Death of Maria Theresa 's Husband and Outbreak of Smallpox

Although Maria Theresa and Francis Steven loved each other, they did have affairs. Francis Stephen tended to take ladies from the court to bed, and had a liking to Princess Charlotte, who later retired to a convent and became the Abbess of Remiremont. It is rumored that Maria Theresa liked her sister, Maria Anna's, widow, Charles of Lorraine, her husband's brother. 

Francis Stephen died while attending marriage of his second son Leopold in Innsbruck. Maria Theresa 's love for Francis Stephen was so deep that it changed her life forever when he died in 1765.

After the death of her husband, Maria Theresa painted her rooms black and wore only black mourning clothes for the rest of her life. She turned her attention towards marrying of her children to strengthen the empire. Once Francis Stephen died, Marie Antoinette 's life and her relationship with her mother, Maria Theresa, changed. Maria Theresa became withdrawn and Marie Antoinette saw her mother less and less frequently .

Maria Theresa did not allow any entertainment at Hofburg since the death of her husband until the merry celebrations in 1766 for the wedding of her daughter Maria Christina to Prince Albert of Sachsen-Teschen. However, an epidemic of smallpox soon invaded Vienna and many of the imperial family were not spared.

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