Archduchess Maria Elisabeth Of Austria (born 1743)

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. She was the sixth daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis Stephan and 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.

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—and reportedly, she was well-aware of this fact. Her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, referred to her as childish and immature, and called her ''eine Kokette der Schönheit'' ("a pretty coquette"), observing: "It mattered not if the look of admiration came from a prince or a Swiss Guard, Elisabeth was satisfied."

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.Fraser, Antonia, ''Marie Antoinette: The Journey''. ORION, London 2002, .

Marriage negotiations

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

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. He considered her to be a great asset in dynastic policy and wished to secure her a marriage to a groom 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, 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. However, before the negotiations could be finalised, Maria Elisabeth fell ill with smallpox. Although she made a full recovery, it was reported that the illness had terribly scarred her face and destroyed her beauty, thus disrupting all plans of a marriage.

Additionally, the Choiseul party at the French royal court opposed the idea of King Louis XV remarrying. 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 maintenance of the present abuses, has succeeded in persuading M. de Choiseul to renounce his own predilections in this affair."

Abbess

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 spend 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, and wanted to put an end to what he referred to as his sisters ''Weiberwirtschaft'' or “Women’s Republic”. 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 husband, 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, receiving guests and often arranging family receptions. During her years as abbess, she was described as greatly obese, and was referred to as "''Kropferte Liesl''" because of her smallpox scars. 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 at 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

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

* Friedrich Weissensteiner: Die Töchter Maria Theresias (Mária Terézia leányai), Kremayer & Scheriau, Bécs, 1991.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Elisabeth Of Austria, Archduchess
1743 births
1808 deaths
Austrian princesses
18th-century Austrian people
19th-century Austrian people
18th-century Austrian women
19th-century Austrian women
Burials at the Imperial Crypt
House of Habsburg
Daughters of emperors
Children of Maria Theresa
Daughters of kings