Born on 4 March 1676, she was the daughter of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
John III Sobieski and
Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien. While her parents had 13 children, she was the only daughter to survive childhood. Theresa was baptized in Jaworow on 19 July, having for her godfather
Charles II, king of England and for her godmother
Marie-Thérèse of Austria, wife of
Louis XIV, both by proxy., c. 1690 Theresa was educated in painting and music, Latin, Italian and French. At the beginning of 1692, her father planned to marry her to the
Crown Prince of Denmark, but this project was subsequently abandoned.
Wedding On 15 August 1694, at the age of 19, she married
Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, governor of the
Spanish Netherlands. He was a former comrade in arms of her father and widower of
Maria Antonia of Austria. The marriage took place by proxy in Warsaw, her oldest brother standing in for Max Emanuel. She would not meet the latter until 1 January 1695 in Brussels. Her dowry was 500,000 thalers. In honor of her wedding to Max Emanuel, the opera
Amor vuol il giusto was created and staged. It used a
libretto by the Italian writer
Giovanni Battista Lampugnani.
Regency In the Spanish Netherlands, Theresa gave birth to six children before the family moved to Munich in May 1701. Following the evacuation of the Bavarian court from the Spanish Netherlands after the defeat of the
Battle of Blenheim (13 August 1704), she became Regent of the Government of the Elector of Bavaria. The move was smart since, legally, the war was against the Elector and not Theresa. It was the only time a woman ruled the Bavarian Electorate. However, Emperor Leopold I forced her to sign the
treaty of Ilbersheim on 5 November 1704. This included a
cease-fire and gave Theresa the Munich Rentamt, one of the four administrative districts of the Duchy of Bavaria, while the rest of Bavaria is placed under the military supervision of the
Austrian Empire. At the beginning of this phase, Theresa strove to decide in collaboration with Max Emanuel but the courier took too long for this to be effective. She also had to face the defection of part of the Bavarian nobility in favour of the emperor.
Exile On 21 December 1704, she gave birth to the last of her sons. In February 1705, she left to meet her mother in
Padua following the discovery of written correspondence between her husband and
Agnès Le Louchier, the Countess of
Arco, his mistress. Upon her return in May, the imperial army would not allow her to return to Munich, in violation of the treaty of Ilbersheim. Her four sons were looked after by the Austrians in
Klagenfurt while her two youngest ones and her daughter remained in Munich. She rests in the
Theatine Church in
Munich. ==Children==