Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este

Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este (Modena, April 7 1750 – Vienna, November 14 1829) was heiress of Modena and Reggio and Duchess of Massa and Carrara from 1790 until 1797 and from 1816 until her death in 1829.

Maria Beatrice Ricciarda was the only daughter of Duke Ercole III d'Este of Modena and Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina.

As heiress to four Duchies, she was a very attractive wedding partner. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria sought to arrange a marriage between Maria Beatrice Ricciarda and her fourth son Archduke Ferdinand to expand Austrian influence in Italy. The couple was engaged at a very young age and the marriage was celebrated in Milan on october 15 1771.

So the House of Austria-Este was created , a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which ruled Modena between 1814 and 1859. After the death of Maria Beatrice Ricciarda, Massa and Carrara were added to Modena.

Ferdinand and Maria Beatrice Ricciarda had nine children:
*Josef Franz (1772-1772)
*Maria Theresa (1773-1832), married Victor Emanuel I, King of Sardinia
*Josepha (1775-1777)
*Maria Leopoldina (1776-1848), married Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria
*Francis IV (1779-1846), next Duke of Modena, married Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy
*Ferdinand Karl Joseph (1781-1850), Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian army during the Napoleonic Wars
*Maximilian Joseph (1782-1863), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
*Maria Antonia (1784-1786)
*Karl (1785-1809). Archbishop of Esztergom, Primate of Hungary
*Marie Ludovika (1787-1816), married her first cousin Franz I, Emperor of Austria