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Francis I of Austria

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Francis II & I
Francis II
Holy Roman Emperor
Reign5 July 1792 – 6 August 1806
Coronation14 July 1792
Frankfurt Cathedral
PredecessorLeopold II
SuccessorMonarchy abolished (Napoleon as Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine)
Archduke/Emperor of Austria
Reign1 March 1792/11 August 1804 – 2 March 1835
PredecessorLeopold VII
SuccessorFerdinand I
ChancellorKlemens von Metternich
King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia
Reign1 March 1792 – 2 March 1835
Coronations
PredecessorLeopold II
SuccessorFerdinand V
King of Lombardy–Venetia
Reign9 June 1815 – 2 March 1835
SuccessorFerdinand I
Head of Präsidialmacht Austria
In office
20 June 1815 – 2 March 1835
Succeeded byFerdinand I
Born(1768-02-12)12 February 1768
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died2 March 1835(1835-03-02) (aged 67)
Vienna, Austrian Empire
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1788; died 1790)
(m. 1790; died 1807)
(m. 1808; died 1816)
(m. 1816)
Issue
Detail
Full name
Franz Josef Karl
HouseHabsburg-Lorraine
FatherLeopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
MotherMaria Luisa of Spain
ReligionRoman Catholicism
SignatureFrancis II & I's signature

Francis II and I (German: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and the first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and served as the first president of the German Confederation following its establishment in 1815.

The eldest son of future Emperor Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain, Francis was born in Florence, where his father ruled as Grand Duke of Tuscany. Leopold became Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 but died two years later, and Francis succeeded him. His empire immediately became embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars, the first of which ended in Austrian defeat and the loss of the left bank of the Rhine to France. After another French victory in the War of the Second Coalition, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. In response, Francis assumed the title of Emperor of Austria. He continued his leading role as Napoleon's adversary in the Napoleonic Wars, and suffered successive defeats that greatly weakened Austria as a European power. In 1806, after Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, Francis abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor, which in effect marked the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the defeat of the Fifth Coalition, Francis ceded more territory to France and was forced to wed his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon.

In 1813, Francis turned against Napoleon and finally defeated him in the War of the Sixth Coalition, forcing the French emperor to abdicate. Austria took part as a leading member of the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna, which was largely dominated by Francis' chancellor Klemens von Metternich, culminating in a new European order and the restoration of most of Francis' ancient dominions. Due to the establishment of the Concert of Europe, which resisted popular nationalist and liberal tendencies, Francis was viewed as a reactionary later in his reign. Francis died in 1835 at the age of 67 and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand I.

Children

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From his first wife Elisabeth of Württemberg, one daughter, who died in infancy, and his second wife Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies, eight daughters and four sons, of whom five died in infancy or childhood:

Children of Francis II
Name Picture Birth Death Notes
By Elisabeth of Württemberg
Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth 18 February 1790 24 June 1791 (aged 1) Died in infancy and buried in the Imperial Crypt, Vienna, Austria.
By Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies
Archduchess Maria Ludovika 12 December 1791 17 December 1847 (aged 56) Married first Bonaparte, had issue, married second Adam, count of Neipperg, had issue, married third to Charles, Count of Bombelles, no issue.
Emperor Ferdinand I 19 April 1793 29 June 1875 (aged 82) Married Maria Anna of Savoy, Princess of Sardinia, no issue.
Archduchess Marie Caroline 8 June 1794 16 March 1795 (aged 9 months) Died in childhood, no issue.
Archduchess Caroline Ludovika 22 December 1795 30 June 1797 (aged 1) Died in childhood, no issue.
Archduchess Caroline Josepha Leopoldine 22 January 1797 11 December 1826 (aged 29) Renamed Maria Leopoldina upon her marriage; married Pedro I of Brazil (a.k.a. Pedro IV of Portugal); issue included Maria II of Portugal and Pedro II of Brazil.
Archduchess Maria Klementina 1 March 1798 3 September 1881 (aged 83) Married her maternal uncle Leopold, Prince of Salerno, had issue.
Archduke Joseph Franz Leopold 9 April 1799 30 June 1807 (aged 8) Died some weeks after his mother in childhood, no issue.
Archduchess Maria Karolina 8 April 1801 22 May 1832 (aged 31) Married Crown Prince (later King) Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, no issue.
Archduke Franz Karl 17 December 1802 8 March 1878 (aged 75) Married Princess Sophie of Bavaria; issue included Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico.
Archduchess Marie Anne 8 June 1804 28 December 1858 (aged 54) Born intellectually disabled (like her eldest brother, Emperor Ferdinand I) and to have suffered from a severe facial deformity. Died unmarried.
Archduke Johann Nepomuk 30 August 1805 19 February 1809 (aged 3) Died in childhood, no issue.
Archduchess Amalie Theresa 6 April 1807 9 April 1807 (aged 3 days) Died in childhood, no issue.

Ancestors

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See also

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References

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  1. Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 109.

Regnal titles

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Francis I of Austria
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 12 February 1768 Died: 2 March 1835
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Leopold II
Holy Roman Emperor
King in Germany

1792–1806
Dissolution
Duke of Brabant, Limburg and Luxembourg;
Count of Flanders, Hainaut and Namur

1792–1793
French Revolutionary Wars
Duke of Milan
1792–1796

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King of Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia and Lodomeria, and Croatia,
Archduke of Austria

1792–1835
Succeeded by
Ferdinand I & V
New title Emperor of Austria
1804–1835

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King of Lombardy-Venetia
1815–1835
Political offices
New title Head of the Präsidialmacht Austria
1815–1835
Succeeded by
Ferdinand I of Austria


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