Maria Theresa

Born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Her father Charles VI spent years getting European powers to sign the Pragmatic Sanction, guaranteeing she could inherit the throne. He forgot to build her an army.

Inherits the Habsburg throne at 23 when her father dies. She's pregnant with her fourth child. Frederick the Great of Prussia immediately invades Silesia. Bavaria, Saxony, and France pile on. Every promise to respect her succession evaporates.

Rides to the Hungarian Diet in Pressburg carrying her infant son Joseph. She asks for help in Latin. The Hungarian nobles draw their swords and pledge their lives. 'Moriamur pro rege nostro.' Let us die for our king. They call her king, not queen.

Engineers the Diplomatic Revolution, allying with France against Prussia. She reverses 200 years of Habsburg-Bourbon rivalry. She corresponds directly with Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Pompadour, to make it work.

Marries her youngest daughter Marie Antoinette to the French Dauphin. She has 16 children total. Eleven survive infancy. She micromanages their marriages across European courts. She also reforms education, abolishes torture, and introduces smallpox inoculation to the empire.

Dies at the Hofburg at 63. She'd ruled for 40 years. She mourned her husband Francis for 15 of them, wearing black every day after his death and sleeping in the room where he died.