Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Countess of Chambord

Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (German: Maria Theresia Beatrix Gaëtane, Erzherzogin von Österreich-Este, Prinzessin von Modena[citation needed]) (14 July 1817, Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio[1] – 25 March 1886, Görz, Austria-Hungary[1]) was a member of the House of Austria-Este and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary, Bohemia, and Modena by birth. Henri was disputedly King of France and Navarre from 2 to 9 August 1830 and afterwards the Legitimist pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883. Maria Theresa was the eldest child[citation needed] of Francis IV, Duke of Modena and his niece-wife Maria Beatrice of Savoy.[citation needed]

Archduchess Maria Theresa
Duchess of Bordeaux, Countess of Chambord
Portrait by Adeodato Malatesta
Consort of the Legitimist pretender to the French throne
Pretence7 November 1846 – 24 August 1883
Born(1817-07-14)14 July 1817
Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio
Died25 March 1886(1886-03-25) (aged 68)
Görz, Austria-Hungary
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1846; died 1883)
Names
Italian: Maria Teresa Beatrice Gaetana
German: Maria Theresia Beatrix Gaëtane
French: Marie Thérèse Béatrice Gaetan
HouseHabsburg-Este
FatherFrancis IV, Duke of Modena
MotherMaria Beatrice of Savoy
Coats of arms Maria Theresia of Austria-Este

Biography

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Maria Theresa married Henri, comte de Chambord, the posthumous son of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, younger son of Charles X of France, by his wife, Princess Caroline Ferdinande of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies, by proxy on 7 November 1846 in Modena and in person on 16 November 1846 in Bruck an der Mur, Styria.[1] Maria Theresa and Henri produced no children. Maria Theresa had been chosen as Henri's wife by his father’s cousin Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France. Marie-Thérèse sought to ally the exiled French Royal Family with the House of Austria-Este for several reasons: it was Roman Catholic and the only royal family not to have recognized the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe of France. Henri had actually preferred Maria Theresa's youngest sister, Maria Beatrix.

After Henri's death on 24 August 1883, Maria Theresa and a minority of Henri's supporters held that Juan, Count of Montizón, as senior male descendant of Louis XIV, was his successor. Juan's wife was Maria Theresa's sister, Maria Beatrix.[citation needed]

Maria Theresa was instrumental in building a crypt for the French Royal Family at the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady on Castagnevizza in Görz (now in Nova Gorica, Slovenia).[2] It was her wish that the last of the Bourbons be gathered in one place together within the monastery at Castagnevizza.[2] Three years after the death of her husband Henri, Maria Theresa died on 25 March 1886 in Görz and was interred with her husband in the crypt of the church of Franciscan Monastery of Castagnevizza in Görz. [2]

Honours

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Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1977). Burke's Royal families of the world. Burke's series. Vol. 1: Europe & Latin America. London: Burkes's Peerage. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-85011-023-4.
  2. ^ a b c Franciscan Monastery at Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica. "Tombs of the Bourbons". Franciscan Monastery at Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica. Archived from the original on 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  3. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Kaiserthumes Österreich (1868), p 110, Sternkreuz-Orden
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Countess of Chambord
Cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Born: 14 July 1817 Died: 25 March 1886
Titles in pretence
Vacant
Title last held by
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France
— TITULAR —
Queen consort of France
Legitimist
7 November 1846 – 24 August 1883
Reason for succession failure:
July Revolution
Succeeded by