Maria Anna of Bavaria (1696–1750)
Maria Anna Karoline Josepha Dominika of Bavaria (born August 4, 1696 in Brussels , † October 9, 1750 in Munich ) was a Bavarian princess .
childhood
Maria Anna Karoline was the only daughter of Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726) from his marriage to Therese Kunigunde (1676–1730), daughter of the Polish King Johann III. Sobieski . She was the older sister of the future emperor Charles VII.
“At the age of three, the princess contracted rickets, an incurable disease at the time. Doctors were repeatedly consulted and various therapies were tried. Her health remained fragile. In addition to a curvature of the spine, there was a lack of growth and cataracts in the left eye. How much the elector took care of the child's well-being is shown in inventory lists and letters. "
The princess enjoyed the courtly training of her time. Her musicality was particularly encouraged. She mastered a variety of instruments and showed joy in dancing.
After the Second Battle of Höchstädt on August 13, 1704, a ten-year exile separated Elector Max Emanuel from his wife and children. Therese Kunigunde left the Munich residence in February 1705 to meet her mother in Venice. Their journey home in May 1705 failed at the Austrian border. At the same time, on May 16, 1705, Munich was occupied by 3,200 imperial and Palatinate troops . Without a father and mother, Maria Anna Karoline was now with her six younger brothers in the Munich residence . "For eleven years, from the age of ten to the age of twenty-first, Max Emanuel's only daughter Maria Anna Caroline looked after the residence and formed the news center for the scattered family." Heir to the throne Karl Albrecht , Philipp Moritz , Ferdinand Maria and Clemens August were brought to Klagenfurt under strong guard with the pretext of going on a pleasure trip . “In 1709 she had to endure the death of her youngest brother, Prince Max Emanuel, who was born during the separation of her parents. The other brother who remained in Munich, Johann Theodor von Bayern , was brought to Graz from the electoral residence in 1712. "
youth
The accommodation of the princess in the east wing of the Munich residence was befitting. “A hundred servants and seventy-two horses were always available. The young lady also had a chaplain, a doctor, a language teacher and a dance teacher ”.
“Despite the distance - a letter from Munich to Brussels took a month - the elector did not fail to maintain correspondence with his daughter. He waited impatiently for the princess's mail. In the estate of the princess alone, a total of 88 letters from the elector have been preserved; 11 letters are recorded from his mother, Therese Kunigunde. "
On April 8, 1715, the electoral family was reunited after more than ten years of separation. Family life slowly established itself in the Munich residence, the old splendor of court life soon prevailed, in which Maria Anna Karoline took part with increasing skill. Various marriage projects were considered. A bride with an eye patch (there is one made of green taffeta in her estate) was difficult to find for a proper marriage.
Decision to live in the monastery
Despite her zest for life, the princess had shown deep piety from a young age . The death of her brother Philipp Moritz, who died of measles on March 12, 1717 while he was studying theology in Rome , and an unhappy love for her Polish uncle, Prince Konstantin Sobieski , during his visit to Munich were further motivations to consecrate oneself to God. A long-term contact with the Angerkloster in Munich motivated her to take a one-week retreat there shortly before Christmas 1718. Then the decision to join the order was made. Her father insisted on having her do spiritual exercises a second time, this time with the less strict Salesian women. On July 3, 1719, she declared her final decision to join the Order of St. Clare .
After a difficult fight with her parents, Maria Anna Karoline, who as an adult was described as "somewhat overgrown and almost blind in one eye", entered the Poor Clare Monastery of Sankt Jakob am Anger in under the name Theresa Emanuela from the Heart of Jesus on October 29, 1719 Munich, because she felt discomfort at court and world life. Her religious name was derived from her parents' first names. In the monastery she led the strict life of a clarissess until her death. In addition to strict prayer and fasting, this included weekly flagellation, regular sleep deprivation and no contact beyond the monastery walls.
She saw her parents for the last time on October 28, 1719, on the day of her ceremonial outfit. Eyewitnesses reported that the princess asked her relatives to cut off her golden blonde hair. However, it was impossible for the father to do this. “As his Kurf. When the princess asked him again, kneeling, that he would like to take her to hand with the scissors, he felt so gripped in his tenderness that he dropped the scissors and shed hot tears from it Kloster hurried to where he only returned when the princess was already dressed. "
Last years and end of life
In 1744 she received her imperial brother in the monastery for a visit of over an hour. In 1747 Maria Anna suffered a stroke , remained partially paralyzed in the last three years of her life, died in the call of holiness and was buried in the Jakobskloster am Anger. Her relatives Agnes von Bayern († 1352), a daughter of Emperor Ludwig IV , who had died here as a convent pupil and stigmatized , and the nun Barbara von Bayern (1454–1472), a daughter of Duke Albrecht III , were already resting there . Both bones had been in a renewed coffin since 1703.
When the Angerkloster was secularized, the remains of Princess Maria Anna were also placed in the coffin of the other two and, on the orders of King Maximilian I, transferred in 1809 to the princely crypt of the Frauenkirche in Munich . There the three princesses from the Angerkloster rest in a communal grave and are recorded on the same grave plate.
A metal plate with the following inscription was attached to the coffin:
"Bones of Clarissinen am Anger, from the House of Bavaria, which once recovered a single coffin in the monastery after the death of the individual, but now by order of the king, have been collected in this one coffin and transferred to this church February 1809 "
Pedigree
| Pedigree of Maria Anna of Bavaria | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great-great-grandparents |
Duke |
Emperor |
Duke |
King |
Marek Sobieski (1548 / 50–1605) |
Jan Daniłowicz (1570–1628) |
||
| Great grandparents |
Elector |
Duke |
Jakub Sobieski (1590–1646) |
Henri Albert de La Grange d'Arquien (1613–1707) |
||||
| Grandparents |
Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (1636–1679) |
King John III Sobieski of Poland (1629–1696) |
||||||
| parents |
Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726) |
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|
Maria Anna of Bavaria |
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literature
- Linda Maria Koldau : Women-Music-Culture: a manual on the German-speaking area of the early modern period. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar 2005, p. 233.
- Romuald Bauerreiß : Church history of Bavaria. Volume 7, EOS, 1975.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Doris Fuchsberger: Max Emanuel and his only daughter - “Adio dearest gracious papa”. In: Nymphenspiegel. Volume IX, Munich 2012, pp. 204-212.
- ↑ Britta Kägler: Female reign in times of crisis. On the interim government of the Bavarian Electress Therese Kunigunde (1704/05). In: zeitblicke. June 30, 2009, accessed September 10, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Maria de la Paz of Bavaria : Emanuela Therese of the Order of St. Clare, daughter of Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria: (1696–1750): her story told for the first time mainly based on unprinted letters and documents. General Publishing company, Munich 1902, OCLC 162916003 .
- ↑ Adalbert Prince of Bavaria : When the residence was still a residence. Munich 1967, p. 86.
- ↑ Ludwig Hüttl: Max Emanuel. The Blue Elector, 1679–1726 . A political biography. 3. Edition. Süddeutscher Verlag, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-7991-5863-4 , p. 510 .
- ↑ BayHStA, GHA, NL Duchess Maria Anna Karoline, No. 33.
- ↑ August Benedict Michaelis: Introduction to a complete history of the electoral and princely houses in Germany. Volume 2, 1760, p. 256.
- ↑ Felix Joseph Lipowsky: Life and Government History of the Elector of Bavaria Karl Albert later Emperor Karl VII. Giel, Munich 1830, p. 5 ( digitized version [accessed on September 10, 2013]).
- ^ Lipowsky: Life and Government History . Munich 1830, p. 454 ( Digitale-sammlungen.de ).
- ↑ Website on stigmatized people, with its own section on Agnes von Bayern ( memento of the original from October 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Christian Häutle: Genealogy of the illustrious parent company Wittelsbach. Munich 1870, pp. 12 and 32; (Digital scan)
- ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Bruckbräu: Mirror of Honor of the Glorious House of Wittelsbach: a Bavarian history and folk book for all classes. Fleischmann, 1867, p. 142.
- ↑ Anton Mayer: The cathedral church to UL Frau in Munich. Munich 1868, p. 438; (Digital scan)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maria Anna of Bavaria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maria Anna Karoline Josepha Dominika of Bavaria |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bavarian princess |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th August 1696 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 9, 1750 |
| Place of death | Munich |