Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este
1754 – 1806 · Generation XVII · Archduke of Austria · Habsburg-Lorraine
Archduke Ferdinand Karl founded the House of Austria-Este. He was born at Schönbrunn on 1 June 1754, the fourteenth child, and fourth son, of the emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa. In 1763, when he was nine, his mother agreed a treaty with Francesco III, Duke of Modena, that engaged him to Maria Beatrice d’Este, the duke’s granddaughter and the heiress of the Este line, and made him heir to the duchy.
They married on 15 October 1771, with festivities that included Mozart’s opera Ascanio in Alba, and the same year he became governor of the Duchy of Milan, a post his brother Joseph II confirmed in 1780. The couple had ten children. Among them were Francis IV, who would rule Modena, Maria Ludovika, who married her cousin Francis I of Austria and became empress, and Maria Theresa, who married Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia.
Napoleon’s invasion of 1796 drove the family from Milan, and Modena itself joined the Cisalpine Republic. In compensation his father-in-law Ercole III received the Breisgau, and when Ercole died in 1803 Ferdinand Karl succeeded as Duke of Breisgau and titular Duke of Modena. He never ruled Modena, and in 1805 the Treaty of Pressburg passed the Breisgau to Baden. He died in Vienna on 24 December 1806 and was buried in the Imperial Crypt. In 1814 the Congress of Vienna restored Modena to his eldest surviving son, Francis IV.
Place in the family
- Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este was a son of Maria Theresa.
- Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este was the seventh of 9 children of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa 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 → Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este.
Parents
- Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708 – 1765)
- Maria Theresa (1717 – 1780)
Siblings
- Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1741 – 1790)
- Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (1742 – 1798)
- Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (1743 – 1808)
- Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (1746 – 1804)
- Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (1747 – 1792)
- Maria Carolina of Austria (1752 – 1814)
- Marie Antoinette (1755 – 1793)
- Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (1756 – 1801)
Partners
- Married Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa (1750 – 1829) in 1771
Life
- 1754 — Born
- 1771 — Married Maria Beatrice
- 1806 — Died
Sources
- Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este · Wikipedia
- Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa · Wikipedia