Archduchess Maria Karolina was born – and also died – on 17 September 1748. She was the tenth child of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan. Of course, there is not much to say about so brief a life, but it offers a rare glimpse into the Empress’s innermost thoughts.
Maria Theresa was renowned for her strong health and model fertility. Yet while expecting, she confessed in a private letter to a close friend that, if it were the dear Lord’s will, she would be quite content with ten children, as she already felt how repeated pregnancies were weakening and ageing her both physically and mentally. Still, she had to endure the ordeal six more times.
Her only “failed” childbirth deeply affected the Empress. Her main concern was whether the baby had lived long enough to receive an emergency baptism. Only the unanimous assurance of the court physician Gerhard van Swieten and the Emperor himself could calm the anxious mother.
Curiously, the choice of name for the baby raises some wonder. In 1740–1741, there had already been a Maria Karolina, the third child of the Imperial couple, who also died in infancy – just like her namesake years later. Understandably, such a double tragedy might have marked the name as a bad omen. But clearly it did not, as yet another newborn daughter was baptised with the same name in 1752. Fortunately, this third Maria Karolina survived, grew up, and became the mother of many children. In history, she is remembered as the politically gifted Queen of Naples and a fierce opponent of Napoleon.
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