Read part one here. Joseph wrote, “My wife has become insupportable to me… They want me to have children. How can I have them? If I could put the tip of my finger on the tiniest part of her body that is not covered with boils, I would try to have children.” He was so [read more]
Maria Josepha of Bavaria was born in Munich on 20 March 1739 as the daughter of the future Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Amalia of Austria. She was the youngest of seven children, though two of her siblings did not live to adulthood. The relationship between her parents is difficult to pinpoint. Charles [read more]
Read part three here. The death of Francis meant that Maria Theresa had to rebuild her world. In the months following his death, she remained in deep mourning. In her prayer book, she recorded the exact length of his life, to the hour: “Emperor Francis, my husband, lived 56 years, 8 months, 10 days and [read more]
Read part two here. On 4 February 1750, Maria Theresa gave birth to another daughter, Maria Johanna. But a family tragedy was to come later that year. With her health destroyed by the many “fertility treatments,” Maria Theresa’s mother, Elisabeth Christine, died on 21 December 1750 at the age of 59. Her heart and entrails [read more]
Claudia Felicitas of Austria was born on 30 May 1653 as the daughter of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol, and his wife and first cousin Anna de’ Medici. She was named for her grandmother Claudia de’ Medici, who had died in 1648. She would be the only one of their [read more]
Margaret Theresa of Spain was born on 12 July 1651 as the first child of King Philip IV of Spain from his second marriage with his niece Mariana of Austria. At the time of her birth, just one elder half-sibling from her father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of France was still alive – Maria Theresa [read more]
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