Ferdinand I of Austria
1793 – 1875 · Generation XIX · Emperor of Austria (r. 1835–1848) · Habsburg-Lorraine
Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria from 1835 until he abdicated in the revolutionary year of 1848, remembered as Ferdinand the Benign. He was born on 19 April 1793, the eldest son of Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, who were double first cousins. He suffered from hydrocephalus, epilepsy and a speech impediment, perhaps because of his parents’ close kinship.
He succeeded his father on 2 March 1835. He was never declared incapable, but frequent seizures, as many as twenty a day, kept him from governing. Following his father’s wishes, a council of his uncle Archduke Louis, Count Kolowrat and Prince Metternich ran the state. He was less feeble than his reputation, however, and kept a coherent diary and was said to have a sharp wit. He married Maria Anna of Savoy, a daughter of Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia, and they had no children.
When revolution reached Vienna in 1848, he is supposed to have asked Metternich whether the revolutionaries were allowed to do that. Persuaded by Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, he abdicated on 2 December 1848 in favour of his eighteen-year-old nephew Franz Joseph, whose father had given up his own claim. Ferdinand described in his diary how the new emperor knelt for his blessing.
He spent his last twenty-seven years at Prague Castle, where the Czechs called him Ferdinand the Benevolent. He had been the last king to be crowned King of Bohemia, and the last to receive the Iron Crown of Lombardy. He died in 1875 and lies in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.
Place in the family
- Ferdinand I of Austria was a great-grandson of Maria Theresa.
- Ferdinand I of Austria was the elder of 2 children of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily recorded in this archive.
One of 24 people of Habsburg-Lorraine (from 1736) in this archive. Maria Theresa’s marriage carried the inheritance into a new name, which its heirs still bear.
Line of descent: Rudolf I of Germany → Albert I of Germany → Albert II, Duke of Austria → Leopold III, Duke of Austria → Ernest, Duke of Austria → Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor → Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor → Philip I of Castile → Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor → Charles II, Archduke of Austria → Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor → Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor → Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor → Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor → Maria Theresa → Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor → Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor → Ferdinand I of Austria.
Parents
- Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (1768 – 1835)
- Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily (1772 – 1807)
Siblings
- Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802 – 1878)
Partners
- Married Maria Anna of Savoy (1803 – 1884) in 1831
Life
- 1793 — Born
- 1831 — Married Maria Anna
- 1875 — Died
Sources
- Ferdinand I of Austria · Wikipedia
- Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor · Wikipedia