 Though she eventually gave up trying to convert her non @-@ Catholic subjects to Roman Catholicism , Maria Theresa regarded both the Jews and Protestants as dangerous to the state and actively tried to suppress them . The empress was probably the most anti @-@ Semitic monarch of her time , having inherited the traditional prejudices of her ancestors and acquired new ones . This was a product of deep religious devotion and was not kept secret in her time . In 1777 , she wrote of the Jews : " I know of no greater plague than this race , which on account of its deceit , usury and avarice is driving my subjects into beggary . Therefore as far as possible , the Jews are to be kept away and avoided . " 
