mother in 1765 to pray for the soul of her late spouse, Francis Stephen.

Maria Elisabeth resided in Innsbruck as abbess of the Convent of Noble Ladies for about fifteen years. Here—or rather in Innsbruck's Imperial Castle—Maria Elisabeth resided from May 1781 until January 1806. Her position did not resemble monastic life much, as the terms of the convent gave its members high rank, a personal allowance, a suite suitable for a noblewoman, and the freedom to participate in public life and high society. Maria Elisabeth did not live a secluded life but entertained much in her apartments, received guests and often arranged family receptions.[4] During her years as abbess, she was described as greatly obese, and was referred to as "Kropferte Liesl" because of her smallpox scars.[8] She became known and feared for her sharp wit; her friends described her as a popular society person with a fiery personality. Sir John Swinburne described her sharp wit and humorous self irony upon his visit.

When her younger brother Leopold succeeded Joseph as emperor in 1790, he involved her more in state affairs. He gave her representational tasks, and in 1790 she ceremoniously opened the Provincial Assembly (Landtag) at Innsbruck in his place, and she often acted as his representative in ceremonial occasions at Innsbruck. She often received important guests but also entertained artists such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She was allowed to travel again and visited the Puster Valley on several occasions with her chamberlain Count Spaur, and spent the winter of 1800-01 in Bruneck.

Death

Portrait of Maria Elisabeth in 1781, by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder

In January 1806 Maria Elisabeth fled from Innsbruck to Vienna and then to Linz, when the province of Tyrol was taken over by Napoleon Bonaparte’s ally—the Kingdom of Bavaria. She spent her last years in Linz, where she died on 22 September 1808, age 65. She was buried in the Jesuit Church of Linz.

Ancestry

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743-1808).
  1. ^ "The sixteen children of Maria Theresa - eleven daughters and five sons". Time Travel Vienna. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Maria Elisabeth of Austria - Abbess of the Convent for Noble Ladies". History of Royal Women. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b Fraser, Antonia, Marie Antoinette: The Journey. ORION, London 2002, ISBN 978-0-7538-1305-8.
  4. ^ a b c d "Archduchess Maria Elisabeth Josepha Antonia of Austria". Restaurant Goldener Adler Innsbruck. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  5. ^ Decker, Michel de (2005). Marie-Antoinette : les dangereuses liaisons de la reine. Paris: Belfond. ISBN 2-7144-4141-6. OCLC 62305760.
  6. ^ Brigitte Hamann (Hrsg.): Die Habsburger: Ein biographisches Lexikon. Wien 1988, S. 320.
  7. ^ Williams, Hugh Noel, Madame Dubarry, Beijer, Stockholm, 1905
  8. ^ "Maria Theresias Kinder: Die 16 Nachkommen Der Herrscherin". timetravel-vienna.at (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 1.
  • Friedrich Weissensteiner: Die Töchter Maria Theresias (Mária Terézia leányai), Kremayer & Scheriau, Bécs, 1991.
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