Maria Amalia of Austria

Who was Maria Amalia of Austria?

Maria Amalia of Austria was Holy Roman Empress, Queen of the Germans, Queen of Bohemia, Electress and Duchess of Bavaria etc. as the spouse of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor. By birth, she was an Archduchess of Austria as the daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Maria Amalia had seven children with her husband Charles, only four of whom lived through to adulthood. Her son became Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria. Her youngest daughter Maria Josepha married the eldest son and heir of Maria Theresa, Emperor Joseph II, but died, childless, of smallpox after two years. Another daughter, Maria Antonia, married her first cousin, Frederick Christian, who was Prince-elector of Saxony for less than three months in 1763. Her middle surviving daughter Maria Anna Josepha Augusta became Margravine of Baden-Baden.