Maria Theresa The Habsburg empress in her time
Book - 2021
"In her time, Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was the most powerful woman in the world. She ruled the Habsburg Empire from 1740-1780, an era when empires dominated Europe. She was the sovereign of a vast empire, ruling Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Flanders, and other Habsburg territories, and by marriage she was, among other titles, the Holy Roman Empress. Maria Theresa began her reign at the age of 23 after her father, Emperor Charles VI, died. Immediately after his death, her right to inherit the throne was challenged by most of the sovereign rulers of Europe. Despite setbacks such as the loss of Silesia, her richest province, to her life-long enemy Frederick II of Prussia, Maria Theresa proved to be a highly effective... ruler. She initiated financial and educational reforms, promoted commerce, and reorganized the army, all of which strengthened Austria's resources. She was a key figure in the power politics of eighteenth-century Europe and she brought unity to the Habsburg Monarchy and was considered one of its most capable leaders. Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I also had sixteen children, most famously Marie Antoinette. Stollberg-Rilinger's biography challenges many of the myths that surround Maria Theresa's reign, such as that she came to the throne completely naïve and unprepared. Stollberg-Rilinger shows that from early childhood on, Maria Theresa carefully observed what went on in court and how her father acted as a monarch dealing with sovereigns across Europe. She clears away the gendered misconceptions surrounding Maria Theresa's life and, through fresh, critical readings of the source material, reveals the historical reality. She also refutes anachronistic narratives that assume a false continuity between Maria Theresa's time and later periods. Unlike previous biographers, Stollberg-Rilinger is able to paint a detailed portrait of Maria Theresa as Empress, "king," and reformer, and as a mother and master manipulator, by reconstructing the world in which the Austrian Empress lived and reigned"--
- Subjects
- Genres
- Biographies
History - Published
-
Princeton, New Jersey :
Princeton University Press
[2021]
- Language
- English
German - Main Author
- Other Authors
- Item Description
- Translated from the German.
- Physical Description
- xiii, 1,045 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map, genealogical tables ; 25 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 963-1021) and index.
- ISBN
- 9780691179063
- Translator's Note
- Map of Habsburg Territories
- 1. Prologue
- Monumental History
- Male Fantasies
- An Extraordinary Ordinary Case
- 2. The Heiress Presumptive
- Rituals and Relics
- Theatrum Europaeum
- Back Stage and Front Stage
- Courtly Curriculum
- Dynastic Chess Moves
- The Wedding
- The Court Cosmos
- The Logic of Favor
- Broker of Imperial Patronage
- The Hapless Husband
- 3. The War of Succession
- A Change of Rule
- Loyal and Disloyal Hungarians
- The Queen Is Naked
- Waging War from Afar
- Waging War Up Close
- Pandurentheresl
- 4. Empress, Emperor, Empire
- Imperial Coronation
- Francis I
- Imperial Politics
- Loyal Clients
- 5. Reforms
- The Machinery of State
- Old Customs
- A New System
- "I Am No Longer What I Was ..."
- Change of Favorites
- Another New System
- The Legacy of Reform
- 6. Body Politics
- Beauty
- Love and Libertinage
- Chastity Campaign
- Rwmors
- Disciplining Subjects
- Births
- 7. Distinctions and Refinements
- Audiences
- Commoners at Court
- Distinctions and Refinements
- The Lord of the Signs
- Court Timetable
- Work on Charisma
- Solemnities and Diversions
- Knights of the Round Table
- 8. The Seven Years' War
- Revenge
- Seven years' War
- Imperial War, Religious War
- Media War, Information War
- Disastrous Balance
- 9. Dynastic Capital
- Little Lords and Ladies
- Princely Pedagogy
- Victims of Politics
- Isabella of Parma
- Another Victim
- God and ran Swieten
- 10. Mother and Son
- Death in Innsbruck
- An Emperor without a Country
- How Enlightenment Came to the Court
- Trials of Strength
- The Regency Dilemma
- Cutting Up the "Polish Cake"
- 11. The Religion of Rule
- On Earth as It Is in Heaven
- Rational Religion
- Public and Private Religion
- Church Policy
- Vampires, Faith Healers, and Calendar Makers
- Freethinkers and Fashionable Philosophers
- 12. Strangers Within
- Unity and Diversity
- "Fear and Loathing": The Jews
- "Incurable Mangy Sheep": Crypto-Protestants
- Our Good Turks
- 13. Subjects
- Our Loyal Subjects
- Information Overload
- Diligence and Discipline
- New Schools
- Iustitia et Clementia
- Rebellion in Bohemia
- The Last War
- 14. The Autumn of the Matriarch
- Fallen into the Sere
- Alter Ego Maria Christina
- Model Sons, Model States
- Recalcitrant Daughters
- Carolina of Naples
- Amalia of Parma
- Marie Antoinette
- Maximilian
- Stay-at-Homes
- Bad Weather for a Great Journey
- 15. Epilogue
- Princely Virtues
- Control Fantasies
- Out of Step
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Notes
- References
- Genealogical Tables
- Illustration Credits
- Index of Names