Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa
Maria Beatrice d' Este ( born April 7, 1750 in Modena, † November 14, 1829 in Vienna) was Archduchess of Austria, and from 1790 to 1797 and from 1814 to 1829 Duchess of Massa and Carrara. Maria Beatrice brought to the inheritance of their father, the duchies of Modena and Reggio, and her mother, the duchies of Massa and Carrara, the Habsburgs, the inheritance and became the founder of the line of Austria -Este.
Ethnicity, Youth and Marriage
Maria Beatrice d' Este Ricciarda was born on April 7, 1750 as the first child and the only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III. d' Este, and his wife Maria Teresa Cybo - Malaspina ( a daughter of the Duke of Massa and Carrara Alderano ) in Modena the light of day. When her younger brother Rinaldo, the heir of the house of Este, died in 1753 a few months after his birth, it was the absence of male heirs to the sole heir to the Duchy of Modena and the Duchy of Reggio. In addition, she inherited from her mother nor the Duchy of Massa and Carrara.
As the inheritor of four duchies Maria Beatrice was a coveted role on the European marriage market and attracted the attention of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who sought to advantageous dynastic relations between the House of Habsburg and Italian royal houses as part of their marriage plans. Maria Theresa, who forged early marriage plans for her fourteen surviving children, had the intention to connect the Duchy of Modena with the House of Habsburg.
Archduke Ferdinand Karl was therefore already at the earliest age with the only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Maria Beatrice, engaged. On October 15, 1771 17 -year-old Duke finally married in Milan four years older than Maria Beatrice d' Este (also called Maria Beatrix d'Este ). Part of the wedding festivities were the premieres of operas Il Ruggiero by Johann Adolph Hasse and Ascanio in Alba by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The marriage of Ferdinand Karl and Maria Beatrice was happy.
Progeny
Maria Beatrice and her husband had nine children and founded the line of Habsburg D'Este.
- Maria Theresia (1773-1832) ∞ Victor Emmanuel I. of Sardinia
- Franz Joseph (1775-1776)
- Maria Leopoldine (1776-1848) ∞ Karl Theodor of Bavaria and Count Ludwig von Arco
- Franz IV (1779-1846), 1814-1846 Duke of Modena
- Ferdinand Karl Joseph (1781-1850), from 1830 Governor General of Galicia
- Maximilian Joseph (1782-1863), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
- Maria Antonia (1784-1786)
- Charles Ambrose (1785-1809), Archbishop of Gran
- Maria Ludovica (1787-1816) ∞ Emperor Francis I of Austria
Marriage, widowhood and death
In 1780 Ferdinand Karl governor of Lombardy, where he was supported by his wife. Politically, he was as powerless as his older sister Maria Christina of Austria as regent of the Netherlands. Joseph II did not let his brother a lot of room. Nevertheless, the couple was very popular mainly because of its social commitment among the population. Maria Beatrice devoted himself personally to the education of their children and turned her attention primarily on her youngest daughter Maria Ludovica.
After her mother (1790) the death of Maria Beatrice followed her as Duchess of Massa and Carrara. Your inheritance rights to their father's inheritance, however, went, as no female succession was allowed to pass to her eldest son Franz. But Napoleon's invasion in Milan in 1796 forced Ferdinand Karl and his family to flee from the French troops. After living in Trieste and Brno, the Duchess sat down with some of the children in Wiener Neustadt, while Ferdinand Karl with the older sons in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna was referring residence.
End of 1806 died Ferdinand Karl. The now widowed Maria Beatrice was in January 1808 due to the marriage of their daughter Maria Ludovica with Francis I of Austria Empress Dowager. She showed herself very politically interested, maintained a lively correspondence with her youngest daughter and tried persistently to get back their inheritance. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, she received then again the domination of Massa and Carrara, and also by virtue of the provisions of the Vienna Congress, the imperial fiefs in the Lunigiana, while her eldest son, Francis IV Duke of Modena and Reggio has now. After she died on November 14, 1829 at the age of 79 years, which ruled from their territory was united with Modena. Your final resting place took Maria Beatrice in the Vienna Imperial Crypt.
In 1862 in Vienna Landstrasse (3rd district) was named the Beatrixgasse for her and 1916, the space at the Modena Park; of Modena Park is also named after her.