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56-486: Holy Roman Empire, Luxembourg, Brabant, and Flanders : 1805 – Francis II & I ceded titles in accordance with the Peace of Pressburg Parma : 1847 – Marie Louise died with issue Tuscany : 1859 – Leopold II abdicated due to pressure from Italian nationalists Mexico : 1867 – Maximilian I executed by Liberal republicans. The House of Lorraine (German: Haus Lothringen ) originated as

112-779: A cadet branch of the House of Metz . It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine . By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg and became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (German: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen ). Francis, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II , and his grandson Francis II were

168-655: A European power. In 1806, after Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine , Francis abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor, which in effect marked the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the defeat of the Fifth Coalition , Francis ceded more territory to France and was forced to wed his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon. In 1813, Francis turned against Napoleon and finally defeated him in

224-522: A happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings, his family knew Francis was likely to be a future Emperor (his uncle Joseph had no surviving issue from either of his two marriages), and so in 1784 the young Archduke was sent to the Imperial Court in Vienna to educate and prepare him for his future role. Emperor Joseph II himself took charge of Francis' development. His disciplinarian regime

280-582: A junior branch of the Lorraine family, the House of Guise , which became a dominant force in French politics and, during the later years of Henry III 's reign, was on the verge of succeeding to the throne of France. Mary of Guise , mother of Mary, Queen of Scots , also came from this family. Under the Bourbon monarchy the remaining branch of the House of Guise, headed by the duc d'Elbeuf , remained part of

336-524: A secret treaty with the restored French king Louis XVIII . The violent events of the French Revolution impressed themselves deeply into the mind of Francis (as well as all other European monarchs), and he came to distrust radicalism in any form. In 1794, a " Jacobin " conspiracy was discovered in the Austrian and Hungarian armies. The leaders were put on trial, but the verdicts only skirted

392-650: A son and heir, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 left the throne to the latter's yet unborn daughter, Maria Theresa . In 1736 Emperor Charles arranged her marriage to Francis of Lorraine who agreed to exchange his hereditary lands for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (as well as the Duchy of Teschen from the Emperor). At Charles's death in 1740 the Habsburg holdings passed to Maria Theresa and Francis, who

448-475: A toll on Leopold and by the winter of 1791, he became ill. He gradually worsened throughout early 1792; on the afternoon of 1 March Leopold died, at the relatively young age of 44. Francis, just past his 24th birthday, was now Emperor, much sooner than he had expected. As the head of the Holy Roman Empire and the ruler of the vast multi-ethnic Habsburg hereditary lands , Francis felt threatened by

504-549: The Austro-Hungarian throne) contracted a morganatic marriage with Countess Sophie Chotek . Their descendants, known as the House of Hohenberg , have been excluded from succession to the Austro-Hungarian crown, but not that of Lorraine, where morganatic marriage has never been outlawed. Nevertheless, Otto von Habsburg , the eldest grandson of Franz Ferdinand's younger brother , was universally regarded as

560-518: The Battle of Nancy (5 January 1477), ending the Burgundian Wars . In 1476, upon the death of his grandmother, he became sole Count of Harcourt and Baron of Elbeuf . The alliance with Louis would not last, as Louis moved to acquire René's lands. In June 1478, as compensation for the royal seizure of Anjou and Provence, Louis XI reaffirmed his rights to the formerly Burgundian possessions of

616-766: The French Revolutionary Wars , the first of which ended in Austrian defeat and the loss of the left bank of the Rhine to France. After another French victory in the War of the Second Coalition , Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French . In response, Francis assumed the title of Emperor of Austria. He continued his leading role as Napoleon's adversary in the Napoleonic Wars , and suffered successive defeats that greatly weakened Austria as

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672-473: The French revolutionaries and later Napoleon's expansionism as well as their social and political reforms which were being exported throughout Europe in the wake of the conquering French armies. Francis had a fraught relationship with France. His aunt Marie Antoinette , the wife of Louis XVI and Queen consort of France, was guillotined by the revolutionaries in 1793, at the beginning of his reign, although, on

728-623: The Holy Alliance , ushering in an era of conservatism in Europe. The German Confederation , a loose association of Central European states was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire. The Congress was a personal triumph for Francis, who hosted the assorted dignitaries in comfort, though Francis undermined his allies Tsar Alexander and Frederick William III of Prussia by negotiating

784-658: The Imperial Diet their intention to leave the Empire with immediate effect. Then, on 22 July, Napoleon issued an ultimatum to Francis demanding that he abdicate as Holy Roman Emperor by 10 August. Five days later, Francis bowed to the inevitable and, without mentioning the ultimatum, affirmed that since the Peace of Pressburg he had tried his best to fulfil his duties as emperor but that circumstances had convinced him that he could no longer rule according to his oath of office,

840-565: The Kingdom of Prussia . In 1813, for the fifth and final time, Austria turned against France and joined Great Britain , Russia , Prussia and Sweden in their war against Napoleon . Austria played a major role in the final defeat of France—in recognition of this, Francis, represented by Clemens von Metternich , presided over the Congress of Vienna , helping to form the Concert of Europe and

896-672: The Peninsular War embroiling Napoleon in Spain . He was again defeated, and this time forced to ally himself with Napoleon, ceding territory to the Empire, joining the Continental System , and wedding his daughter Marie-Louise to the Emperor. The Napoleonic Wars drastically weakened Austria, making it entirely landlocked and threatened its preeminence among the states of Germany, a position that it would eventually cede to

952-476: The War of the Second Coalition . On 11 August 1804, in response to Napoleon crowning himself as emperor of the French earlier that year, he announced that he would henceforth assume the title of hereditary emperor of Austria as Francis I, a move that technically was illegal in terms of imperial law. Yet Napoleon had agreed beforehand and therefore it happened. During the War of the Third Coalition ,

1008-520: The War of the Sixth Coalition , forcing the French emperor to abdicate. Austria took part as a leading member of the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna , which was largely dominated by Francis' chancellor Klemens von Metternich , culminating in a new European order and the restoration of most of Francis' ancient dominions. Due to the establishment of the Concert of Europe , which resisted popular nationalist and liberal tendencies, Francis

1064-812: The Windic March ; Grand Voivode of the Voivodeship of Serbia etc., etc. From 1804 with the proclamation of the Empire of Austria until his abdication as Holy Roman Emperor in 1806 his grand title started "By the Grace of God anointed Roman Emperor , ever Increaser of the Realm and King in Germania (" von Gottes Gnaden erwählter Römischer Kaiser, zu allen Zeiten Mehrer des Reichs sowie König in Germanien ). Ren%C3%A9 II, Duke of Lorraine René

1120-561: The county of Aumale . René fell ill during a hunt in Fains , and died on 10 December 1508, aged 57. On his mother's side, he was a grandson of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine . His father was a member of the Vaudémont family, a junior branch of the Lorraine ducal family, descending from John I, Duke of Lorraine . He was thus both heir-general and heir-male to the Duchy when he succeeded on

1176-456: The 11th century. Charles II died without male heir, the duchy passing to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine , consort of Naples by marriage to Duke René of Anjou . The duchy passed to their son John II (r. 1453–1470), whose son Nicholas I (r. 1470–1473) died without heir. The title now went to Nicholas' aunt (sister of John II) Yolande . The House of Lorraine was formed by Yolande's marriage to Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (1428–1470), who

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1232-474: The Austrian forces met a crushing defeat at Austerlitz , and Francis had to agree to the Treaty of Pressburg , which greatly weakened Austria and brought about the final collapse of the Holy Roman Empire . In July 1806, under massive pressure from France, Bavaria and fifteen other German states ratified the statutes founding the Confederation of the Rhine , with Napoleon designated Protector, and they announced to

1288-627: The Duchy of Bar. When his mother Yolande died in 1483, he succeeded her in her claims to the kingdoms of Naples and Jerusalem. In 1482, René traveled to Italy and defeated the Duke of Ferrara in the Battle of Adria as an ally of the Republic of Venice . In 1485 René took part in the first phase of the so-called " Mad War ", but prudentially retired after a while. In 1488 the Neapolitans offered him

1344-541: The Duchy of Luxembourg and the County of Burgundy, and then transferred those rights to René and all of his descendants. The transfer of the County of Burgundy to France in 1482 with the Treaty of Arras made realization of these rights possible, but the County was returned to the Habsburgs in 1493 with the Treaty of Senlis and René would not exercise control over the County again. Likewise, any authority over Luxembourg

1400-954: The First By the Grace of God Emperor of Austria , King of Hungary , Bohemia , Lombardy–Venetia , Dalmatia , Croatia , Slavonia , Galicia , Lodomeria and Illyria ; King of Jerusalem , etc.; Archduke of Austria ; Grand Duke of Tuscany ; Duke of Lorraine , Salzburg , Styria , Carinthia , Carniola and Bukovina ; Grand Prince of Transylvania , Margrave of Moravia ; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia , of Modena , Parma , Piacenza and Guastalla , of Auschwitz and Zator , of Teschen , Friaul , Ragusa and Zara ; Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol , of Kyburg , Gorizia and Gradisca ; Prince of Trento and Brixen ; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria ; Count of Hohenems , Feldkirch , Bregenz , Sonnenberg etc.; Lord of Trieste , of Cattaro and on

1456-634: The Gerardide-Matfriding theory are: Eduard Hlawitschka, George Poull and partially the Europäische Stammtafeln (which however does not take into account the kinship with the Girardides). The Renaissance dukes of Lorraine tended to arrogate to themselves claims to Carolingian ancestry, as illustrated by Alexandre Dumas, père in the novel La Dame de Monsoreau (1846); in fact, so little documentation survives on

1512-533: The army during the Napoleonic wars. Yet, distrustful of allowing any individual too much power, he otherwise maintained the separation of command functions between the Hofkriegsrat and his field commanders. In the later years of his reign he limited military spending, requiring it not exceed forty million florins per year; because of inflation this resulted in inadequate funding, with the army's share of

1568-465: The budget shrinking from half in 1817 to only twenty-three percent in 1830. Francis presented himself as an open and approachable monarch (he regularly set aside two mornings each week to meet with his imperial subjects, regardless of status, by appointment in his office, even speaking to them in their own language), but his will was sovereign. In 1804, he had no compunction about announcing that through his authority as Holy Roman Emperor, he declared he

1624-599: The conditions) Francis was from his experiences suspicious and set up an extensive network of police spies and censors to monitor dissent (in this he was following his father's lead, as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany had the most effective secret police in Europe). Even his family did not escape attention. His brothers, the Archdukes Charles and Johann had their meetings and activities spied upon. Censorship

1680-501: The core Habsburg dominions, including the triple crowns of Austria , Hungary and Bohemia , several junior branches of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine reigned in the Italian duchies of Tuscany (until 1737-1796, 1814-1860), Parma (1814-1847) and Modena (1814-1859). Another member of the house, Archduke Maximilian of Austria , was Emperor of Mexico (1863–67). In 1900, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (then heir presumptive to

1736-429: The crown of the Kingdom of Naples , and René set an expedition to gain possession of the realm; he was however halted by the new French king, Charles VIII , who intended to claim the realm himself. In 1495, to settle a dispute with his second cousin, Jean IV de Rieux, over their grandmothers' inheritance, he ceded to Jean the county of Harcourt and its appurtenances , retaining only Elbeuf and Brionne , and receiving

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1792-460: The duchy until the death of Charles the Bold in 1431. After a brief interlude of 1453–1473, when the duchy passed in right of Charles's daughter to her husband John of Calabria , a Capetian , Lorraine reverted to the House of Vaudémont, a junior branch of House of Lorraine, in the person of René II who later added to his titles that of Duke of Bar . The French Wars of Religion saw the rise of

1848-401: The early generations that the reconstruction of a family tree for progenitors of the House of Alsace involves a good deal of guesswork. What is more securely demonstrated is that in 1048 Emperor Henry III gave the Duchy of Upper Lorraine first to Adalbert of Metz and then to his brother Gerard whose successors (collectively known as the House of Alsace or the House of Châtenois) retained

1904-644: The first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Hungary , Croatia and Bohemia , and served as the first president of the German Confederation following its establishment in 1815. The eldest son of future Emperor Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain , Francis was born in Florence , where his father ruled as Grand Duke of Tuscany . Leopold became Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 but died two years later, and Francis succeeded him. His empire immediately became embroiled in

1960-676: The formation of the Confederation of the Rhine making that impossible. He added that "we hereby decree that we regard the bond which until now tied us to the states of the Empire as dissolved" in effect dissolving the empire. At the same time he declared the complete and formal withdrawal of his hereditary lands from imperial jurisdiction. After that date, he reigned as Francis I, Emperor of Austria. In 1809, Francis, deeming another war with France as inevitable and influenced by hawks in Vienna, attacked France again, hoping to take advantage of

2016-411: The head of the house until his death in 2011. It was at Nancy , the former capital of the House of Vaudémont, that the former crown prince married Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen in 1951. The following is a list of ruling heads (after 1918 pretenders) of the house of Ardennes-Metz and its successor houses of Lorraine and Habsburg-Lorraine, from the start of securely documented genealogical history in

2072-508: The highest ranks of French aristocracy, while the senior branch of the House of Vaudémont continued to rule the independent duchies of Lorraine and Bar. Louis XIV 's imperialist ambitions (which involved the occupation of Lorraine in 1669–97) forced the dukes into a permanent alliance with his archenemies, the Holy Roman Emperors from the House of Habsburg . After Emperor Joseph I and Emperor Charles VI failed to produce

2128-546: The last emperor Charles I . The main two theories of the House's origin are: The Etichonid origin was unanimously recognized from the 18th until the 20th century. For this reason, the marriage between Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis of Lorraine was seen at the time as the reunion of the two branches of the dynasty. The main proponents of this theory have been: Dom Calmet (1672 † 1757), Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais (1773 † 1842) and more recently Michel Dugast Rouillé (1919 † 1987) and Henry Bogdan. The main proponents of

2184-529: The last four Holy Roman emperors from 1745 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire , ruling the Austrian Empire and then Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918. Although its senior agnates are the dukes of Hohenberg , the house is currently headed by Karl von Habsburg (born 1961), grandson of

2240-529: The music lives on as the German national anthem " Deutschlandlied ". On 2 March 1835, 43 years and a day after his father's death, Francis died in Vienna of a sudden fever aged 67, in the presence of many of his family and with all the religious comforts. His funeral was magnificent, with his Viennese subjects respectfully filing past his coffin in the court chapel of the Hofburg palace for three days. Francis

2296-416: The perimeter of the conspiracy. Francis' brother Alexander Leopold (at that time Palatine of Hungary ) wrote to the Emperor admitting "Although we have caught a lot of the culprits, we have not really got to the bottom of this business yet." Nonetheless, two officers heavily implicated in the conspiracy were hanged and gibbeted , while numerous others were sentenced to imprisonment (many of whom died from

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2352-469: The pressure of both Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold of Burgundy, with whom he initially allied. When the latter began to establish garrisons in Lorraine, however, René secretly allied with Louis (1474). Charles invaded the duchy and René was forced to quit Nancy (30 November 1475). He regained the city on 5 October the following year and moved to Switzerland to hire an army of Swiss mercenaries . With this force René defeated and killed Charles at

2408-463: The son of Archduke Karl Ludwig , a younger brother of Franz Joseph. [REDACTED] Male, male-line, legitimate, non-morganatic members of the house who either lived to adulthood, or who held a title as a child, are included. Heads of the house are in bold. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and I ( German : Franz II. ; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and

2464-578: The whole, he was indifferent to her fate. Later, he led the Holy Roman Empire into the French Revolutionary Wars . He briefly commanded the Allied forces during the Flanders Campaign of 1794 before handing over command to his brother Archduke Charles . He was later defeated by Napoleon. By the Treaty of Campo Formio , he ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France in exchange for Venice and Dalmatia . He again fought against France during

2520-406: Was a stark contrast to the indulgent Florentine Court of Leopold. The Emperor wrote that Francis was "stunted in growth", "backward in bodily dexterity and deportment", and "neither more nor less than a spoiled mother's child." Joseph concluded that "the manner in which he was treated for upwards of sixteen years could not but have confirmed him in the delusion that the preservation of his own person

2576-488: Was also prevalent. The author Franz Grillparzer , a Habsburg patriot, had one play suppressed solely as a "precautionary" measure. When Grillparzer met the censor responsible, he asked him what was objectionable about the work. The censor replied, "Oh, nothing at all. But I thought to myself, 'One can never tell'." In military affairs Francis had allowed his brother, the Archduke Charles , extensive control over

2632-453: Was born in Angers , the son of Yolande of Lorraine and Frederick, Count of Vaudémont . He spent his youth in the court of his grandfather René I of Anjou between Angers and Provence . René succeeded his father in Vaudémont in 1470 and, three years later, his uncle as captain of Angers, seneschal and governor of Anjou. That same year he became Duke of Lorraine, which was at the time under

2688-475: Was descended from John I (Yolande's great-grandfather) via his younger son Frederick I, Count of Vaudémont (1346–1390), Antoine, Count of Vaudémont (c. 1395–1431) and Frederick II, Count of Vaudémont (1417–1470). René inherited the title of Duke of Lorraine upon his marriage in 1473. The heir of Franz Joseph, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria , committed suicide in 1889. Franz Joseph was succeeded by his grandnephew, Charles I , son of Archduke Otto Francis ,

2744-498: Was interred in the traditional resting place of Habsburg monarchs, the Imperial Crypt in Vienna's Neue Markt Square. He is buried in tomb number 57, surrounded by tombs of his four wives. Francis passed on a main point in the political testament he left for his son and heir Ferdinand : to "preserve unity in the family and regard it as one of the highest goods." In many portraits (particularly those painted by Peter Fendi ) he

2800-418: Was later elected (in 1745) Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I. The Habsburg-Lorraine nuptials and dynastic union precipitated, and survived, the War of the Austrian Succession . Francis and Maria Theresa's daughters Marie Antoinette and Maria Carolina of Austria became Queens of France and Naples-Sicily , respectively, while their sons Joseph II and Leopold II succeeded to the imperial title. Apart from

2856-454: Was merely theoretical outside of the seizure of Virton, as the Duchy remained in possession of the Habsburgs throughout René's lifetime. In 1480 René succeeded his grandfather as Duke of Bar while his mother was still living. In 1482 he conquered the prévôté of Virton , a part of the Duchy of Luxembourg , and annexed it to Bar. In 1484 Peter II, Duke of Bourbon , regent for the young King Charles VIII of France , formally installed him in

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2912-599: Was now Emperor of Austria (at the time a geographical term that had little resonance). Two years later, Francis personally wound up the moribund Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Both actions were of dubious constitutional legality. To increase patriotic sentiment during the war with France, the anthem " Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser " was composed in 1797 to be sung as the Kaiserhymne to music by Joseph Haydn . The lyrics were adapted for later Emperors and

2968-527: Was portrayed as the patriarch of a loving family, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Francis II married four times: From his first wife Elisabeth of Württemberg , one daughter, who died in infancy, and his second wife Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies , eight daughters and four sons, of whom five died in infancy or childhood: From 1806 he used the grand title of the emperor of Austria : His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, Francis

3024-594: Was sent to join an army regiment in Hungary and he settled easily into the routine of military life. He was present at the siege of Belgrade which occurred during the Austro-Turkish War . After the death of Joseph II in 1790, Francis' father became Emperor. He had an early taste of power while acting as Leopold's deputy in Vienna while the incoming Emperor traversed the Empire attempting to win back those alienated by his brother's policies. The strain took

3080-422: Was the only thing of importance." Joseph's martinet method of improving the young Francis was "fear and unpleasantness." The young Archduke was isolated, the reasoning being that this would make him more self-sufficient as it was felt by Joseph that Francis "failed to lead himself, to do his own thinking." Nonetheless, Francis greatly admired his uncle, if rather in fear of him. To complete his training, Francis

3136-405: Was viewed as a reactionary later in his reign. Francis died in 1835 at the age of 67 and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand I . Francis was a son of Emperor Leopold II (1747–1792) and his wife Maria Luisa of Spain (1745–1792), daughter of Charles III of Spain . Francis was born in Florence , the capital of Tuscany , where his father reigned as Grand Duke from 1765 to 1790. Though he had

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