Ferdinand I of Austria
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| Ferdinand I | |
| Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary & Bohemia | |
 Emperor Ferdinand I |
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| Reign | 2 March 1835 – 2 December 1848 |
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| Full name | Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin of Habsburg-Lorraine |
| Born | 19 April, 1793 |
| Died | 29 June, 1875 |
| Predecessor | Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (as Emperor Francis I of Austria) |
| Successor | Francis Joseph I of Austria |
| Consort | Maria Anna of Sardinia |
| Issue | None |
| Royal House | Habsburg-Lorraine |
| Father | Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies |
Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia (April 19, 1793 – June 29, 1875) succeeded his father (Franz II Holy Roman Emperor/Franz I of Austria) as emperor and king (as Ferdinand V) in 1835. He chose to abdicate, after a series of revolts in 1848. He was also King of Lombardy-Venetia.
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[edit] Life
Ferdinand has been depicted as feeble-minded and incapable of ruling, but although he was epileptic and certainly not intelligent, he kept a coherent and legible diary and has even been said to have a sharp wit. The up to twenty seizures he had per day, though, severely restricted his ability to rule with any effectiveness.
Though he was not declared incapacitated, a regent's council, including other Habsburgs and Prince Klemens von Metternich, steered the government. His marriage to Princess Maria Anna of Sardinia (1803-1884) was probably never consummated, nor is he believed to have had any other liaisons. He is famous for his one coherent command: when his cook told him he could not have apricot dumplings because they were out of season, he said “I'm the Emperor, and I want dumplings!” (German: Ich bin der Kaiser und will Knödel.) [1]
As the revolutionaries of 1848 were marching on the palace, he is supposed to have asked Metternich for an explanation. When Metternich answered that they were making a revolution, Ferdinand is supposed to have said “But are they allowed to do that?” (Viennese German: Ja, dürfen's denn des?) He was convinced by Felix zu Schwarzenberg to abdicate in favour of his nephew, Franz Joseph (the next in line was Ferdinand's younger brother Franz Karl, but he was persuaded to waive his succession rights in favour of his son) who would occupy the Austrian throne for the next sixty-eight years.
Ferdinand recorded the events in his diary : "The affair ended with the new Emperor kneeling before his old Emperor and Lord, that is to say, me, and asking for a blessing, which I gave him, laying both hands on his head and making the sign of the Holy Cross ... then I embraced him and kissed our new master, and then we went to our room. Afterward I and my dear wife heard Holy Mass ... After that I and my dear wife packed our bags"
Ferdinand was the last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such. Due to his sympathy with Bohemia (where he spent the rest of his life in Prague Castle) he was given the Czech nickname “Ferdinand V, the Good” (Ferdinand Dobrotivý). In Austria, Ferdinand was similarly nicknamed “Ferdinand der Gütige” (Ferdinand the Benign), but also ridiculed as "Gütinand der Fertige" (Goodinand the Finished).
He is interred in tomb number 62 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.
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[edit] Titles
He used the titles: "We, Ferdinand 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".
[edit] Ancestors
Ferdinand's parents were double first cousins as they shared all four grandparents (Francis' paternal grandparents were his wife's maternal grandparents and vice versa). Therefore Ferdinand only had four great-grandparents, being descended from each of them twice. Further back in his ancestry there is more pedigree collapse due to the close intermarriage between the Houses of Austria and Spain and other Catholic monarchies.
[edit] See also
- Rulers of Germany family tree. He was related to every other ruler of Germany.
[edit] References
- ^ According to A.J.P. Taylor, he was in fact asking for noodles - "But it is an unacceptable pun in English for a noodle to ask for noodles" - The Habsburg Monarchy 1809–1918
[edit] External links
| Monarchical styles of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria |
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| Reference style | His Imperial Majesty |
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| Spoken style | Your Imperial Majesty |
| Alternative style | My Lord |
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Ferdinand I of Austria
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 19 April 1793 Died: 29 June 1875 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Francis I |
Emperor of Austria 1835 – 1848 |
Succeeded by Franz Joseph I |
| King of Hungary 1830 – 1848 |
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| King of Bohemia 1836 – 1848 |
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| President of the German Confederation 1835 – 1848 |
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