Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (governor)

Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (13 December 1680 in Linz – 26 August 1741 in Mariemont, Morlanwelz), was the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1725 and 1741.

Archduchess Maria Elisabeth
Archduchess of Austria
Portrait by Jan van Orley
Governor of the Austrian Netherlands
In office
Autumn 1725 – 26 August 1741
Preceded byPrince Eugene of Savoy
Succeeded byCount Friedrich August von Harrach-Rohrau (interim)
Born13 December 1680
Linz, Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died26 August 1741 (aged 60)
Château of Mariemont, Morlanwelz, County of Hainaut, Austrian Netherlands
Burial
Imperial Crypt, Vienna
FatherLeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherEleonore Magdalene of Neuburg
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Joyous Entry into Brussels of Archduchess Maria Elisabeth on 9 October 1725 by Andreas Martin

Life

Maria Elisabeth was a daughter of Emperor Leopold I and Eleonore-Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg. She was well educated and fluent in Latin, German, French and Italian. She never married.

Governor

In 1725, she was appointed Prince Eugene of Savoy's successor as the regent governor of the Austrian Netherlands by her brother, Charles VI.

Maria Elisabeth was described as a forceful administrator and a popular regent. Her independent politics, however, were not always appreciated in Vienna. She suspended the Ostend Company in 1727 and closed it in 1731.

She had enough financial means at her disposal to uphold an elaborate court which stimulated culture and music. Among others, she patronized Jean-Joseph Fiocco, her maestro di cappella who dedicated several oratorios to her between 1726 and 1738.

The architect Jean-Andre Anneessens designed the Château of Mariemont for her, where she spent her summers. Also, he renovated the Tervuren castle for her.

Death

She died unexpectedly at the age of 60, at Mariemont. She was then displayed at a public Lit-de-parade in Brussels 29 August. She was first buried in Brussels, then moved to Vienna in 1749 to the Imperial Crypt next to her brother Charles.

Ancestors

References
  1. Eder, Karl (1961), "Ferdinand II.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 5, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 83–85; (full text online)
  2. Eder, Karl (1961), "Ferdinand III.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 5, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 85–86; (full text online)
  3. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 100.
  4. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria Anna von Bayern" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 23 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  5. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Philipp III." . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 120 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  6. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Maria Anna von Spanien" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 23 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  7. Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Margaretha (Königin von Spanien)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 13 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  8. Breitenbach, Josef (1898), "Wolfgang Wilhelm", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 44, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 87–116
  9. Fuchs, Peter (2001), "Philipp Wilhelm", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 20, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 384; (full text online)
  10. Wolf, Joseph Heinrich (1844). Das Haus Wittelsbach. Bayern's Geschichte (in German). p. 281.
  11. Becker, Wilhelm Martin (1964), "Georg II.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 217; (full text online)
  12. Louda, Jirí; MacLagan, Michael (1999). Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.). London: Little, Brown and Company. table 84.
  13. Flathe, Heinrich Theodor (1881), "Johann Georg I. (Kurfürst von Sachsen)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 14, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 376–381
  • Cécile Douxchamps-Lefevre : Marie-Élisabeth. In: Nouvelle Biographie nationale de Belgique, Bd. 2 (1990), S. 267–270.
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