Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Ferdinand IV
Grand Duke Ferdinand IV, in later life.
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Reign 21 July 1859 – 22 March 1860
Predecessor Leopold II
Consort Princess Alice of Parma
Princess Anna of Saxony
Issue
Archduke Leopold Ferdinand
Louise, Crown Princess of Saxony
Archduke Josef Ferdinand
Archduke Peter Ferdinand
Full name
(Italian: Ferdinando Salvatore Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Francesco Lodovico Gonzaga Raffaele Ranerio Gennaro)
(German: Ferdinand Salvator Maria Joseph Johann Baptist Franz Ludwig Gonzaga Raphael Rainerius Gennarius)
House House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Mother Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
Born 10 June 1835
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died January 17, 1908(1908-01-17) (aged 72)
Salzburg, Austria-Hungary
Religion Roman Catholicism

Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (Italian: Ferdinando IV, Granduca di Toscana;[1] 10 June 1835 – 17 January 1908) was the last Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1859 to 1860. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine continued to hold the title as pretenders until the end of World War I.

Contents

Biography

Born at Florence, he was the son of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies.

He and his family were forced to flee Florence on April 27, 1859, with the outbreak of a revolution inspired by the outbreak of a war by France and Sardinia-Piedmont against Austria as part of the unification of Italy. The family took refuge in Austria. After the end of the war, Leopold II abdicated on July 21, and Ferdinand succeeded him as Grand Duke. Ferdinand proved unable to return to Florence to claim his throne, and an elected Tuscan National Assembly formally deposed him only a month later, on August 16. Ferdinand still hoped to recover his throne, as both France and Austria had promised to recognize his rights to it in the Armistice of Villafranca. However, neither power was willing to take any steps to bring about his restoration. The Kingdom of Sardinia annexed Tuscany on March 22, 1860, ending Ferdinand's hopes to reclaim the throne.

Ferdinand spent the rest of his life in exile in Austria. He died there, in Salzburg, in 1908.

Family and children

He married twice and had the following children:

From his first marriage in Dresden on 24 November 1856 to Princess Anna Maria Maximiliane Stephania Karoline Johanna Luisa Xaveria Nepomucena Aloysia Benedicta, (Dresden, 4 January 1836 - Naples, 10 February 1859), daughter of King John I of Saxony:

From his second marriage in Frohsdorf on 11 January 1868 to Princess Alice "Alix" of Parma (Parma, 27 December 1849 - Schwertberg, 16 November 1935), daughter of Charles III of Parma:

Ancestry

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Full name: in Italian Ferdinando Salvatore Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Francesco Lodovico Gonzaga Raffaele Ranerio Gennaro, in German Ferdinand Salvator Maria Joseph Johann Baptist Franz Ludwig Gonzaga Raphael Rainerius Gennarius;

External links

Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 10 June 1835 Died: 17 January 1908
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Leopold II		 Grand Duke of Tuscany
1859		 The Tuscan National Assembly formally deposes the House of Habsurg-Lorraine
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
State annexed
 — TITULAR —
Grand Duke of Tuscany
1859–1908		 Succeeded by
Archduke Josef Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany