 Her relationship with the Jesuits was complex . Members of this order educated her , served as her confessors , and supervised the religious education of her eldest son . The Jesuits were powerful and influential in the early years of Maria Theresa 's reign . However , the queen 's ministers convinced her that the order posed a danger to her monarchical authority . Not without much hesitation and regret , she issued a decree which removed them from all the institutions of the monarchy , and carried it out thoroughly . She forbade the publication of Pope Clement XIII 's bull which was in favour of the Jesuits and promptly confiscated their property when Pope Clement XIV suppressed the order . 
