Maria Theresa of Austria (21 March 1801 – 12 January 1855) was

Queen of Sardinia This is a list of consorts of the Savoyard monarchs. Countess of Savoy, 1003–1416 Duchess of Savoy, 1416–1713 ;As courtesy title Queen of Sardinia, 1720–1861 Between 1859 and 1861 the Kingdom of Sardinia incorporated the majo ...

by marriage to King

Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constit ...

. She was a daughter of

Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III(; ; English: ''Ferdinand Joseph John Baptist''. (6 May 1769 – 18 June 1824) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand D ...

and Luisa of Naples and Sicily. She was named after her great-grandmother Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

. In 1817, she married Charles Albert of Sardinia and subsequently became the

upon her husband's accession to the throne in 1831.

Life

Early life

''Maria Theresia Franziska Josepha Johanna Benedikta'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) was a member of the Tuscan branch of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

, and an Archduchess of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and Princess of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and Tuscany by birth. She was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

during the exile of her parents and their many children, due to

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's invasion of Tuscany. Her father was

and her mother was

Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily Luisa of Naples and Sicily (Luisa Maria Amalia Teresa; 27 July 1773 – 19 September 1802) was List of Tuscan consorts, Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. She was born a princess of Naples and Sic ...

, who died giving birth to a stillborn son one year after Maria Theresa's birth. In 1805, Ferdinand III was made Elector of the

Electorate of Salzburg The Electorate of Salzburg ( or ), occasionally known as the Grand Duchy of Salzburg, was an electoral principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803–05, the short-lived successor state of the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg. History In ...

, and the family moved to

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

Marriage

Maria Theresa married in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 30 September 1817 to Charles Albert, prince of Carignano. A wedding mass was celebrated on 2 October in

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral (), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower ( ), is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Florence in Florence, Italy. Commenced in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed b ...

. In Italian, her name was ''Maria Teresa Francesca Giuseppa Giovanna Benedetta''. From her marriage, she was known as the

Princess of Carignano The ''Princess of Carignano'' was a woman married to the Prince of Carignano of the House of Savoy. The list ends with Charles Albert, in 1831, after he became King of Sardinia. But the Queens of Sardinia and later Italy used the title "Princess of ...

. She was described as innocent, naive and shy. In March 1820, an heir was born, followed by two more children, the latter of which died in infancy. In 1824, Charles Albert was recognised as heir to the throne by King Charles Felix.

Queen of Sardinia

Maria Theresa became Queen of Sardinia in 1831, when Charles Albert succeeded Charles Felix, who died without issue. During the reign of her spouse, Maria Theresa did not involve herself in state affairs, reportedly devoting her time solely to her family and religion. She was described as a strict Catholic but also as a spontaneous and affectionate family oriented person. A convinced Catholic, a fully converted fervent Italian Nationalist, and a new brand conservative who believed in checks and balances on royal power, she had a great influence on her eldest son.

Later life

After the death of her husband in 1849 in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, the

Queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

, Maria Theresa, stopped appearing in public. While she never involved in politics as queen, she did engage in state affairs during the reign of her son. When the reforms against the privileges of the Church was introduced by the Cavour government in 1854, she united with her daughter-in-law to pressure her son to prevent the reform with the argument that the reform was hostile against the Church and thus unacceptable for a Christian.MARIA TERESA d'Asburgo-Lorena, regina di Sardegna. Enciclopedia Italiana (1934) The effort was, however, unsuccessful. She died in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, and is buried in the

Basilica of Superga The Basilica of Superga () is a hilltop Catholic basilica in Superga, in the vicinity of Turin, Italy. History The church was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Super ...

Issue

* ''Vittorio Emanuele'' Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso (14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878); married

Adelaide of Austria Adelaide of Austria (Adelheid Franziska Marie Rainera Elisabeth Clotilde; 3 June 1822 – 20 January 1855) was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia, future King of Italy, from 1849 until 1855 when she died as a re ...

and had issue. He would become the first king of united Italy. * ''Ferdinando'' Maria Alberto Amedeo Filiberto Vincenzo (15 November 1822 – 10 February 1855); married Princess Elisabeth of Saxony and had issue. He became Duke of Genoa. * Maria Cristina (4 July 1826 – 25 July 1827); died in infancy.

Genealogy

Even among the frequently tangled genealogies of European nobility, the ancestry of Maria Theresa of Tuscany was unusual. In fact, her parents had the same four grandparents, so they were

double cousins A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

when they married: this practice of alliances between cousins was still common at that time, given that the families (and notably, including the parents and grandparents of Maria Theresa) had a lot of children, and this avoided dividing the benefit of heirs too much through alliances and their descendants, and the multiplication of nobility titles to satisfy the various claims by descendants. As a consequence, her grandparents consisted of two brother/sister pairs. Her paternal grandfather,

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King of Hungary, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia, and List of rulers of Austria, Archduke of Austri ...

, was the brother of her maternal grandmother,

Maria Carolina of Austria Maria Carolina of Austria (Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia; 13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV and III, who later became King of the Two Sicilies. As ''de facto' ...

. Matching that combination, her paternal grandmother,

Maria Luisa of Spain Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain ( Spanish: ''María Luisa'', German: ''Maria Ludovika''; 24 November 1745 – 15 May 1792) was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the spouse of Leopold II, ...

, was the sister of her maternal grandfather,

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I (Italian language, Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand I ...

. Because of this she only had four great-grandparents rather than the usual eight. (Although not so unusual, it may be worth pointing out that her grandmothers and great-grandmothers, as well as her mother or herself and her sister, or her daughter were all surnamed "Maria".)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Theresa Of Austria 1801-1855 1801 births 1855 deaths Nobility from Vienna House of Habsburg-Lorraine Princesses of Savoy Queen mothers Queens consort of Sardinia Austrian princesses Burials at the Basilica of Superga Italian nobility Princesses of Carignan Italian exiles Daughters of dukes Mothers of Sardinian monarchs Daughters of prince-electors