Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, first Empress of Austria

Early life

Born on 6 June 1772 in the Royal Palace in Naples, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (1772-1807) was the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife, Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine, one of the daughters of the great Maria Theresa of Austria.

Her day began at 7 a.m. and included lessons in French, religion, mathematics, geography, music, drawing and dance. Classes were held every half hour. A nap was scheduled at midday, followed by a half-hour break. The lessons then continued in the afternoon under the personal supervision of her mother. This gruelling schedule was only interrupted during the summer months in Caserta. Maria Teresa was known for her particular musicality and was praised for her singing, dancing and piano playing. She was her mother’s favourite and was known to physically resemble her.

In February 1790, the wife of Archduke Francis of Habsburg-Lorraine, Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg, died in childbirth and it was announced that he would marry one of the princesses of Naples. Both Maria Theresa and her sister Luisa were considered for the union. In the end, however, Luisa was chosen to marry Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Maria Theresa to marry Francis.

Francis and Maria Theresa were double first cousins because Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine (mother of the bride) and Leopold II (father of the groom) were siblings as were Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (father of the bride) and Maria Louise of Spain (mother of the groom).

Marriage

On 15 September 1790, at the age of 18, Princess Maria Theresa married Archduke Francis, who was to become Holy Roman Emperor in 1792 and the first Emperor of Austria in 1804.

Marie Antoinette of France was in prison when her two nephews, Francis and Maria Theresa, married and it must be sadly said that the young imperial couple were totally indifferent to their aunt’s fate.

The marriage was described as happy and based on mutual understanding, despite personality differences. Francis was described as a melancholic character. He was shy and reserved, serious and preferred a Spartan lifestyle and duty. Maria Theresa, on the other hand, was described as a pretty, blue-eyed blonde with a lively personality, a fiery temperament and a sensual nature. Despite these personality differences, the two are said to have had a good understanding of each other and a very good relationship.

Maria Theresa adapted well to her new home in Wien and did not suffer from homesickness. She participated enthusiastically in court life and is said to have enjoyed dancing and attending carnival balls, even when she was pregnant. She particularly liked the waltz, that had recently been introduced as a dance innovation and became fashionable during her years in Wien.

Hedwig of Holstein-Gottorp, future Queen Consort of Sweden, describes Maria Theresa’s personality and relationship with her husband in her famous diary, during her visits to Vienna in 1798-1799:

Edvige di Holstein-Gottorp, futura Regina consorte di Svezia, descrive la personalità di Maria Teresa e il rapporto con il marito nel suo famoso diario, durante le sue visite a Vienna nel 1798-1799:

“The Empress is reputed to be so jealous that she does not allow him to take part in social life or meet other women. Vicious tongues accuse her of being so passionate that she exhausts her consort and never leaves him alone even for a moment. Although the people of Vienna cannot deny that she is gifted, charitable and carries herself beautifully, she is disliked for her intolerance and for forcing the Emperor to live isolated from everyone. She is also accused of interesting herself in unimportant matters and socializing exclusively with her lady-companions. With them she spends her evenings singing, acting out comedies and being applauded“.

On 12 December 1791, the eldest daughter of Princess Maria Theresa and Archduke Francis was born: Marie Louise. She was educated in particular in French, English, Spanish, Italian and Latin, with the addition of her mother tongue, German. Maria Theresa was not exactly a motherly woman and the relationship with her eldest daughter was not the best. Marie Louise once wrote: ‘if only she would embrace me sometimes‘. In 1810 Marie Louise was to marry Emperor Napoleon I because of the ongoing wars with France that were affecting her parents and grandparents.

On 19 April 1793, Maria Theresa gave birth to a son and heir, the future Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, who would marry the devout Maria Anna of Savoy in 1831.

In the following years at least ten more children were born to her, of whom seven – two boys and five girls – would survive to adulthood. Through her son Franz Karl, who married Sophie of Bavaria, Maria Theresa was the grandmother of Emperor Franz Joseph.

Holy Roman Empress

In 1792, Maria Theresa’s husband, Francis, ascended the throne as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and she became Queen Consort. In the same year she became Holy Roman Empress. Maria Theresa took an interest in politics and came to play a certain role in state affairs due to the influence she exerted over her consort, to whom she was an advisor. She was a conservative force and belonged to Napoleon’s critics, and is said to have encouraged Francis in an anti-French stance during the Napoleonic wars.

In February 1799, her apparent indifference to the revolution against her parents in Naples attracted her some disfavour in Wien. Although she was her mother’s favourite daughter, she was prejudiced when it came to their exile during the war.

Napoleon occupied Wien in 1805, forcing the imperial family to flee. Maria Theresa wrote to her mother from Olmütz, where she had taken refuge with Emperor Alexander I of Russia: “Our misfortune is very great, and it will cost me at least ten years of my life. I see myself a fugitive, driven from my house, the capital in the hands of the enemy, who advances almost at will. He is only two posts from us. Our army and the Russians are hardly an hour from here… There, beloved mother, you have our wretched situation: and we make such a sad figure before the emperor of Russia and his entire retinue, who have been here since the 18th. You cannot imagine how infinitely unpleasant the whole company is to me… The Czar is handsome and, I believe, a good man, but that is all: the rest is nothing. His troops are good looking, indeed splendid, but in their character, they are worse than the French.”

Fortunately, they were able to return two weeks later. She wrote: “I know of – I can imagine no greater fortune than to enjoy peace and quiet, as long as this is possible without losing our lands; and my husband thinks the same. It is better to have less, but to enjoy it in peace.”

Love for music

An important patron of Viennese music, she commissioned many compositions for official and private use. Joseph Haydn wrote his Te Deum for choir and orchestra at her request.

Much of her music library has survived to this day, including letters written to her by the musicians she patronised, notations of the names of the musicians who performed with her and the pieces they performed. She did not allow her frequent pregnancies to interfere with her love of performances. In 1802, she participated in the performance of two masses and gave birth to a son two days later. Only a month later she returned to attend a concert. Her husband also played the violin and she called him ‘my beloved fiddler‘.

Importante mecenate della musica viennese, commissionò molte composizioni per uso ufficiale e privato. Joseph Haydn scrisse il suo Te Deum per coro e orchestra su sua richiesta.

Maria Theresa also sent music to her sisters in Naples, who sent her Neapolitan scores. Her sister Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (later Queen of the French) wrote to her: “Since you have the goodness to ask us for our commissions, I ask you for the music of D. Giovanni Tenorio of Gluck, if it is to be found in Vienna, for I have been told that it is superb, and know of no one to turn to in order to obtain it better than you, dear sister, who is so knowledgeable in this art, and who us so much affection.“

Death

In the winter of 1806, Empress Maria Theresa (pregnant with her 12th child) contracted tubercular pleurisy, which the imperial physician Andreas Joseph von Stifft treated with bloodletting. However, this did not lead to an improvement in her health, but to a premature birth. When Empress Maria Theresa died as a result of complications in her last childbirth (her daughter died a few days before her mother) on 13 April 1807 at the age of 34, the emperor was inconsolable and had to be forcibly removed from his wife’s body.

Distraught with grief, the emperor did not attend the funeral and travelled to Buda with his two eldest children. Francis wrote to his mother-in-law: “You can imagine my condition after such a happy marriage as it was with my wife and children, a good number of whom still need a mother.” The eldest child was just 16 years old, while the youngest was not even two years old.

In 1808 Francis remarried for the third time to Maria Ludovica of Austria-Este, who died young in 1816. The emperor soon remarried and his fourth wife was Caroline Augusta of Bavaria.