Item Detail
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Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria
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1717-1780
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MSS SC 1131
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Declarations and Decrees
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Maria Theresa was born in Vienna on May 13, 1717, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. She married Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine (later the Grand Duke of Tuscany (1737-65) and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I (1745-65)). They were the parents of 16 children, three of whom became future rulers: Joseph II, Leopold II, and Marie Antoinette. When Charles VI died, Maria Theresa became Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduchess of Austria. In the War of the Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa lost Austrian Silesia, but she kept her other lands. And in 1745, she gained the title of Holy Roman Emperor for her husband. After the war, Maria Theresa instituted sweeping reforms strengthening her administration and the army. She also altered Austria's foreign policy by siding with France and Russia against Prussia rather than with Great Britain. After participating in the Seven Years War, she reduced peasant serfdom, reformed laws, reduced the power of the church, and set up an excellent educational system. She died in Vienna on November 29, 1780.
'Maria Theresa' Distinguished Women of Past and Present http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/
'Maria Theresa' Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997) (c) Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd
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This collection contains holograph copies of official declarations and decrees relating to Maria Theresa's accession to the throne of Austria in 1740 and her taking over full control of the government by 1742. Because she was a woman, Maria Theresa was faced with a number of domestic and foreign threats to her attaining the throne of her father, Charles IV. The documents in the collection are shortened copies of the originals and are 20 pages long. There is a handwritten table of contents in German included with the manuscript copies. Also, on the folder containing the manuscript there is a note in German with the year 1912 on it and information on when the holograph copies were made.