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The Theresian Institution of Noble Ladies (Czech: Tereziánský ústav šlechtičen), officially the Imperial and Royal Theresian Stift for Noble Ladies in the Castle of Prague, was a Catholic monastic chapter of secular canonesses in Hradčany that admitted women from impoverished noble families from 1753 until 1918.
History
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The Theresian Stift was founded in 1755 by Empress Maria Theresa in order to serve as a religious order for impoverished noblewomen.[1] The Institute officially opened in 1755 and was housed in Prague Castle, enrolling thirty unmarried young women from Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic families who were financially strained.[2] The noblewomen lived as secular canonesses and were not required to take vows of celibacy and were allowed to leave the chapter in order to marry.[3]
The Institution was run by a princess-abbess, who was selected by the emperor. Each princess-abbess was, by birth, an Austrian archduchess from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.[4] With the closing of the neighbouring St. George's Abbey in 1782, the princess-abbess of the Theresian Institution inherited the privilege of crowning the queens of Bohemia.[5] Other administrative roles within the Institution included a dean, a sub-dean, and two canoness assistants.[6]
The Institution closed in 1919 after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.
Princess-Abbesses
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Notable Princess-Abbesses of the Institution include:
- Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1766–1789)
- Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1791–1800)
- Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1834–1835)
- Archduchess Hermine of Austria (1837–1842)
- Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria (1844–1852)
- Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1875–1879)
- Archduchess Maria Antonietta of Austria (1881–1883)
- Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria (1886–1893)
- Archduchess Karoline Marie of Austria (1893–1894)
- Archduchess Maria Annunciata of Austria (1894–1919)
Notable alumnae
edit- Baroness Mary von Vetsera (1871–1889), mistress of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
References
edit- ^ "Maria Theresa: the empress who left a mixed impression on the Czech lands - Radio Prague". Radio Praha. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ Trollope, Anthony (7 June 1870). "Saint Pauls Magazine". Virtue and Company. Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Prague Castle - Rožmberk Palace–Institute of Noblewomen (Rožmberský palác – Ústav šlechtičen)". Prague.eu. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ Timms, Elizabeth Jane (27 May 2018). "Maria Amalia of Austria, Duchess of Parma in Prague". Prague Post. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ Pacovský, Karel (2017). "Úloha svatojiřských abatyší při korunovacích českých královen" [The Role of St. George's Abbesses in Coronations of Bohemian Queens]. Folia Historica Bohemica (in Czech). 35 (1–2): 177. ISSN 0231-7494.
- ^ Ferdinand Jitschinsky: Kurze Darstellung der Gründung und des Bestandes des k. k. theresianischen adeligen Damenstiftes am Prager Schlosse bis auf die gegenwärtige Zeit, nebst den wichtigsten geschichtlichen Momenten : zu dessen hundert-jähriger Gründungsjubelfeier im Jahre 1855, p.8.