Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, also known as Maria Ludovika of Modena, (german: Maria Ludovika Beatrix von Modena; 14 December 1787 – 7 April 1816) was the daughter of

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank withi ...

(1754–1806) and his wife,

Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

(1750–1829). She was a member of the House of

Austria-Este The House of Habsburg-Este (), also known as the House of Austria-Este () and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este (; ), is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. ...

, a branch of the House of

Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...

Biography

Maria Ludovika was born in Monza, but her family fled from Italy to Austria when Northern Italy was conquered by Napoleon in 1796. This caused her a hostility for Napoleon. In Austria, the Emperor fell in love with her during his visits to her mother. On 6 January 1808 she married her first cousin Francis I,

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hou ...

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and Bohemia. They had no children. She is not to be confused with Marie-Louise of Austria (who was given the Latin baptismal name of Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Francisca Theresa Josepha Lucia), who married Napoleon in 1810. She, as leader of the war party in Austria, was a great enemy of the French Emperor Napoleon I of France and therefore also in opposition to the Austrian foreign minister

Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...

. The French had protested against the marriage because of her political views. She had considerable influence on her husband, and her talent at ruling marvelled many officials, including the Prussian minister who considered her the ruling genius at court. Maria Ludovika was also immensely popular with her subjects who hailed her a second Maria Theresa. Together with her brother-in-law Archduke Johann, she made the war effort popular. During her coronation in Pressburg, she impressed the Hungarians so much that they declared large financial and military support for the monarchy if needed. But the Emperor hesitated and Archduke Karl who had extensive control over military matters advised caution. Only the effects of the Spanish revolt in 1808 allowed the war party to prevail. Maria Ludovica and stepchildren

Metternich showed her private correspondence with her relatives to her husband, the Emperor Francis I, in the hope that it would miscredit her. She was conservative in her views, suspicious of peasant revolts, but also patriotic towards her adopted land, and genuinely disturbed by atrocities that Napoleon's armies created in Spain. She supported the war against Napoleonic France in 1808. From this year, her health deteriorated. She was opposed to the marriage between Napoleon and her step-daughter

Marie Louise Marie Louise or Marie-Louise may refer to: People *Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689), daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, queen consort of Charles II of Spain *Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrave ...

in 1809. In 1812, she was a reluctant guest to the assembly of German monarchs gathered by Napoleon to celebrate his war against Russia. She was the hostess of the Vienna congress in 1815. When Napoleon was finally defeated she traveled at the end of the year 1815 to her home country, North Italy, but died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. She was only 28 years old. She is buried in the Imperial Crypt in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The

Ludovica Military Academy The Royal Hungarian Ludovica Defense Academy ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvéd Ludovika Akadémia, la, Ludoviceum, german: Ludovika-Akademie), shortened to Ludovica or Ludovica Academy, was Hungary's officer cadets training institute prior to ...

in Budapest established in 1808 was named after Maria Ludovika who contributed 50,000 Forint for its upkeep from the funds of the Honours list proclaimed at the Coronation in St. Martin's Cathedral, in Pressburg. Goethe admired Maria Ludovika greatly, and felt tortured because he promised never to pay a public tribute to her nor mention her name in public.

Honours

A large marble memorial plaque mentioned her visit with the emperor in 1816 is located at

Monza Cathedral The Duomo of Monza (), often known in English as Monza Cathedral, is the main religious building of Monza, Italy. Unlike most duomos, it is not in fact a cathedral, as Monza has always been part of the Diocese of Milan, but is in the charge of an ...

. A large bronze monument depicting her in the centre, and

Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary Archduke Joseph Anton Johann of Austria (, , 9 March 1776 – 13 January 1847) was the 103rd and penultimate palatine of Hungary who served for more than 50 years from 1796 to 1847, after he had been appointed governor in 1795. The latter half ...

and János Buttler on either side was unveiled in 1901 at the Royal Hungarian Ludovica Military Academy.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Ludovika Of Austria-Este Austrian princesses Austrian empresses Hungarian queens consort Bohemian queens consort Burials at the Imperial Crypt Burials at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna Lombardic queens consort 1787 births 1816 deaths Austria-Este House of Habsburg Modenese princesses Knights of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Wives of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor