 She dismissed the possibility that other countries might try to seize her territories and immediately started ensuring the imperial dignity for herself ; since a woman could not be elected Holy Roman Empress , Maria Theresa wanted to secure the imperial office for her husband . However , Francis Stephen did not possess enough land or rank within the Holy Roman Empire . In order to make him eligible for the imperial throne and to enable him to vote in the imperial elections as elector of Bohemia ( which she couldn 't because of her sex ) , Maria Theresa made Francis Stephen co @-@ ruler of the Austrian and Bohemian lands on 21 November 1740 . However , it took more than a year for the Diet of Hungary to accept Francis Stephen as co @-@ ruler . Despite her love for him and his position as co @-@ ruler , Maria Theresa never allowed her husband to decide matters of state and often dismissed him from council meetings when they disagreed . 
