Thanks for the correction with regard to the dates - it wasn't clear from the reference given by Derek Beales in his biography of Joseph II, and moreover he seemed to think it was a marriage project which had fallen through rather than Maximillian's appointment.
You're welcome. I did not know what your source was, from all your previous insightful statements and quotes I thought you may have read the original editions of the letters.
It was my understanding that Maria Elisabeth was reluctant to leave Vienna for Innsbruck when Joseph made it clear he was not prepared to allow his sisters to stay there following the death of Maria Theresa, and it might be that because of this I have misread the situation;
I don't think you misread it, I think this is the general portrayal of the situation. Joseph certainly wanted to put an end to the Viennese "republique feminine" (I think Beales writes this too). In another later letter he says that there was a lot of crying about his actions. I once had had a look into the edition of Joseph's letters to Leopold and if my limited French did not mislead me this quote seems to refer more to the court and ladies around the sisters but not the sisters themselves. But I could be wrong.
Looked at it that way, the other aspect which is noticeable prior to this is that both Maria Theresa and Joseph thought very poorly of Maria Elisabeth - in the letter you mention, Maria Theresa adds "il est triste de voir si peu de raisonnement" [it is sad to see so little reasoning]. In fact, it seems perfectly sensible for her to fear that she would have no establishment except an unsatisfactory position at Joseph's court in the future.
I totally agree.
It may be that Maria Theresa simply didn't consider Maria Elisabeth capable of running her own show, and Joseph was certainly not going to stand up for her, though he might have thought it worth giving her the appointment after the empress's death to get rid of her. So it may be that Maria Elisabeth did want to be Abbess, but Maria Theresa was not prepared to allow it. Though all this is speculation - it's very difficult in the absence of anything from Maria Elisabeth herself.
Again I agree, it is a pity that there is so little knowledge about Maria Elisabeth's thoughts/wishes. Another speculation - at least relating to Innsbruck - could be that Maria Theresia wanted to remain fully in charge of this convent which clearly meant a lot to her. Appointing her daughter would have meant to hand over some/most competencies.
@Eric Lowe As promised, some more information on Maria Elisabeth's life after 1780 which is somewhat neglected by biographers, it appears as if she was removed away from Vienna to the province, into a convent, quiet religious life, nothing happened, done. (Of course this is an oversimplification now.)
However, on the one hand, the convent itself was not a nunnery – the ladies could with some restrictions participate in court life, and if a suitable husband was found, leave the convent. Both Joseph and later Maria Elisabeth abolished some of the religious duties. These duties anyways mostly applied to the ladies and the dean – whereas the Archduchess was required to partake only on special holidays. She also did not live in the convent but in the imperial castle in Innsbruck (to which the convent was connected or was part of respectively). After 1781 there was a small but vivid court life around Maria Elisabeth, which was enriched by visits of siblings (I think Maria Amalia’s visit was already mentioned here) but also benefited from Innsbruck’s geographical position at the Germany-Italy route which brought noble visitors into the city (They were usually welcomed by Maria Elisabeth with diners, balls, theatre etc, sometimes also sightseeing trips in the vicinity).
For the Tyrolean nobility and administration (probably also economy) it was of quite some importance to have a court again (with interruptions Tyrol had had their own sovereign and court until 1665). Thus it was clear from the beginning that for the Tyroleans Archduchess Maria Elisabeth would be more than "just" an abbess. Some panegyric poets celebrated her as the emperor’s embodiment in the province. In fact, Joseph was concerned about this and instructed the governor that her social/symbolic position must not lead to any meddling with political matters. And to my knowledge she did not. This symbolic/social position remained and probably increased over the years. For example in 1790 Leopold made Maria Elisabeth his representative at the act and celebration of the Tyroleans’ oath of allegiance. In the same year the convent received a seat in the regional diet. In the 1790s, when the French troops threaten Tyrol’s borders, Maria Elisabeth signed proclamations asking the population to join the militia and to defend the country. At this time she appears to be some sort of a substitute sovereign/governor. In these years she also left Innsbruck for several times when the military situation seemed dangerous and in 1805 when Tyrol was ceded to Bavaria, Maria Elisabeth left Tyrol, “abdicated” as abbess and moved east to Linz where she died in 1808.