Maria Carolina of Austria
Noble person
1752 – 1814
Who was Maria Carolina of Austria?
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her favourite, John Acton, 6th Baronet, and the expulsion of Spanish influence. She was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until the advent of the French Revolution, when, in order to prevent its ideas gaining currency, she made Naples a police state.
Born an Austrian archduchess, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I, she married Ferdinand as part of an Austrian alliance with Spain, where Ferdinand's father was King. Following the birth of a male heir in 1775, Maria Carolina was admitted to the Privy Council. Thereafter, she dominated it until 1812, when she was sent back to Vienna. Like her mother, Maria Carolina took pains to make politically advantageous marriages for her children.
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- Born
- Aug 13, 1752
Schönbrunn Palace - Also known as
- Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany
- Her Majesty Queen Marie Caroline Luise Josephe Johanna Antonie of Naples and Sicily
- Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria
- Queen Marie Caroline
- Marie Caroline of Austria
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
(1768/05/12 - 1814/09/08) - Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria
- Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
- Children
- Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily
- Francis I of the Two Sicilies
- Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily
- Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
- Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily
- Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
- Prince Alberto of Naples and Sicily
- Carlo, Duke of Calabria
- Prince Gennaro of Naples and Sicily
- Princess Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
- Religion
- Catholicism
- Nationality
- Austria
- Lived in
- Vienna
- Died
- Sep 8, 1814
Schloss Hetzendorf - Resting place
- Imperial Crypt
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"Maria Carolina of Austria." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/marie_caroline_of_austria>.
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