Ah Maria, The Widow

The death of her husband, the Emperor Francis Stephen, was a hard blow for Queen Maria of Austria to endure. At age forty-eight, she had been running the kingdom without much in the way of input from her husband. That was the way Maria liked it, and Francis was happy to oblige.

While she had little need of Francis in an official capacity, she had an overwhelming emotional need for him. It wasn’t only that she loved him; she adored him, cherished him. She wasn’t blind to his faults, not in the least, but she was ready to forgive him for nearly anything.

One thing the modern reader must bear in mind is that Maria, although Empress, was living in 18th century Austria. And 18th century Austria was very much a man’s world. And Francis was Holy Roman Emperor. While that particular title had fallen on somewhat hard times by then, it was by no means meaningless.

Francis, like every other European monarch of the age, had certain privileges he felt he had every right to enjoy. Like, opera singers, for example. Maria didn’t like it, but nobody asked her. She could hardly have said no. Then there was all the time he spent with his drinking and gambling buddies. She didn’t care for these fellows one bit. Again, what could she do?

She was afraid of losing him. Not that Francis could or would divorce her, but she was afraid of losing his love. It was all too common for a monarch to ignore his wife once the all-important business of begetting a heir had been taken care of. “ An heir and a spare.” That was the thing.

Francis seemed to have genuinely loved not only Maria, but all the children as well. The kids, as far as Maria was concerned, were the glue that held Francis to her. And she did everything in her power to encourage that. Quality time with the kids was also quality time with her. She expended much energy in making sure the kids did things that held daddy’s interest.

What she had not considered, it seems, what she had not planned on, was Francis dying before her. As far as the empire was concerned, Francis dying first was a good thing. A very good thing. It’s highly unlikely that Francis would have done any better a job of running things than Maria’s father had done, a man of similar easygoing attitudes and vices. The fact that his death was so sudden made it all the worse for Maria.

It would seem that he died of a stroke. On August 18th 1765, Maria Francis and Joseph were in Innsbruck to celebrate the marriage of Joseph’s brother, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to the Infanta of Spain.

It was Leopold that Maria was worried about. A lad of frail health to begin with he had caught a cold that had become so serious that the wedding had to be delayed. Indeed, his condition became so bad that for several days doctors warned that he could drop dead at any moment. He finally rallied enough to get through the ceremony, but returned to bed as soon as it was over.

On the night of the 18th, Joseph and Francis attended a gala performance at the theater. Maria chose not to attend. During the last act, Francis declared he was feeling unwell and would like to have a nap before the big banquet later that evening. With Joseph at his side, he was in the covered passageway between the theater and the palace when he stumbled and fell to the floor. Telling Joseph he would be fine and to go on ahead, he ordered the servants back and pulled himself to his feet.

Joseph went ahead, but only as far as the nearest doorway, watching his father anxiously. Francis took a few steps and collapsed again. This time, he was dead before he hit the floor.

They tried to keep Maria out of the bedchamber where the body lay, but they couldn’t Without a word said or a tear shed, she knelt next to the body and stared at it, her face drained of all color. Maria had gone into shock. As the rest of the family, indeed, the rest of the palace, broke down into sobbing and carrying on, Maria remained, unmoving and silent, next to the body.

When at last servants dared to approach, she neither saw them nor in any way responded to their speaking to her. When they tried to get her to move, she wouldn’t. She finally had to be pulled from the room. Once in her own room she ordered everyone out and locked the doors. There she remained well into the next day.

When she finally unlocked the doors, she ordered that every member of the family attend her. All the children, even Leopold, who had to be carried, filed into the room. She asked each, in turn, how they were holding up. When all had answered, she ordered them out. She then ordered her hair dresser to attend her. Maria’s hair was long, thick and still blond. It sometimes took several hours to get it just right. As the hair dresser prepared to start, Maria ordered her to cut it off. All of it. And with that, Maria went in a mourning from which she would never fully emerge.

It was during this period that Maria temporarily abdicated all decision making and left matters in the hands of Joseph. According to one historian, “Someone had to give orders. He was pleased to do so. Thus, without formality, the King of the Romans automatically became the Emperor Joseph II.”

But…Maria was the crowned Queen of Hungary and of Bohemia. And she would remain so until her dying day. And, the new emperor had no power except that which Maria saw fit to bestow. For the moment, he was unquestionably in charge.

It is worth noting that no one ever came close to taking Francis’s place. No other person ever got as close to Maria as Francis. This woman who literally almost single-handedly saved and rebuilt a collapsing empire, while surrounded by powerful enemies, laid the foundations for the Austrian state that would last into the 20th century. Fought against, and beat, the most powerful armies in Europe, had as her weak spot, a single man. For this man, she would have done almost anything.

It was a good thing for Austria that Francis had no ambition whatsoever to be like Frederick of Prussia. He was Holy Roman Emperor, which he seemed to enjoy mainly because it gave him plenty of free time to hang with his disreputable pals, chase skirts and spend time with his wife and kids. Why mess that up by getting involved in politics? Who knew how much work would be involved in being Mister Big Shot?

But now, there was a new Holy Roman Emperor. And he intended to be a very big shot indeed. For Emperor Joseph II, the world existed for one reason; to do what he told it to do.

— Mr. Al