Information about Francis Ii, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis II (Francis I of Austria)
Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia
Reign	as Holy Roman Emperor - March 1 1792 - August 6 1806; as Emperor of Austria - August 11 1804 - March 2 1835
Full name	Francis Joseph Charles
Titles	King of Croatia and Slavonia Archduke of Austria
Born	February 12, 1768
	Florence
Died	March 2, 1835
	Vienna
Buried
Predecessor	Leopold II
Successor	Ferdinand I
Consort	1816-35 - Caroline Augusta of Bavaria
Wife/wives	1788-90 - Elisabeth of Württemberg
	1790-1807 - Maria Theresa of the Two Sicilies
	1808-16 - Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este
Issue	Marie Louise Ferdinand Maria Leopoldina Maria Clementina Maria Caroline Franz Karl Maria Anna
Royal House	Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Leopold II
Mother	Maria Louisa of Spain

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (German language: Franz II, Heiliger R̦mischer Kaiser) (12 February, 1768 Р2 March, 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August, 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804 he founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I of Austria (Franz I.), the first Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the one and only Doppelkaiser (double emperor) in history. For the two years between 1804 and 1806 Francis used the title and style by the grace of God elected Roman Emperor, always August, hereditary Emperor of Austria and he was called the Emperor of both Germany and Austria. Francis I continued his leading role as an opponent of Napoleonic France in the Napoleonic Wars, and suffered several more defeats after Austerlitz, the most severe of which led to his delivering his daughter, Marie Louise of Austria, as a bride in a reluctant marriage of state.

Francis was a son of Emperor Leopold II (1747 – 1792) and his wife Maria Luisa of Spain (1745 – 1792, daughter of Charles III of Spain.

Early Life

Francis was born in Florence, the capital of Tuscany where his father reigned as Grand Duke from 1765–90. Though he had a happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings,^[1] his family knew Francis was likely to be a future Emperor (his uncle Joseph had no surviving issue from either of his two marriages), and so in 1784 the young Archduke was sent to the Imperial Court in Vienna to educate and prepare him for his future role.^[2]

Emperor Joseph himself took charge of Francis's development, and his disciplinarian regime was a stark contrast to the indulgent Florentine Court of Leopold. The Emperor wrote that Francis was "stunted in growth", "backward in bodily dexterity and deportment", and "neither more nor less than a spoiled mother's child". Joseph concluded that "…the manner in which he was treated for upwards of sixteen years could not but have confirmed him in the delusion that the preservation of his own person was the only thing of importance."^[3]

Joseph's martinet method of improving the young Francis were "fear and unpleasantness".^[4] The young Archduke was isolated, the reasoning being that this would make him more self-sufficient as it was felt by Joseph that Francis "fail[ed] to lead himself, to do his own thinking". Nonetheless, Francis greatly admired his uncle, if rather feared him.^[5] To complete his training, Francis was sent to join an army regiment in Hungary and he settled easily into the routine of military life.^[6]

After the death of Joseph II in 1790, Francis's father became Emperor. He had an early taste of power while acting as Leopold's deputy in Vienna while the incoming Emperor traversed the Empire attempting to win back those alienated by his brother's policies.^[7] The strain told on Leopold, and by the winter of 1791 he became ill. He gradually worsened throughout early 1792, and, on the afternoon of 1 March Leopold died, at the relatively young age of 44. Francis, just past his 24th birthday, was now Emperor much sooner than he had expected.

Emperor

As the leader of the large multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire, Francis felt threatened by Napoleon's call for liberty and equality in Europe. Francis had a fraught relationship with France. His aunt Marie Antoinette died under the guillotine at the beginning of his reign. Francis, on the whole, was indifferent to her fate (she was not close to his father Leopold, and Francis had never met her). Georges Danton attempted to negotiate with the Emperor for Marie Antoinette's release from captivity, but Francis was unwilling to make any concessions in return.^[8] Later, he led Austria into the French Revolutionary Wars and was defeated by Napoleon. By the Treaty of Campo Formio, he ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France in exchange for Venice and Dalmatia. He again fought against France during the Second Coalition, and, after meeting crushing defeat at Austerlitz, agreed to the Treaty of Pressburg, which effectively dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, weakening the Austrian Empire and reorganizing present-day Germany under a Napoleonic imprint.

Silver Thaler of Francis I, struck 1821
By the time the coin was minted, Francis had abdicated the title of "Holy Roman Emperor," and his title had changed to Francis I of Austria. Obverse: (Latin) FRANCISCVS I, D[EI] G[RATIA] AVSTRIAE IMPERATOR, or in English, "Francis I, by the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria"	Reverse: (Latin) HVN[GARIAE] BOH[EMIAE] LOMB[ARDIAE] ET VEN[ETIARUM] GAL[ICIAE] LOD[OMERIA] IL[LYRIAE] REX A[RCHIDUX] A[VUSTRIAE] 1821, or in English, "King of Hungary, Bohemia, Lombardy-Venetia, Galicia, Lodomeria, and Illyria, Archduke of Austria 1821."

In 1809, Francis attacked France again, hoping to take advantage of the Peninsular War embroiling Napoleon in Spain. He was again defeated, and this time forced to ally himself with Napoleon, ceding territory to the Empire, joining the Continental System, and wedding his daughter Marie-Louise to the Emperor. Francis essentially became a vassal of the Emperor of the French. The Napoleonic wars drastically weakened Austria and threatened its preeminence among the states of Germany, a position that it would eventually cede to Prussia.

Austrian Royalty Habsburg Empire>House of Habsburg-Lorraine Francis I (Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor) Children include    Archduchess Marie Louise    Ferdinand I    Archduchess Maria Leopoldina    Archduchess Clementina    Archduke Franz Karl Grandchildren include    Franz Joseph I    Archduke Maximilian    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Ludwig Viktor Great-grandchildren include    Archduke Franz Ferdinand    Archduke Otto Franz Ferdinand I Franz Joseph I Children    Archduchess Sophie    Archduchess Gisela    Crown Prince Rudolf    Archduchess Marie Valerie Grandchildren include    Archduchess Elisabeth Marie Charles I Children include    Crown Prince Otto    Archduke Robert    Archduke Felix    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Rudolf Grandchildren include    Archduchess Andrea    Archduchess Monika    Archduchess Michaela    Archduchess Gabriela    Archduchess Walburga    Archduke Karl    Archduke Georg    Archduke Lorenz

In 1813, for the fourth and final time, Austria turned against France and joined Great Britain, Russia, and Prussia in their war against Napoleon. Austria played a major role in the final defeat of France—in recognition of this, Francis, represented by Clemens von Metternich, presided over the Congress of Vienna, helping to form the Concert of Europe and the Holy Alliance, ushering in an era of conservatism and reactionism in Europe. The German Confederation, a loose association of Central European states was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire. The Congress was a personal triumph for Francis, where he hosted the assorted dignitaries in comfort,^[9] though Francis undermined his allies Tsar Alexander and Frederick William III of Prussia by negotiating a secret treaty with the restored French king Louis XVIII.^[10]

Monarchical Styles of Francis I of Austria Reference style His Imperial Majesty Spoken style Your Imperial Majesty Alternative style Sir|

The federal Diet met at Frankfurt under Austrian presidency (in fact the Habsburg Emperor was represented by an Austrian 'presidential envoy').

Domestic Policy

The events of the French Revolution impressed themselves deeply into the mind of Francis, and he came to distrust 'radicalism' in any form.^[11] In 1794, a 'Jacobin' conspiracy was discovered in the Austrian and Hungarian armies.^[12] The leaders were put on trial, but the verdicts only skirted the perimeter of the conspiracy. Francis's brother Alexander Leopold (at that time Palatine of Hungary) wrote to the Emperor admitting "Although we have caught a lot of the culprits, we have not really got to the bottom of this business yet." Nonetheless, two officers heavily implicated in the conspiracy were hanged and gibbeted, while many others were sentenced to imprisonment (where many died in the conditions).^[13]

Francis was by nature suspicious,^[14] and set up an extensive network of police spies and censors to monitor dissent^[15] (in this he was following his father's lead, as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany had the most effective secret police in Europe).^[16] Even his family did not escape attention. His brothers, the Archdukes Charles and Johann had their meetings and activities spied upon.^[17] Censorship was also prevalent. The author Franz Grillparzer, a Habsburg patriot, had one play suppressed solely as a 'precautionary' measure. When Grillparzer met the censor responsible, he asked him what was objectionable about the work. The censor replied "Oh, nothing at all. But I thought to myself 'One can never tell'."^[18]

Francis presented himself as an open and approachable monarch (he regularly set aside two mornings each week to meet his imperial subjects, regardless of status, by appointment in his office, even speaking to them in their own language),^[19] but his will was sovereign. In 1804, he had no compunction about announcing that through his authority as Holy Roman Emperor, he declared he was now Emperor of Austria (at the time a geographical term that had little resonance).^[20] Two years later, Francis personally wound up the moribund Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Both actions were of dubious constitutional legality.^[21]

Later Years

Francis was a devoted family man, and a main point in the political testament he left for his son and heir Ferdinand was "Preserve unity in the family and regard it as one of the highest goods".^[22] In many portraits (particularly those painted by Peter Fendi) he was portrayed as the patriarch of a loving family, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.^[23]

On March 2 1835, 43 years and a day after his father's death, Francis died of a sudden fever aged 67, in the presence of many of his family and with all the religious comforts.^[24] His funeral was magnificent, with his Viennese subjects respectfully filing past his coffin in St. Stephen's Cathedral for three days.^[25] Francis was interred in the traditional resting place of Habsburg monarchs, the Kapuziner Imperial Crypt in Vienna's Neue Markt Square.

Ancestry

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16. Charles V, Duke of Lorraine

8. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine

17. Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria Queen Dowager of Poland-Lithuania

4. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

18. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

9. Princess Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans

19. Countess Palatine Elizabeth Charlotte of Simmern

2. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

20. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

10. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

21. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg

5. Maria Theresa of Austria Queen of Hungary & Bohemia

22. Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

11. Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

23. Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen

1. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Francis I of Austria

24. Louis, Dauphin of France

12. Philip V of Spain

25. Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria

6. Charles III of Spain

26. Edward II Farnese, Duke of Parma

13. Elisabeth of Parma

27. Countess Palatine Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg

3. Maria Louisa of Spain

28. Augustus II of Poland Elector of Saxony

14. Augustus III of Poland Elector of Saxony

29. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth

7. Maria Amalia of Saxony

30. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

15. Maria Josepha of Austria

31. Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Calenberg

Marriages

He married four times:

1. On January 6, 1788, to Elisabeth of Württemberg (April 21, 1767 – February 18, 1790), who died bearing a short-lived daughter, Ludovika Elisabeth of Austria (1790–91)
2. On August 15, 1790, to his first cousin Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies (June 6, 1772 – April 13, 1807), daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his double first cousin (both were grandchildren of Empress Maria Theresa and shared all of their other grandparents in common), with whom he had twelve children, but only seven reached adulthood:
3. * Marie-Louise (1791–1847), wife of Napoleon Bonaparte
4. * Ferdinand I (1793–1875), his successor
5. * Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria (1794-1795)
6. * Archduchess Caroline Ludovika of Austria (1795-1799)
7. * Maria Leopoldina (1797–1826), who married Pedro I of Brazil
8. * Maria Clementina (1798–1881), who married her maternal uncle Prince Leopoldo of the Two Sicilies (son of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies)
9. * Archduke Josef Franz Leopold of Austria (1799-1807)
10. * Marie Caroline, Crown Princess of Saxony (1801–32), who married King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony.
11. * Franz Karl (1802–78), whose children included Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico
12. * Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1804–1858)
13. * Archduke Johann Nepomuk of Austria (1805-1809)
14. * Archduchess Amalie Theresa of Austria (1807)
15. On January 6, 1808, he married again to another first cousin, Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este (December 14, 1787 – April 7, 1816) with no issue. She was the daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice d'Este, Princess of Modena.
16. On October 29, 1816, to Karoline Charlotte Auguste of Bavaria (February 8, 1792 – February 9, 1873) with no issue. She was daughter of Maximilian I of Bavaria and had been previously married to William I of Württemberg.

He is buried in tomb number 57 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, surrounded by his four wives.

After 1806 he used the titles: "We, Francis the First, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; King of Jerusalem, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Würzburg, Franconia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola; Grand Duke of Cracow; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Sandomir, Masovia, Lublin, Upper and Lower Silesia, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen and Friule; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia and Gradisca and of the Tyrol; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria".

References

Books

• Fraser, Antonia - : Phoenix 2002, ISBN 0-75381-305-X
• Wheatcroft, Andrew - The Habsburgs : Embodying Empire : Penguin 1996, ISBN 0-14-023634-1

Notes

External links

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Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor House of Habsburg-Lorraine Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine Born: February 12 1768 Died: March 2 1835
Regnal titles
Preceded by Leopold II	Holy Roman Emperor (also Roman-German King) 1792 – 1806	Holy Roman Empire dissolved
	Apostolic King of Hungary King of Bohemia 1792 – 1835	Succeeded by Ferdinand I
Count of Flanders 1792 – 1793	Occupation by the French Republic
Austrian Empire proclaimed	Emperor of Austria 1804 – 1835	Succeeded by Ferdinand I
German Confederation established	President of the German Confederation 1815 – 1835
Titles in pretence
New title Abolition of countship	— TITULAR — Count of Flanders 1793 – 1835	Succeeded by Ferdinand I

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•  • [ e] German Confederations 1806-1871
Confederation of the Rhine 1806-1813	Protector: Napoleon I of France (1806-1813) Prince primate: Karl Theodor von Dalberg (1806-1813) • Eugne de Beauharnais (1813)
German Confederation 1815-1866	Presidents: Francis I of Austria (1815-1835) • Ferdinand I of Austria (1835-1848) • Francis Joseph I of Austria (1849-1866) Imperial regent: Archduke Johann of Austria (1848-1849)
North German Confederation 1867-1871	President: William I of Prussia (1867-1871)
List of German monarchs – History of Germany – House of Habsburg-Lorraine – House of Hohenzollern

Persondata
NAME	Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Francis I of Austria
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Deceased Monarch
DATE OF BIRTH	February 12, 1768
PLACE OF BIRTH	Florence, Tuscany, Italy
DATE OF DEATH	March 2, 1830
PLACE OF DEATH	Vienna, Austria