Maria Beatrix Anna Frances of Austria-Este (13 February 1824 – 18 March 1906) () was a high aristocrat from the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg. As daughter to the ruling Duke of Modena she was born archduchess of Austria-Este and princess of Modena. Following her 1847 marriage, she became Infanta of Spain and Countess of Montizón. As the Duchy of Modena was absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy, after 1859 she lived in exile in Imperial Austria. According to the Carlist reading; in 1861-1868, she was the queen consort of Spain. According to the legitimist reading; in 1883-1887, she was the queen consort of France. Since 1853, she lived separately from her husband and did not claim any of the royal titles, though after 1868, she supported the claim of her oldest son, Carlos. Since 1872, she lived in monasteries, first in Graz and since 1898 in Görz.

Family and youth

Maria Beatrix descended from numerous royal, ducal or otherwise highly aristocratic European branches, including the Habsburgs, the Spanish Bourbons, the House of Savoy and the House of Orléans. Her strictly paternal great-grandfather was Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her father Francis (1779–1846), descendant to the Austria-Este branch of Habsburgs, since 1814 ruled the Duchy of Modena as Francis IV. Her mother, Maria Beatrice (1792–1840), descended from the royal Savoy family, ruling in Turin. The couple married in 1813. Maria Beatrix was the youngest one of 4 siblings, all born between 1817 and 1824. She spent her childhood and youth in luxury of the ducal house, mostly shuttling between the Ducal Palace of Modena and the summer residence in the castle in Catajo.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 16-18 Her mother tongue was Italian.when in 1847 corresponding with her fiancé, himself a Spaniard, she wrote in Italian, compare here. When approaching 80 and corresponding with her biographer, she also wrote in Italian, compare Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 68

The only horror moment of her youth came during a revolutionary attempt in 1831; together with her mother and siblings during a night they escaped in a small convoy of carriages to the Austrian-held fortress of Mantua, to return few months later. Unlike was customary in her sphere, she was educated not by personal tutors but mostly by her mother.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 16 The family was very religious, patriarchal, strict and decisively hostile to liberalism. Coming of age, she was taking part in various Habsburg family ceremonies, from Milan to Lemberg.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 21 Her mother died in 1840; following death of the father, it was her brother who as Francis V assumed the ducal throne in Modena in 1846. As a teenager Maria Beatrix developed some hearing problems; they were possibly related to cold-water showers, recommended by a Viennese doctor.Melchor Ferrer, Historia del tradicionalismo español, vol. XXII, Sevilla 1958, p. 12, Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 24 In her youth she practiced painting and wrote juvenile novels.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 63 According to some sources Count of Chambord, the young legitimist pretender to the throne of France, proposed to her and was rejected;Richard Thornton, La esposa y la familia británica desconocidas del pretendiente Carlista don Juan de Borbón, [in:] Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Historia y Genealogía XII (2009), p. 424 eventually, he married her older sister.

Marriage

The marriage of Maria Beatrix was pre-arranged by her father already in 1845;Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 23 in 1847 she married Juan de Borbón y Braganza (1822–1887), Count of Montizón, grandson of the Spanish King Charles IV and son of the Carlist claimant Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain. The marriage was conditioned by equally reactionary, anti-liberal, legitimist views held by the two dynasties. The couple settled in Modena but they soon had to flee the revolution of 1848. In 1848 in Laibach, when on their way from Trieste to Vienna, Maria Beatrix gave birth to their first son Carlos.Ferrer 1958, pp. 13-14, Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 28 Once re-established, and because Vienna was also undergoing a tumultuous revolutionary period, they decided to join Juan's brother in London; by train and carriages the couple made it across Europe.Ferrer 1958, p. 15-16 In the English capital their second son Alfonso was born in 1849. The family returned to Modena in 1851,Ferrer 1958, p. 17 once Francis V had quashed the rebellion and re-assumed power.

Unlike his father, Juan de Borbón started to develop increasingly liberal views; this produced conflict between the spouses, as he objected to his sons having been educated "to become Jesuits".Ferrer 1958, p. 17 Juan clashed also with his brother-in-law, Francis V. The confrontation climaxed in an open showdown; the duke ordered Juan out of his possessions. It has been eventually agreed that the couple would separate; Francis V agreed to pay Juan a lifetime pension. In 1852a British author having searched local archives claims Juan settled in England in 1852, see Thornton 2009. A Spanish historian claims the couple separated in 1853, Ferrer 1958, p. 23 the latter settled in London, where he later entered into an intimate relationship with an English commoner and had 2 children. However, Maria Beatrix and Juan remained married until the death of Juan in 1887. The two maintained some scarce and rather formal correspondence at least until the early 1870s.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 47

Mother

In the 1850s Maria Beatrix lived in Modena. Her daily routine was divided mostly between religious duties and raising her sons, for whom she has carefully selected various teachers and preceptors. Their education was extremely religious and reactionary; Maria Beatrix was assisted in this task by her stepmother-in-law, María Teresa de Braganza. As Carlos and maybe Alfonso were supposed to inherit the Carlist claim, they were raised also in Spanish culture, surrounded by Spanish ecclesiastics and pedagogues.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 34-35 Maria Beatrix continued to suffer from poor health and used to spend long spells under treatment.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 34 In 1857 Pope Pius IX visited Modena; both Carlos and Alfonso received confirmation.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 39 Following invasion by the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1859 the family had to flee again, this time to the Austrian Empire; they would never return to Modena.

The ex-emperor Ferdinand I offered them hospitality at Prague Castle, which remained their key residence until 1864; she did not travel, except to peripheral locations at the outskirts of the city.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 41 Technically in 1860-1868 she was the Carlist queen of Spain.Juan de Borbón, still her husband, inherited the claim from his brother in 1860. He abdicated in favor of his oldest son in 1868 Having turned 40 Maria Beatrix kept suffering from increasing health problems; to address them, in 1864 she and her children moved to Austrian controlled Venice, where she owned the Loredan palace. However, outbreak of the Italo-Austrian war forced them to flee again in 1866. During the next few years she shuttled between Innsbruck, Vienna and Graz, hosted in residences of her Habsburg and Austria-Este relatives. Her older son Carlos married in 1867 with Margherita, princess from the exiled House of Bourbon-Parma. Her younger son Alfonso married in 1871 Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal, from the exiled House of Braganza.

Among Carmelites in Graz

With both her sons now married and commencing their own family life, Maria Beatrix concluded that her duties as mother came to the end. She decided to spend the rest of her life dedicated to prayer.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 46 As she was still legally married, she obtained written approval from her separated husband; Pope Pius IX issued a specific authorization in a personal, very cordial letter.Ferrer 1958, p. 23 She also consulted her siblings and other relatives. In early 1872 Maria Beatrix moved into the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Graz. Some authors claim she entered the order and assumed the name of Maria Ignatia of the Sacred Heart;Lars Friedrich, Mayerling: Chronik eines Dorfes, s.l. 2008, p. 33 however, her biographer who corresponded with her claims she did not take vows but merely agreed to comply with rules of the Carmelite order, effectively leading the life of a nun.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 47

As the order was an enclosed one, she maintained very scarce contact with the outer world; it was limited mostly to correspondence. It is known that the Emperor Franz Joseph I visited her a few times and demonstrated great affection.Ferrer 1958, p. 23 She was also at times visited by her sons, especially Alfonso, who owned real estate in Graz and used to spend some time in the city. In general her poor health improved, though in her 40s she became almost completely deaf.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 48-49 In 1882 she donated her property, the Loredán and Pourtales palaces in Venice, to her sons.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 50 In 1883-1887 technically she was the legitimist queen of France.her husband Juan de Borbón inherited the claim from Conde de Chambord and according to the legimist reading held it until his death in 1887 In 1893, following the death of her daughter-in-law, Maria Beatrix hinted that she was prepared to leave the Carmelites to take care of her grandchildren.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 50 However, she also suggested that Carlos remarry, and recommended Berthe de Rohan.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 52 Carlos indeed remarried in 1894.

Among Sisters of the Cross in Gorizia

In the 1890s the German nationalism was on the rise in Austria; it turned also against individuals perceived aliens. There were some demonstrations arranged against Alfonso and Maria Beatrix in Graz. Afterwards, both sons Carlos and Alfonso suggested that she move elsewhere;Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 52 having obtained her permission, accordingly they arranged for her the transfer to the monastery of Sisters of the Cross in Gorizia in 1898. It is not clear why Gorizia had been chosen; one author suggests it was because many legitimist personalities, including Charles X, Count of Chambord and his wife, Maria Beatrix' sister Maria Theresa, were buried in the Monastero di Castagnevizza.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, p. 52 Though she was not admitted as a nun, she lived within the monastery premises and complied with the Sisters of the Cross rules.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 52, 57

It was in Gorizia that in 1904 she celebrated very modestly her 80th birthday, visited by both sons and their wives; she received also hundreds of letters and telegram messages from the Carlists, French legitimists, distant family members and the Pope.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 59-62 Also in Gorizia Maria Beatrix maintained epistolographic exchange with various correspondents, in particular with Manuel Polo y Peyrolón, who already at that time was preparing her biography.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 67-70 On March 10, 1906, Maria Beatriz suddenly fell ill. Though the doctor did not detect serious problems, she confessed and was given last rites. Her state deteriorated fast and on March 17 she went into a coma, to pass away the following morning. According to her last will, she was buried in the internal cemetery of the Discalced Carmelites in Graz. Her death was acknowledged by European press, especially Catholic and legitimist titles.Polo y Peyrolón 1906, pp. 71-77

Works