Maria Theresa, Empress

Richard Bassett

Empress Maria 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 Theresa's 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 Drawing on hitherto unpublished sources, Bassett reveals her keen sense of moderation and tolerance, innovative ideas on free trade and finance, and studied reluctance to resort to policies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 Theresa's modernisation policies were not entirely progressive. Antisemitism and an enduring suspicion of Protestantism greatly affected the lives of her subjects.

Author(s): Bassett, Richard
Binding: Hardback
Date of Publication: 04/02/2025
Pagination: 520 pages
Series: N/A
Imprint: Yale University Press
Published By: Yale University Press
Book Classification: History
Dimensions: 235x156
Weight:
ISBN13\EAN\SKU: 9780300243987