Maria Theresa of Tuscany
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Princess Maria Theresa of Tuscany, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia (Vienna, March 21, 1801 - Vienna, January 12, 1855), was a daughter of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and wife of King Charles Albert of Sardinia.
She was born in Vienna during the exile of her parents due to the invasion of Tuscany by Napoleon Bonaparte. Her father was Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and her mother Princess Luisa of the Two Sicilies, who died one year after Maria Theresa's birth.
After the Restoration of 1814, Ferdinando III was made Elector of the secularized archbishopric Salzburg and the family moved to Würzburg.
Theresa married on September 3, 1817 with Charles Albert of Sardinia, and a wedding mass was celebrated on October 2 in the Florence Cathedral.
On March 14, 1820 an heir to the throne was born :
- Victor Emmanuel who would become the first King of a united Italy.
Two more children followed :
- Ferdinand (1822–1855), 1st Duke of Genoa, and
- Maria Cristina (1826–1827).
In 1824 Charles and Maria Theresa were appointed heirs to the throne by Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and became King and Queen in 1831, when his successor Charles Felix of Sardinia died without issue.
After the death of her husband in 1849 in Oporto, Queen Mother Maria Theresa stopped appearing in public and even returned to Tuscany in 1851, where she died 4 years later. She was buried in the Basilica of Superga in Turin.
A convinced Catholic and conservative, she had a great influence on her eldest son.
| Preceded by Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies |
Queen Consort of Sardinia 1831-1849 |
Succeeded by Maria Adelaide of Austria |
