Maria Amalia of Austria

Maria Amalia of Austria (Maria Amalie Josefa Anna; 22 October 1701 – 11 December 1756) was the younger daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She married Charles Albert of Bavaria, Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria (1726–1745), King of Bohemia (1741–1743), and Holy Roman Emperor (1742–1745).

Her son became Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria. Her daughter Maria Josepha married the eldest son and heir of Maria Theresa, Emperor Joseph II, but died of smallpox after two years, childless. 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 was the last Margravine of Baden-Baden.

Biography

Maria Amalia was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna about eleven weeks after the death of her infant brother, Leopold Joseph, her parents' only son. Her mother was unable to conceive more children after Maria Amalia, supposedly because her father had contracted syphilis from one of his mistresses and passed the disease to his wife, rendering the Empress infertile. Maria Amalia's father had a long line of mistresses, both servants and nobles, and several illegitimate children. Her mother Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the sister of the Duchess of Modena and was a very pious woman.

Maria was a common first name for archduchesses of Austria, and her second name,......
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