MARIA AMALIA OF AUSTRIA

Maria Amalia of Austria – Holy Roman Empress against the odds.

Maria Amalia of Austria was born on 22 October 1701 as the youngest child of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Luneburg. She was born three months after the death of her only brother Leopold Joseph, and so the disappointment in her gender was great. However, her elder sister Maria Josepha, born in 1699, did survive infancy.

Her father lived quite a licentious lifestyle, and soon after Maria Amalia's birth, he passed a venereal disease to her mother, rendering her unable to have more children. He had reportedly contracted the disease from the daughter of a court gardener, but Wilhelmine Amalie blamed herself for the infection. Joseph's mother was supportive of her daughter-in-law and had her son's procurers thrown into the fortress prison. There was little she could do to her son, especially when he succeeded his father in 1705.

Even before his father's death, worries existed about the succession, and the family began to plan for the possibility of female succession. Joseph and his younger brother Charles battled it out, with Joseph insisting that his daughters should take precedence over any of Charles's daughters. At this time, Charles was not even married yet. They eventually signed the Mutual Pact of Succession, which made Maria Josepha the heiress in case Charles did not have any sons. Joseph enjoyed his freedom as Emperor a little too much. He managed a steady stream of mistresses with his favourite drinking and hunting pal, Count Johann Philip von Lamberg. His main mistress was Marianne Palffy, whom he paraded around in public and showered with gifts, despite protests by Wilhelmine Amalie.

Meanwhile, Maria Amalia and her sister Maria Josepha grew up at the Imperial Court of their father. She was not even 10 years old when her father died quite suddenly on 17 April 1711 during a smallpox epidemic. He was succeeded by his brother Charles, who was elected Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, in October. The three Empresses – Joseph's mother Eleonore Magdalene, Maria Amalia's mother Wilhelmine Amalie and Charles's wife Elisabeth Christine – had not officially been informed of the pact that had been signed but they suspected that it existed. When they finally managed to get the document from Charles, he had announced his wish to change it in favour of his own (future) daughters. Though he eventually did have a son with his wife, the boy lived for just 7 months. The marriage also produced two surviving daughters – the future heiress Maria Theresa and Maria Anna.

Maria Amalia was described as resembling her mother; she was short in stature, very lively and self-confident. She was also known for her piety. She was just 16 years old when she met her future husband, Charles Albert, the eldest surviving son of the Elector of Bavaria, who visited Vienna on his way to campaign against the Turks in Belgrade. He returned via Vienna as well, as he was quite interested in marrying into the Habsburg family. Although her elder sister Maria Josepha was perhaps politically more interesting, she was already promised to another. Maria Amalia would receive a rich dowry, including jewels worth nearly one million guilders.

Maria Amalia was made to renounce her rights of inheritance before the wedding could finally go ahead in 1722. On 5 October 1722, Maria Amalia and Charles Albert were married by the Archbishop of Vienna in the court chapel of the Favorita summer palace. The bride was flanked by her mother and grandmother as she entered the chapel. Although the new bride would move to Bavaria with a huge entourage, it was agreed ahead of time that this would eventually be reduced to accommodate her new status. Her husband was, after all, not the Elector yet.

The relationship between Maria Amalia and Charles Albert is difficult to pinpoint. Charles Albert's biographer wrote that he "lived with his wife in a very happy manner", but the same can probably not be said for Maria Amalia. He wrote of her that she "knew how to adapt herself to his temperament." Based on individual reports from the court, it appears that Charles Albert sometimes beat his wife, tore out clumps of her hair and that these episodes sometimes took place in the public sphere of the court in Munich.

Nevertheless, Maria Amalia was quickly pregnant with her first child, which turned out to be a short-lived girl born in 1723. A second daughter – named Maria Antonia Walpurgis – was born on 18 July 1724, followed by a third daughter – named Theresa Benedicta – on 6 December 1725. The heir to the throne, a son named Maximilian Joseph, was finally born on 28 March 1727 and his birth strengthened Maria Amalia's position at court considerably. Just one year before, Charles Albert had succeeded his father as Elector of Bavaria, so Maria Amalia was now not only the mother of the heir but also the first lady of the court.

Charles Albert let Maria Amalia take part in council meetings, and she was known to perform her courtly duties in a most disciplined manner. However, she also enjoyed spending time on her favourite pastime of hunting. This was apparently much to the annoyance of her ladies-in-waiting, who did not have "a beautiful complexion" because they had to accompany her on the hunt no matter the weather conditions.1 Despite being given access to council meetings, Maria Amalia was not very politically active, though she was interested in politics. Maria Amalia had a lively correspondence with her sister-in-law Maria Anna Karoline, who lived as a nun under the name Sister Therese Emanuele in the Poor Clare Monastery in Munich, and they sometimes discussed politics. She also occasionally visited her sister-in-law, often whenever she had given birth to another child to present the child to her. After Maximilian Joseph's birth in 1727, she gave birth to three more children – a son and two daughters but her second son would die at the age of five.

In 1740, Maria Amalia's uncle Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, died at the age of 55. Having renounced her claim to the Austrian lands and in recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction 1713 (which gave Charles's daughters precedence over Maria Amalia and her elder sister), her cousin Maria Theresa succeeded him. Nevertheless, not all parties were in agreement, and the War of the Austrian Succession broke out – with Maria Amalia's husband also claiming the succession. After coming to an agreement with King Augustus III of Poland, the husband of Maria Amalia's elder sister Maria Josepha who had a stronger claim, Charles Albert successfully invaded Bohemia.

Subsequently, Maria Amalia was crowned Queen (consort) of Bohemia in Prague on 7 December 1741. Charles Albert also managed to get elected as Holy Roman Emperor in 1742, and they both received imperial coronations in Frankfurt on 12 and 14 February 1742, respectively. However, Maria Theresa did not quite give up so easily, and Austria occupied Bavaria, bleeding it dry. With Bavaria's fortunes so suddenly turned, her husband was now an Emperor without land, and he remained exiled in Frankfurt. He also did not succeed in having his eldest son elected as King of the Romans as his heir, and he was widely mocked with the Latin saying et Caesar et nihil, meaning "both Emperor and nothing."

In October 1744, Charles Albert managed to regain Munich, and he was able to return home. But it turned out that he went home to die. Already suffering from gout, he died on 20 January 1745 at the age of 47. Perhaps Maria Amalia's most politically influential moments came after her husband's death. Her son turned 18 years old three months after his father's death, and when he was not in Munich, it was she who wielded the powers of government, which was well known to all the ambassadors. Maria Amalia also pledged her jewellery to support the troops if it came to it, and this news was met with wide approval. She did not retire to her widow's residence as expected and remained active in Munich.

Her son eventually made peace with his mother's cousin Maria Theresa upon his mother's advice, and Maria Theresa's husband Francis was elected as Holy Roman Emperor. Maria Amalia outlived her husband for ten years and died on 11 December 1756 at the age of 55. She did not live to see her youngest daughter marry Maria Theresa's son Joseph II, though this union was destined to be short and childless.

Her heart was removed from her body and buried separately in the Shrine of Our Lady of Altotting. Her body was interred in the Theatine Church in Munich.

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