MARIA THERESA, Queen of Hun gary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Aus tria, and Empress of Germany, daughter of the Emperor Charles VI.; born in Vienna, May 13, 1717. In 1736 she mar ried Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, who, in 1737, became Grand-Duke of Tuscany. The day after her father's death, in 1740, she ascended the throne of Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria, and declared her husband joint ruler. The elector, Charles Albert of Bavaria, sup ported by France, laid claim to the Aus trian hereditary territories, and the Elec ter of Cologne and the Elector-Palatine would likewise not acknowledge her suc cession. Her states were invaded at the same time by Frederick the Great and by the Elector of Bavaria; and being com pelled to fly to Pressburg, she convoked the Diet, and there threw herself on the sympathy of her Hungarian subjects. In the meantime the allies quarreled among themselves, and the King of Prussia made a separate peace with the empress. The general opinion that the balance of power in Europe depended on the contin uance of the house of Austria, induced England to arm for Maria Theresa; Hol land paid her subsidies; and after the death of Cardinal Fleury, in 1743, the cause of Austria triumphed throughout Europe. Reverses, however, followed;
and all the belligerents becoming de sirous of peace, the treaty of Aix-la Chapelle was concluded in 1748, by which Maria Theresa was secured in her rights. In 1756 Frederick the Great began the Seven Years' War. In 1765 the Emperor Francis died. In 1772 she joined the King of Prussia and the Empress Cath arine in the dismemberment of Poland. By the death of Maximilian Joseph, Elec tor of Bavaria, in 1777, war was re kindled between Austria and Prussia, but was terminated in 1779, by the peace of Teschen, which added to the former' state a small portion of Bavaria. Maria Theresa introduced many social and polit ical reforms. She died in Vienna, Nov. 29, 1780.