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Maria Leopoldina of Austria

Vienna, 22 Jan 1797 – Rio de Janeiro, 11 Dec 1826

10 facts3 sources

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About Maria

Leopoldina: family connections and royal offices

AI-assisted · edited

The collection records Maria Leopoldina’s birth in Vienna on 22 January 1797. Her parents were Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. A recorded union with Pedro I connects that European family background to the Brazilian imperial family. 1234

The biographical summary identifies Leopoldina as the first Empress consort of Brazil, from 12 October 1822 until her death. It also records her as Queen consort of Portugal during Pedro’s brief Portuguese reign, from 10 March to 2 May 1826. These distinct titles connect her biography to both monarchies without implying that she travelled to every country named in a title. 5

A separate record identifies her as regent, though it supplies no dates for that office. Her death is recorded in Rio de Janeiro on 11 December 1826. Together, these entries preserve both family relationships and a public role that deserves further documentary investigation. 67

Drafted with AI and edited against the collection. Open a citation to see the record, its sources and how certain it is.

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 22 Jan 1797

    Born in Vienna

  2. 1819–1825

    7 children are born

  3. 11 Dec 1826

    Dies in Rio de Janeiro, aged 29

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 7

During her lifetime

She lived through 4 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Vienna.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1790s · Maria is born in Vienna

Who governed

Music

Church bells and daily rhythm

Religious music and church bells strictly structured daily life, with the ringing of bells signaling the start of the workday in the morning and its end with the evening Angelus. Religiously-themed customs, pilgrimages, and festivals remained central to the experiences of ordinary people throughout their lives.

Daily life

Water, cooking, and food preservation challenges

Because many city wells were contaminated, residents often purchased water from street water-men, while cooking was done over open hearths or brick stoves that often left indoor environments smoky. Families preserved food by salting, drying, or storing items in cool, dark cellars to survive without modern refrigeration.

What it cost

Regulated price of bread

Bread prices were regulated in Rio Grande, with a unit weighing 0.575 kilograms costing a constant 40 réis between 1792 and 1803.

The French Revolution. Parisians stormed the Bastille in 1789; the monarchy fell, the king was executed, and “liberty, equality, fraternity” spread across Europe.In Europe · 1789–1799

The French Revolution. Parisians stormed the Bastille in 1789; the monarchy fell, the king was executed, and “liberty, equality, fraternity” spread across Europe.

Unidentified painter · public domain

What people wore

Clothing as Annual Servant Wages

Servants often received clothes as part of their annual wages, but these garments were made of less durable fabrics and inferior thread, causing them to wear out quickly within a year.

Getting around

Danube boat travel time

The Danube was a vital transport route, where the weekly 'Ordinari' boat from Regensburg to Vienna took at least one week to complete the 450-kilometer journey.

At the table

Potatoes become a staple food

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the potato became a vital staple food for lower social classes in the Habsburg monarchy because it was cheap, easy to grow, and yielded more than cereals.