MARIA THERESA
(Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina)
The priest had come to the Empress to complain about the debauchery of her Prime Minister and made the error of describing him as the first man of the empire. The story may be apocryphal but it illustrates the character of the Empress. The source of the exact words are given in the historical novel, Luise Muhlbach, Joseph II. and His Court
Her daughter did not then take the advice and when she did regret it, as her mother had warned, it was too late. She was executed in the French Revolution. It is by no means clear however that had she taken the advice and respected the French customs more, the result would have been any different. The revolutionary forces of France at the time were building and the Queen’s behavior gave the revolutionists a soft target, but there were many other troubles in France---most much more important than court behavior of the queen.
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions, ruling from 1740 until her death in 1780. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress.
