Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

For other people named Maria Theresa of Austria, see Maria Theresa of Austria (disambiguation).

Maria Theresa of Austria
Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria (c. 1835).
Queen of the Two Sicilies
Consort	27 January 1837 – 22 May 1859
Spouse	Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Issue
Louis, Count of Trani Alfonso, Count of Caserta Maria Annunciata, Archduchess of Austria Maria Immaculata, Archduchess of Austria Prince Gaetan, Count of Girgenti Maria Pia, Duchess of Parma Prince Pasquale, Count of Bari Maria Immacolata, Countess of Bardi Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone
Full name
Maria Theresia Isabella
House	House of Bourbon House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Mother	Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg
Born	31 July 1816(1816-07-31) Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	8 August 1867(1867-08-08) (aged 51) Albano Laziale, Italy
Burial	Basilica of Santa Chiara, Naples
Religion	Roman Catholic

Maria Theresa of Austria (Maria Theresia Isabella; 31 July 1816 – 8 August 1867) was the second wife of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.

Family

She was the eldest daughter of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg.

Her paternal grandparents were Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg (1768–1816) and his wife Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg.

Frederick William was the eldest surviving son of Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg and Princess Wilhelmine Carolina of Orange-Nassau.

Wilhelmine Carolina was a daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal. Anne was in turn the eldest daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach.

Queen

On 27 January 1837, Maria Theresa married Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. The bride was almost twenty-one years old and the groom twenty-seven.

Queen Maria Theresa is described as badly dressed and did not answer to the ideal of a regal person: she disliked her public role and life at court and preferred to confine her self to her private rooms dedicated to needlework and her children. She had a good relationship to both her spouse and her stepson Francis: her stepson respected her and she used to demonstratively call him her son. Maria Theresa was interested in politics: she is known to have acted as the king's advisor and to have influenced him to be strict, and when she could not be present at the reception of officials and wished to hear the conversation, she listened to the talk behind the door. She nursed Ferdinand at his death bed.

Queen Dowager

At the death of her spouse, she intended to continue her political activity by being the advisor of her stepson Francis, the new monarch. Francis was willing, and her authoritarian policy has been considered to contribute to the public discontent which lead to the abolishment of the Kingdom of Naples. Francis' spouse Maria Sophia, however, disputed her influence and Francis had a difficult position in the conflict between his wife and stepmother, without being able to satisfy either. Maria Sophia informed Francis about a plot created by Maria Theresa with the attempt to put the biological son of Maria Theresa on the throne, but Francis chose to believe Maria Theresa when she swore her innocence. It was not until the revolts against the monarchy had already begun that Francis decided to listen to the advice of his wife rather than his stepmother. Maria Theresa was among the first to leave Naples during the revolt: first to Gaeta with her children and advisors, and then to Rome. She resided in the same palace as Francis and Maria Sophia would use when they arrived. She died in cholera, nursed by her stepson Francis, who mourned her greatly.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Lodovico, Count of Trani	1 August 1838	8 June 1886	Married Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria, sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Their only daughter, Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, married Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.
Alberto, Count of Castrogiovanni	17 September 1839	12 July 1844	Died in childhood.
Alfonso, Count of Caserta	28 March 1841	26 May 1934	Married his first cousin Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and has issue. The current lines of Bourbon-Two Sicilies descend from him.
Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies	24 March 1843	4 May 1871	Married Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria.
Maria Immaculata Clementina of the Two Sicilies	14 April 1844	18 February 1899	Married Archduke Karl Salvator of Austria, Prince of Tuscany.
Gaetano, Count of Girgenti	12 January 1846	26 November 1871	In 1868, he married Isabel, Infanta of Spain (eldest daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain) and was created Infante of Spain.
Giuseppe, Count of Lucera	4 March 1848	28 September 1851	Died in childhood.
Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies	21 August 1849	29 September 1882	Married Roberto I Duke of Parma and Piacenza.
Vincenzo, Count of Melazzo	26 April 1851	13 October 1854	Died in childhood.
Pasquale, Count of Bari	15 September 1852	21 December 1904	Married morganatically to Blanche Marconnay.
Maria Louisa of the Two Sicilies	21 January 1855	23 February 1874	Married Prince Henry of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi.
Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone	28 February 1857	13 August 1867	Died in childhood.

Ancestry

Sources

• This page is a translation of its Italian equivalent.

External links

Media related to Maria Theresa of Austria (1816–1867) at Wikimedia Commons

• A listing of descendants of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen

See also

Persondata
Name	Maria Theresa Of Austria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	31 July 1816
Place of birth	Vienna, Austrian Empire
Date of death	8 August 1867
Place of death	Albano Laziale, Italy