At the age of twenty-three, in 1740, she became Empress of Austria. During her forty year reign she had sixteen children, one of whom was Marie Antoinette, future Queen of France. Who was she?

The sole female ruler in the 650-year history of the Habsburg dynasty, she ascended to the thrones of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia in 1740. Her father, Emperor Charles VI, had spent years securing an agreement called the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure his daughter could inherit his lands. Despite this, her claim was immediately challenged by rival powers, plunging her into the eight-year War of the Austrian Succession. She successfully defended her right to rule and reigned for the next forty years.

A devout Catholic and a powerful stateswoman, she was also a prolific mother. With her husband, Francis I, she had sixteen children, though not all survived to adulthood. To strengthen Austria's position and forge alliances, she arranged strategic marriages for many of her children with other European royals, earning her the nickname "the mother-in-law of Europe." The most famous of these political unions was that of her youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, who was sent to France to marry the future King Louis XVI and is known to history as Marie Antoinette.