Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (born 1770)

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Archduchess Maria Anna
Born21 April 1770
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died1 October 1809 (aged 39)
Neudorf, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire
Burial
Neudorf
Names
Maria Anna Ferdinanda Josepha Charlotte Johanna
HouseHabsburg-Lorraine
FatherLeopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherInfanta Maria Luisa of Spain

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (German: Maria Anna Ferdinanda Josepha Charlotte Johanna; 21 April 1770 – 1 October 1809) was an archduchess of Austria as the daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and became princess-abbess of the Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies in Prague.

Life[edit]

Maria Anna with her older brother Ferdinand in 1770 on a painting by Anton Raphael Mengs.

Maria Anna was the fourth of the sixteen children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. She was born in Florence, the capital of Tuscany where her father reigned as grand duke from 1765 to 1790. Her father was a son of Empress Maria Theresa, sovereign of the Habsburg monarchy, and her mother a daughter of King Charles III of Spain.

She had a happy childhood surrounded by her many siblings. They were given a different upbringing than was usual for royal children at the time: they were raised by their parents rather than by servants, were largely kept apart from the ceremonies of court life and was taught to live simply, naturally, and modestly.[1]

Maria Anna's memorial.

In 1791, she became abbess of the Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies in Prague, a monastic chapter of secular canonesses founded by Maria Anna's grandmother, Maria Theresa for poor noblewomen. In 1809, she travelled to Neudorf (today a part of Zăbrani, Romania) where she died on 1 October, aged thirty-nine. In 1841, her nephew, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria commissioned a funerary plaque of Carrara marble.

Ancestors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Justin C. Vovk: In Destiny's Hands: Five Tragic Rulers, Children of Maria Theresa (2010)
  2. ^ 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. 109.

Bibliography[edit]


Preceded by Abbess at the Theresian Convent in Prague
1791–1800
Succeeded by