Editing Maria Theresa (section)

==Family life==
[[File:Maria Theresia Familie.jpg|thumb|Maria Theresa with her family, 1754, by Martin van Meytens]]

===Childbearing===
Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children in nineteen years from 1737 to 1756. Thirteen survived infancy, but only ten survived into adulthood. The first child, [[Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1737)|Maria Elisabeth]] (1737–1740), was born a little less than a year after the wedding. The child's sex caused great disappointment and so would the births of [[Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (born 1738)|Maria Anna]], the eldest surviving child, and [[Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (born 1740)|Maria Carolina]] (1740–1741). While fighting to preserve her inheritance, Maria Theresa gave birth to a son, [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph]], named after [[Saint Joseph]], to whom she had repeatedly prayed for a male child during the pregnancy. Maria Theresa's favourite child, [[Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen|Maria Christina]], was born on her 25th&nbsp;birthday, four days before the defeat of the Austrian army at [[Battle of Chotusitz|Chotusitz]]. Five more children were born during the war: (the second) [[Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1743)|Maria Elisabeth]], [[Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria (born 1745)|Charles]], [[Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma|Maria Amalia]], [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] and (the second) [[Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (stillborn 1748)|Maria Carolina]] (b. & d. 1748). During this period, there was no rest for Maria Theresa during pregnancies or around the births; the war and child-bearing were carried on simultaneously. Five children were born during the peace between the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] and the [[Seven Years' War]]: [[Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria|Maria Johanna]], [[Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria|Maria Josepha]], (the third) [[Maria Caroline of Austria|Maria Carolina]], [[Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este|Ferdinand]] and [[Marie Antoinette|Maria Antonia]]. She delivered her last child, [[Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria|Maximilian Francis]], during the Seven Years' War, aged 39.{{sfn|Mahan|1932|pp=266–271, 313}}{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=291f}} Maria Theresa asserted that, had she not been almost always pregnant, she would have gone into battle herself.{{sfn|Holborn|1982|p=218}}

===Illnesses and deaths===
[[File:Franz Anton Maulbertschl - deceased children of Maria Theresa (Riesensaal).jpg|left|thumb|Mural by [[Franz Anton Maulbertsch]] in the Hofburg, [[Innsbruck]], commissioned by Maria Theresa in remembrance of her daughters who died in childhood: Maria Johanna (1750–1762), Maria Elisabeth (1737–1740), Maria Carolina (1740–1741) and Maria Carolina (1748)]]

Four of Maria Theresa's children died before reaching adolescence. Her eldest daughter Maria Elisabeth died from stomach cramps at the age of three. Her third child, the first of three daughters named Maria Carolina, died shortly after her first birthday. The second Maria Carolina was born feet first in 1748. As it became evident that she would not survive, preparations were hastily made to baptize her while still living; according to traditional Catholic belief, unbaptized infants would be condemned to eternity in [[limbo]]. Maria Theresa's physician [[Gerard van Swieten]] assured her that the infant was still living when baptized, but many at court doubted this.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=306–310}}

Maria Theresa's mother, Empress Elisabeth Christine, died in 1750. Four years later, Maria Theresa's governess, Marie Karoline von Fuchs-Mollard, died. She showed her gratitude to Countess Fuchs by having her buried in the [[Imperial Crypt, Vienna|Imperial Crypt]] along with the members of the imperial family.{{sfn|Mahan|1932|p=22}}

[[Smallpox]] was a constant threat to members of the royal family. Maria Theresa's daughter Maria Christina survived a bout of the disease in July 1749, as did Maria Theresa's eldest son Joseph in January 1757.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|p=507}} In January 1761, the disease killed her second son Charles at the age of fifteen.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=507, 935 n193}} In December 1762, her twelve-year-old daughter Johanna likewise died in agony from the disease.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|p=507}} In November 1763, Joseph's first wife, [[Isabella of Parma]], died from the disease.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=497, 508}} Joseph's second wife, [[Maria Josepha of Bavaria]], likewise caught the disease in May 1767 and died a week later. Maria Theresa ignored the risk of infection and embraced her daughter-in-law before the sick chamber was sealed to outsiders.{{sfn|Crankshaw|1970|p=273}}{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|p=508}}

Maria Theresa in fact contracted smallpox from Maria Josepha. Throughout the city prayers were made for her recovery, and the sacrament was displayed in all churches. Joseph slept in one of his mother's antechambers and hardly left her bedside. On 1 June, Maria Theresa was given the [[Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church)|last rites]]. When the news came in early June that she had survived the crisis, there was huge rejoicing at the court and amongst the populace of Vienna.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=508f}}

In October 1767, Maria Theresa's sixteen-year-old daughter Josepha also showed signs of the disease. It was assumed that she had caught the infection when she went with her mother to pray in the [[Imperial Crypt]] next to the unsealed tomb of Empress Maria Josepha. Archduchess Josepha started showing smallpox rash two days after visiting the crypt and soon died. Maria Carolina was to replace her as the pre-determined bride of King [[Ferdinand IV of Naples]]. Maria Theresa blamed herself for her daughter's death for the rest of her life because, at the time, the concept of an extended incubation period was largely unknown and it was believed that Josepha had caught smallpox from the body of the late empress.{{efn|It takes at least a week for the smallpox rash to appear after a person is infected. Since the rash appeared two days after Josepha had visited the vault, the Archduchess must have been infected much before visiting the vault.{{harvnb|Hopkins|2002|p=64}}.}}{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|p=511}} The last in the family to be infected with the illness was the twenty-four-year-old Elisabeth, Maria Theresa's sixth child. Although she recovered, she was badly scarred with pock marks from the illness.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|p=511}} Maria Theresa's losses to smallpox, especially in the epidemic of 1767, were decisive in her sponsoring trials to prevent the illness through [[Variolation|inoculation]], and subsequently insisting on members of the imperial family receiving inoculation.{{sfn|Stollberg-Rilinger|2017|pp=504–515}}

===Dynastic marriage policy===
[[File:Mariatheresiaoldfamily.jpg|thumb|left|The dowager empress with family, 1776, by [[Heinrich Füger]]]]

Shortly after giving birth to the younger children, Maria Theresa was confronted with the task of marrying off the elder ones. She led the marriage negotiations along with the campaigns of her wars and the duties of state. She used them as pawns in dynastic games and sacrificed their happiness for the benefit of the state.{{sfn|Mahan|1932|p=271}} A devoted but self-conscious mother, she wrote to all of her children at least once a week and believed herself entitled to exercise authority over her children regardless of their age and rank.{{sfn|Beales|1987|p=194}}

In April 1770, Maria Theresa's youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, married [[Louis XVI|Louis]], [[Dauphin of France]], by [[proxy marriage|proxy]] in Vienna. Maria Antonia's education was neglected, and when the French showed an interest in her, her mother went about educating her as best she could about the [[Palace of Versailles|court of Versailles]] and the French. Maria Theresa kept up a fortnightly correspondence with Maria Antonia, now called [[Marie Antoinette]], in which she often reproached her for laziness and frivolity and scolded her for failing to conceive a child.{{sfn|Beales|1987|p=194}}

Maria Theresa was not just critical of Marie Antoinette. She disliked Leopold's reserve and often blamed him for being cold. She criticized Maria Carolina for her political activities, Ferdinand for his lack of organization, and Maria Amalia for her poor [[French language|French]] and haughtiness. The only child she did not constantly scold was Maria Christina, who enjoyed her mother's complete confidence, though she failed to please her mother in one aspect – she did not produce any surviving children.{{sfn|Beales|1987|p=194}}

One of Maria Theresa's greatest wishes was to have as many grandchildren as possible, but she had only about two dozen at the time of her death, of which all the eldest surviving daughters were named after her, with the exception of [[Princess Carolina of Parma]], her eldest granddaughter by Maria Amalia.{{sfn|Beales|1987|p=194}}{{efn|The eldest surviving daughters of Maria Theresa's children were [[Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1762–1770)|Maria Theresa of Austria]] (by Joseph), [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1767–1827)|Maria Theresa of Tuscany]] (by Leopold), [[Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily]] (by Maria Carolina), [[Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1773–1832)|Maria Theresa of Austria-Este]] (by Ferdinand) and [[Marie Thérèse of France]] (by Marie Antoinette).}}