Maria Anna of Austria


Maria Anna of Austria was Queen consort of Portugal by marriage to King John V of Portugal. She was Regent of Portugal from 1742 until 1750 during the illness of John V.

Life

Born Maria Anna Josepha, she was a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg. Maria Anna was a sister of Holy Roman Emperors Joseph I and Charles VI. Through her brother Charles, she was an aunt of Maria Theresa, Austria's only queen regnant.

Queen consort

On 27 October 1708 Maria Anna of Austria married John V, King of Portugal to seal the alliance between the two countries against Bourbon France and Spain during the War of Spanish Succession. She was subsequently Queen of Portugal until his death on 31 July 1750. During her queenship, she acted as regent during times of her husband's illness.
Once she was head of her household, Maria Anna reformed her court and its customs to follow the traditions and customs of the traditional Queens of Portugal. Her greatest influence on the court, and Portuguese nobility as a whole, was the increase of segregation between men and women, as well as between servants and masters. Like John, Maria Anna had an exuberant taste, and this was best shown in her famous parties. Often lasting several days, she would invite the nobility from all over the country and hold a magnificent festival, often in concurrence with a saintly holiday, though religion played a small part in her parties.

Regency

In 1742 Maria Anna took over power as regent after her husband suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. When John V died on 31 July 1750, she gave up power to their eldest son Joseph I of Portugal.
She died while in residence in the Palace of Belém in 1754. After her death, she was buried in Lisbon, but her heart was brought to Vienna and buried there in the imperial crypt.

Issue

She was the mother of six children:
Maria Anna, along with her husband and children, is a central character in José Saramago's novel Baltasar and Blimunda.

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