Maria Elisabeth von Österreich

Maria Elisabeth of Austria was born in Linz on December 13, 1680, and died on August 26, 1741, at Mariemont Castle in Hainaut. A member of the House of Habsburg, she was an Archduchess of Austria and, from 1724 to 1741, governor of the Austrian Netherlands, which roughly corresponded to present-day Belgium. She remained unmarried and ruled the country with extensive powers. Her government was relatively authoritarian politically, but her piety and care for the poor and sick made her popular with many of her subjects. Maria Elisabeth was the daughter of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonore Magdalene of Palatinate-Neuburg. Her parents had left Vienna because of a plague epidemic raging there, which was why she was born in Linz. She received an excellent education and, in addition to German, mastered French, Italian, and Latin. As a young woman, she already distinguished herself as a learned author. In 1698, she wrote a Latin treatise on the history of her Habsburg dynasty. Like several members of her family, she was also interested in Italian music and opera. Her father died in 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. His son Joseph I succeeded him as emperor, but died unexpectedly as early as 1711. Charles VI then assumed the imperial title and initially entrusted his unmarried elder sister with the government of Tyrol. Several years later, he appointed her governor of the Austrian Netherlands. The circumstances preceding her appointment were marked by difficulties. Since 1716, Prince Eugene of Savoy had held the office of governor, but he was represented by his plenipotentiary minister, Ercole Turinetti de Prié. Turinetti became unpopular in the Dutch provinces and was recalled to Vienna in 1724 because of alleged embezzlement. In November of the same year, Prince Eugene officially resigned his office. Charles VI then appointed the 44-year-old Maria Elisabeth as his successor. She left Vienna on September 4, 1725, and arrived in the Netherlands in October. After a stopover in Leuven, she made a ceremonial entry into Brussels on October 9, followed by numerous celebrations. Her residence was initially the Coudenberg Palace. During the night of February 3–4, 1731, however, the palace burned almost completely. Maria Elisabeth narrowly escaped, half-dressed. She subsequently moved into the Hôtel d’Orange, also known as the Hôtel de Nassau. Her plans to rebuild the destroyed palace were not carried out until after her death, by her successor. The provincial estates granted her a generous civil list of 560,000 Brabant guilders. This enabled her to maintain an expensive court. Strict rules prevailed there, and she always took her meals alone. At the same time, she possessed considerable political powers. With the approval of the Viennese court, she could appoint, among others, church dignitaries, provincial governors, and members of various central councils. She tried to cooperate with the existing institutions and personally secured an amnesty for participants in the Brussels riots of 1718. Her policies partly reconciled the Austrian Netherlands with Habsburg rule, but also strengthened the central authority at the expense of local administrations. The emperor placed a lord chamberlain at her side, whose duties as plenipotentiary minister included monitoring domestic politics and enforcing imperial orders. Giulio Visconti Borromeo Arese initially held this position; from 1732, it was held by the Bohemian count Friedrich August of Harrach-Rohrau. Because her period in office has not been sufficiently studied, the precise share of Maria Elisabeth and her lord chamberlains in individual government decisions is not always clear. Nevertheless, Maria Elisabeth repeatedly opposed measures proposed by her brother. When she could not persuade him to change his mind, she sometimes delayed the publication of orders, including those concerning the right of asylum and the introduction of intendants modeled on the French system. The conservative governor attached particular importance to religious matters. She took determined action against Jansenism, which she regarded as a heretical movement. The church jurist and prominent Jansenist Zeger Bernhard van Espen was expelled on her orders. She also tightened censorship and ordered the publication of an index of prohibited books. Her Jesuit confessor, Stefan Amiodt, advised her on these matters and later wrote an extensive, never-published account of her government. Maria Elisabeth herself was especially close to the Jesuit order. Despite her strict religious policies, she was regarded by the people as a pious and caring mother of the country. She took part in religious festivals and pilgrimages. Every year on Maundy Thursday, she washed the feet of twelve poor elderly women, hosted them, and gave them new clothes. She also promoted Brussels’ cultural life. She supported the musician Jean-Joseph Fiocco, who served as choirmaster of her court chapel and dedicated several oratorios to her between 1726 and 1738. She also enjoyed attending opera performances by Italian ensembles. During her tenure, Maria Elisabeth also sought to stimulate the economy and the crafts. Trade and craft production improved from the beginning of the 1730s. She commissioned the first comprehensive study of the industry in her territory in order to identify opportunities for reform. However, the Ostend Company, supported by Charles VI, had to suspend its activities and was ultimately dissolved because of international political pressure. A plan discussed in 1737 to replace Maria Elisabeth with the emperor’s son-in-law, Francis Stephen, did not come to fruition. The people of Brussels welcomed this outcome with celebratory bonfires. In July 1741, Maria Elisabeth withdrew to Mariemont Castle, where she intended to spend the summer. She enjoyed staying there to escape what she considered the uncomfortable Brussels residence, and spent her time fishing and hunting. As early as 1739, she had commissioned a chapel there and planned to transform Mariemont into a spa capable of competing with Spa. In the summer of 1741, she watched experiments involving mineral waters from a spring in the castle park. After a hunting excursion, she suddenly fell ill and died on August 26 at the age of 60. Since April 1741, Duke Charles Alexander of Lorraine had served alongside her as co-governor. After her death, he was initially represented by Harrach and assumed the office himself in 1744. Maria Elisabeth was first buried in the Brussels church of Sainte Gudule. In 1749, Maria Theresa ordered that her body be transferred to Vienna. She rests in the Capuchin Crypt beside her father, Leopold I, and her niece, Maria Anna. Her heart and entrails were buried separately in Vienna’s traditional Habsburg burial sites.