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 MARIA THERESA MAPJCOPA 161 She was the daughter of the emperor Charles VI. of Hapsburg, whose principal aim during a long reign seemed to be to secure to his heiress the succession to all the hereditary dominions of his house. By ample cessions of territory to various princes of Europe, he finally at- tained a general acknowledgment, though not by the Bourbons, of the " pragmatic sanction ;" and Maria Theresa, a princess of rare beauty id talents, received not only an education itting her future condition, but was also early dtiated into the secrets of state and admitted the council of her father. In 1736 she was larried to Francis Stephen of Lorraine, after- ward grand duke of Tuscany, and eventually German emperor under the name of Francis I., who was always glad to leave affairs of state to his. consort, while he employed himself in >rofitable private speculations. Charles died " 3t. 20, 1740, and at once, in spite of the prag- latic sanction, claimant after claimant raised ^tensions to the whole or parts of his posses- sions. The young princess saw herself sur- rounded by enemies. Frederick the Great of Prussia occupied Silesia ; Charles Albert of Ba- varia was elected emperor under the name of Charles VII.; Spain, Sardinia, and Augustus III. of Poland and Saxony threatened to en- force various claims by force of arms; and France, which had no rights of succession of its own, was ready to support those of others. George II. of England alone proved a faithful ally. At the diet of Presburg in 1741 she put herself and her infant son Joseph under the protection of the Hungarians, who promised to die for their " king " Maria Theresa ; and their enthusiasm became a support powerful beyond 11 expectation. Frederick made peace at Bres- m (1742), retaining Silesia, which he had con- mered; but Charles VII. lost even his own lominion, Bavaria. This success of the Aus- arms, however, raised the apprehensions Frederick, and the second Silesian war en- led (1744), France simultaneously declaring war against England. Louis XV. himself ap- ired on the field, and Marshal Saxe won battle fter battle in the Netherlands ; Frederick, too, , r as successful. Saxony, however, was now ally of Maria Theresa. Charles VII. died >on after reentering his capital Munich, and is son and successor not only renounced all iis claims, but also supported the election of [aria Theresa's husband to the imperial throne Germany (1745). Frederick, confirmed in possession of Silesia, made peace at Dres- len (1745). The war against Spain and France ras continued, Marshal Saxe being victorious at ^ontenoy (1745), Raucoux (1746), and Lawfeldt (1747), while England was successful against pretender, in the colonies, and on the seas, lizabeth of Russia declaring for Maria Theresa, war was terminated by the peace of Aix- -Chapelle (1748), Austria ceding Parma, Pia- 3nza, and Guastalla to Don Philip, prince of Spain, and some districts of the duchy of Milan Sardinia. Maria Theresa now turned her principal attention to the internal affairs of her states. Following chiefly the advice of her minister Kaunitz, she introduced numerous re- forms, organized the administration, alleviated the burdens of the peasantry, abolished tor- ture, created various institutions of learning, promoted industry and trade, and, though a zealous Catholic herself, subjected the papal bulls to the placet regium. In regard to Hun- gary, she observed a mild but .slowly dena- tionalizing policy. The external diplomacy of Kaunitz was also active, and when he finally succeeded in gaining over with Mme. de Pom- padour the court of France, in addition to the alliance of Russia and the house of Saxony, Frederick sought and obtained the alliance of England, and the seven years' war began (1756), of which the Prussian monarch became the hero, Laudon and Daun being his most effec- tive Austrian antagonists. The war extended to almost all parts of the world, from the coast of Coromandel to Canada, and nearly all pow- ers partook in it. The double peace of Paris and Hubertsburg (1763) terminated it to the advantage of Prussia and England, Frederick remaining now undisputed master of Silesia. Two years later Francis I. died, and was suc- ceeded in the empire by his son Joseph II., and in Tuscany by Leopold, their sister Marie An- toinette being afterward married to the future French king Louis XVI. Joseph, however, enjoyed in the hereditary states of his mother only the rights of a co-regent, though his in- fluence generally prevailed in foreign affairs, as in the case of the annexation of Galicia at the first division of Poland (1772), and of Buko- wina from Turkey (1777). The peace of Te- schen (1779) terminated, according to the ener- getic decision of the old empress, the war of the Bavarian succession. A monument 60 ft. high, representing Maria Theresa surrounded by the principal statesmen of her time, is to be completed at Vienna in 1875. Her corre- spondence, comprising several previously un- known letters, has been published in French by Alfred von Arneth (3 vols., Paris, 1874). MARIA-THERESIOPEL. See SZABADKA. MARIAZELL, a village in Styria, Austria, 55 m. S. W. of Vienna (pop. about 1,000), situated in a picturesque country, and celebrated for its shrine of the Virgin, which makes it the prin- cipal resort of pilgrims in the Austrian mon- archy. From May to September there are 80 great processions from different parts of Aus- tria, and the number of pilgrims annually is estimated at 250,000. MARICOPA, a central county of Arizona, bounded E. by New Mexico and S. by the Gila river, and intersected by the Salt river and other tributaries of the Gila ; area, about 14,500 sq. m. It has been recently formed, and is not included in the census of 1870. The set- tlements are chiefly in the valley of Salt river, one of the largest and most productive in the territory. Irrigation is practised, the river supplying abundant water. The chief crops