Maria Theresa of Austria was born on 13 May 1717 in Hofburg Palace. The only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions in her own right, Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg lands in 1740 through the Pragmatic Sanction, which her father, Charles VI, had arranged. She immediately faced the invasion of Silesia by Frederick II of Prussia and the War of the Austrian Succession, and lost the province, but held the rest of her realm. A capable and devout ruler, she carried out reforms of the army, taxation, administration and education, including compulsory schooling. She had sixteen children, among them Joseph II and Marie Antoinette, and ruled jointly with her son in later years.
Before and after
- 12 October 1715Birth of Peter II of Russia
- 13 November 1715Battle of Sheriffmuir
- from 8 July 1716 to 21 August 1716Siege of Corfu
- 14 November 1716Death of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 13 May 1717Birth of Maria Theresa of Austria
- from 18 June 1717 to 21 August 1717Siege of Belgrade
- 16 November 1717Birth of Jean Le Rond d'Alembert
- 21 July 1718Treaty of Passarowitz
- from 2 August 1718 to 17 February 1720War of the Quadruple Alliance
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 23 May 1568 to 30 January 1648Eighty Years' War
- from 25 April 1588 to 1 August 1588Spanish Armada
- 13 April 1598Edict of Nantes
- from 28 December 1688 to 1 January 1689Glorious Revolution
- from 22 February 1700 to 10 September 1721Great Northern War
- from 16 December 1740 to 18 October 1748War of the Austrian Succession
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.