Maria Theresa: Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment

ISBN: 0300243987

Author: Bassett, Richard

Condition: New

A major new biography of Maria Theresa, the formidable Habsburg EmpressMaria Theresa was the single most powerful woman in eighteenth-century Europe. At the age of just twenty-three she succeeded to the Habsburg domains only to find them contested by almost every power in Europe. Over the next forty years, she became a fierce leader and opponent, as well as a devoted wife and mother to sixteen children.In this engrossing biography, Richard Bassett traces Maria Theresas life and complex legacy. Drawing on hitherto unpublished sources, Bassett reveals her keen sense of moderation and tolerance, innovative ideas on free trade and finance, and studied reluctance to resort to policies of territorial expansion. Yet Maria Theresas modernisation policies were not entirely progressive. Antisemitism and an enduring suspicion of Protestantism greatly affected the lives of her subjects.This is a gripping study of one of the worlds most influential leaders, revealing how Maria Theresa confounded gendered expectations and left a lasting mark on Europe.