MAKIA THERESA 



MA HIE ANTOINETTE 



bean* crowned king of Bohemia and emperor a* 

 Cfearie* VII. ( 1742). The young queen wa* saved 

 by the chivairotM fidelity of the Hungarians, to 

 weeloy 



.,. , 



wnoaeloyaJty >hp nppntlcsl. with IHT infant wm in 

 m*, in 'a timng opeech 



Pre*burg. an<l he wa upiNirt-d by the a**itance 

 of Britain. l>ul nnt of all l-y her own 



at the diet helil in 

 nUtance 

 rexolute 



pint. The war ( the Austrian 

 'alter laming mure than ceven years, wait term in 

 ated by the peace of Aix la'Chapelle in ITi- 

 Ttie emprm queen lost Sileaia and (ilatz to 

 Prn-*ia, the duchies of Parma, Piacenxa, anil 

 Gnatll to Spain. and mime Milanme district* 

 .rdinia. On tli- i>tli<-r hand. her title* were 

 fully m-ncniwd. an well aa that of her himhand. 

 who had been nominated emperor ( 174.' i, Charles | 

 of liavaria having in the meantime dii-d. I hiring 

 the yean of peace that ennoed Maria Thereaa 

 inctitaled important financial reforms. did her 

 ntniit to fcMter agriculture, manufacture*. and 

 oommerre, and improved and nearly doubled tin- 

 national revenue*, whili-t tin- burdens were diiuin- 

 jihod At tlie aame time she charged Mundial 

 Daan to reorganise and redincipline her armies. 

 In Kauniu (q.v. ) idle had a minister possessed of 

 wimluni and energy. and in hi* hand* i>he left for 

 the mom part the management of tin- foreign rela- 

 tion* f the empire. Hut the lux* of Silt-sin, e>|M-- 

 ciallv the conduct of Frederick the (ireat, which 

 had WiMight IIINIII ln-r tlnit !>-. lankh-d deeply in 

 her mind : ami, France having liven gained as an 

 ally through the addrea* of Kitunit/. she renewed 

 the contact with the Prussian king. Hut the issue 

 of the Seven Yean' War (q.r.) wan to confirm 

 Frederick in the poMw>ion of Silesia, On the 

 nmcluoinn of ho*tflitiea the emprem renewed her 

 effort* ! promote the national prosperity, amelior- 

 ating the condition of the pemiantry. mitigating 

 the penal code. founding school., MBaOBblf great 

 charitable Mieietiea, in short promoting tin- welfare 

 of her rabjecu l>y all the wine art* of peaceful 

 pliiftHa*. tier win li>~-|ili, elected king of the 

 Roman* in I7fli, he asmciated. after the death of 



her hnhand ( ITU), with henelf in the government 

 of her In-military tal*, bat in reality cominitteil 

 to him the charge only of military affaire. She 

 joined with Ituiwia ami Pnimia in the limt parti, 

 tii m of I'nland (177'Jl. whereliy Cali>-ia and Lodo- 

 metia were add<t t her doininionn. She ali 

 olitainnl fr-ini the l'ort<* Itnkowina (1777). On 

 till of the rhihllew Kle.-tr of Bavaria 

 AiKtria unccwwfullr aiertel her claim to the 

 nuartrr of the Inn' and one or two other ili- 

 tr>rt. Maria Thrima dial 29th Novemlier 17*1. 

 Perwmally a woman of majmlic nml winning 

 aj>|varance. nhe wan aninmt<-<l l.\ truly repil nen- 

 Uinrnt* and nn iin-l.iuiii- ! -|.irit : nn.| l.y thin rare 

 onion of feminine tart with maivtiline eiu-r^y ami 

 reatlem JUIUKV. mhe not only won the afTection 

 and even enthusiastic a<lmiration of her *iil.j. .!.. 

 bnt abe rained Anntria fmm a inont wretcheil con- 

 4iUon in a position of aiure<l |M>wer. Her reign 

 mark* the transition of Aiulria from a medieval 

 to a modem tate; and hv her Hforta the licj-iiinini; 

 WM Met awfully made of fount; into ~i\>Tt-i-nty 

 MM Meregentoiii land* ruled over by th<- II 

 Hapibtirc. Although a Maloa. Unman Catholic. 

 Maria Therm maintained the right* of her own 

 rrown fiinrt the eonrt of Rom*, and endnavnun-l 

 to correct BOOM of the worn abunea in the rhurch. 

 Of her Ira ntvnin K ' chiMren. th el.|e*t .m, .limeph 

 II.. r.-mnlml her: l^npold. (Jrand <luke of Tun 

 eany. fnllowe.1 hi* brother on the imi-iml throne a> 

 LMpoU II. : Ferdinand hmune IhiLe of Mo.lenn : 

 and Marie Antoinette wan mamc.1 i., Ix.ui- \ \ I 

 of Franea. f*e Htrtnry by Ameth < \ \\: IMUI 

 Tff. an AnMrian venOon). other work. l>y the tame 

 writw. bjr l>oller, Karo-horn, and A. Wolf, the 



begun hy Pucde Broglie in 1HS-J ( Kng. trans. 

 itHt3). and the' work- quoted under l-'i:KHKIilcK II. 



Harin/.rll. the moet fiimoiis place of pil^iiin- 

 a^-e ill Aimtria, i Mtimteil in the i-xtienie north of 

 Miiia. i"> milei. N. of llnick and 00 S\V. of 

 \ ii-iiiia. It i vi(*itl by tbonaand* of pilgrim* 

 annually. lwnide> numeroiiH visitors attracted hy 

 it- nnnantic scenery. The image of the Virgin 

 < hiought hen- in ll':>7), the object of the |iilgrim- 

 ageii, IH enohrineil in a magniliceiit elniich, Imilt in 

 lii4 on the site of an older one. Pop. KMJ5. Four 

 mile* from the village are important ironworks. 

 1 1 unit bj Fnihwirth (1882). 



Marie Am flic, iguoeii of Loni*-PhUippe(q.T.). 



Marlr Antoinette. .IOSKI-HE .IK.AXXK, the' 

 moKt ill-fatl among the ijiicens of France, was 

 liom on the ilny of the grent earthquake at I.i>lMin, 

 il NovenilM-r 17.Vi. the fourth datighu-r of Maria 

 Theresa and the Emperor Francis I. From her 

 cradle *he wan ilestinetl hv her nmhitiouti mother 

 to be queen of France, and to that end wan edu- 

 cated, although hut indifferently, by the AM* 1 ' de 

 Vermond. The imirriage won negotiated by the 

 Due de Choi-iMiI early in 1770, and took pl:iee on 

 May Iti, but wan dartened a fortnight later by an 

 ill-omencd panic during the great fftc of fireworks 

 given in its honour by the city of Paris, in which 

 wime hundreds of people perianed. The beautiful 

 young dauphinem HOOII found her position full of 

 dilliculties, and the stiff and stately etiquette <if 

 the old French court wearied her to death. A 

 mere child in years, married to a dull, decorous, 

 and heavy husband, who wax, moreover, for some 

 \i-ais indifferent to her person, she found relief in 

 a capricious rivklcne*- of conduct and a dis- 

 reganl for conventions, and HO from the commence- 

 ment hiiil hei-i-lf n|M'ii to serious scandals for 

 which there never was any n-ul ground but her 

 own indiscretion. Her night drivtv to Paris, lier 

 ap|iearaiiee at masked balls, her extravagance and 

 nnili*giiiscd love for the card-table., ami her open 

 favour to handsome and profligate young men, 

 were misread into shameless immoralities, and (die 

 hail lost her reputation lonj; before she awoke to 

 a setiHe of her rcs|>otisibiliiies. In May 1774 the 

 death of Louis XV. made her actual queen of 

 France, and she soon deepened the distrust and 

 dislike of her Milijccts by her undisguised devotion 

 to the interest* of Austria, as well as her thonght- 

 lem op|Hisition to all the measures devised by 

 Tiirgot and Necker for relieving the financial dis- 

 tre of the country. The miseries of France be- 

 came in the popular imagination identified with 

 the extravagant pleasnirs of the queen, and in the 

 miserable affair of the Diamond Necklace her 

 guilt was at once taken for granted, not only by 

 I 'HI is but the whole country, and 'the An-tii:in' lie-* 

 came the object of the frcn/iiil hatred of a starving 

 |iqde. The act of accusation against Calonne was 

 in the exit, of the mob that of the court and of the 

 queen. Shnuers nf \inilcnt pamphlets rained from 

 nlUidcii.and Madame Pi-licit 'and 'Madame Veto' 

 wen- some of the names in which a maddened 

 profile shiiekiil their hatted against their Mivereign. 



Meantime the joyous frivolity of the girl had 

 changi-d into the courage and obstinacy of the 

 woman who mnde hentelf a centre of opposition 

 to all new idea*, and prompted the poor vacil- 

 lating king into a retrograde policy to his own 

 undoing. She was capable of strength rising to 

 the heroic a Mirahc.au once said, the only man 

 the king had aliout him was his wife. And she 

 |MWM>M>e<l the power of inspiring enthusiasm in all 

 noble -ou U with whom she came into contact, as is 

 evidenced by the iicrsonal influence she e.\etci~.d 

 n. Mirabean, and llarnave. Amid the 

 horrors of the march of women to Versailles ( Octo- 



