Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (13 December 1680 in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

– 26 August 1741 in Mariemont,

Morlanwelz Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...

), was the governor of the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...

between 1725 and 1741.

Life

Maria Elisabeth was a daughter of Emperor Leopold I and

Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (Eleonore Magdalene Therese; 6 January 1655 – 19 January 1720) was a princess of the House of Wittelsbach who became Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia as the ...

. She was well educated and fluent in Latin, German, French and Italian. She never married.

Governor

In 1725, she was appointed

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

's successor as the regent governor of the Austrian Netherlands by her brother, Charles VI. Maria Elisabeth was described as a forceful administrator and a popular regent. Her independent politics, however, were not always appreciated in Vienna. She suspended the

Ostend Company The Ostend Company ( nl, Oostendse Compagnie, french: Compagnie d'Ostende), officially the General Company Established in the Austrian Netherlands for Commerce and Navigation in the Indies () was a chartered trading company in the Austrian Netherl ...

in 1727 and closed it in 1731. She had enough financial means at her disposal to uphold an elaborate court which stimulated culture and music. Among others, she patronized

Jean-Joseph Fiocco Jean-Joseph Fiocco (15 December 1686 – 30 March 1746) was a Flemish composer of the high and late Baroque period. His father was the Venetian composer Pietro Antonio Fiocco (1654–1714), and his brothers included the violinist Joseph-Hector. ...

, her maestro di cappella who dedicated several oratorios to her between 1726 and 1738. The architect Jean-Andre Anneessens designed the palace Mariemont for her, where she spent her summers.

Death

She died unexpectedly at Mariemont, upon which she was displayed at a public Lit-de-parade in Brussels 29 August. When she died at the age of 61, she was first buried in Brussels, but moved to Vienna in 1749, where she lies now in the Imperial Crypt next to her brother Charles.

Ancestors

References

* Cécile Douxchamps-Lefevre : Marie-Élisabeth. In: Nouvelle Biographie nationale de Belgique, Bd. 2 (1990), S. 267–270.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Elisabeth of Austria, Archduchess 1680 births 1741 deaths 17th-century Austrian women 18th-century Austrian women 18th-century House of Habsburg Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands Austrian princesses People from Linz Nobility of the Austrian Netherlands Burials at the Imperial Crypt Burials at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna 18th-century women rulers Politicians of the Austrian Netherlands Daughters of emperors Women of the Austrian Netherlands Children of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Daughters of kings