Ferdinand I of Austria
1793 – 1875 · Generation XIX · Emperor of Austria (r. 1835–1848) · Habsburg-Lorraine
Ferdinand (1793 – 1875). Emperor of Austria (r. 1835–1848). Married Maria Anna in 1831. Epileptic; abdicated in 1848 in favour of his nephew Franz Joseph; childless. Nicknamed “the Benign,” he inherited the throne but never truly the government: his father’s will bound him to consult his uncle Archduke Louis and to heed Metternich, and a Regent’s Council governed in his name. He was no simpleton — the diary he kept is lucid and orderly, and contemporaries credited him with a quick wit — but seizures, sometimes twenty in a day, made effective rule impossible. When revolution reached the palace in 1848 he is said to have asked, “But are they allowed to do that?” Persuaded to step aside, he retired to Prague Castle for his remaining decades, the last crowned King of Bohemia and the last ruler crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
One of 20 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