Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1684–1696)

Key Information

Maria Theresa of Austria
Born	22 August 1684 Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Died	28 September 1696 (aged 12) Palais Ebersdorf, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	Imperial Crypt, Vienna
Father	Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Eleonore Magdalene of the Palatinate
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Maria Theresa of Austria (22 August 1684 – 28 September 1696) was a daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of the Palatinate-Neuburg.

She was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, as a member of the House of Habsburg, the fourth daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife, Eleonore Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg. Maria Theresa died of smallpox at the age of twelve, at the Palais Ebersdorf in Vienna. She is buried in the Imperial Crypt.

In 1695, at the age of 11, Maria Theresa was engaged to Maximilian II Emanuel, the Elector of Bavaria, as part of a political alliance between Austria and Bavaria. The marriage was arranged to strengthen the ties between the two states and secure Bavaria's support for the Habsburg dynasty, but she died before her wedding could take place. Her groom later married her half-sister, Maria Antonia of Austria, daughter of Leopold I and his first wife, Margaret Theresa of Spain.