Emperor Franz II/I (1768-1835) and Wives

[Marengo]

Franz II Joseph Karl, Holy Roman Emperor, later Emperor of Austria (Florence 12 February 1768 - Vienna, 2 March 1835); married 1stly in Vienna on 6 January 1788 Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg (Treptow, 21 April 1767 - Vienna, 18 February 1790); married 2ndly by proxy in Naples on 15 August 1790 and in person in Vienna on 19 September 1790 Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Naples, 6 June 1772 - Vienna, 13 April 1807); married 3rdly in Vienna on 6 January 1808 Archduchess Maria Ludowika of Austia-Este (Monza, 14 December 1787 - Verona, 7 April 1816); married 4thly by proxy in Munich on 29 October 1816 and in person in Vienna on 10 November 1816 Princess Caroline Auguste of Bavaria (Mannheim, 8 February 1792 - Vienna, 9 February 1873)

Reign: 1792 - 1835

Predecessor: Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II

Succeeded by: Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria

Daughter Franz & Elisabeth: Archduchess Ludovika of Austria

Children Franz & Maria Teresa: Empress Maria Louise of the French, Duchess of Parma; Emperor Ferdinand I; Archduchess Maria Caroline and Archduchess Carolina of Austria; Empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil; Princess Marie Clementine of the Two Sicilies, Princess of Salerno; Archduke Joseph of Austria; Queen Marie Caroline of Saxony; Archduke Franz Karl; Archduchess Maria Anna; Archduke Johann and Archduchess Amalie of Austria

Parents Franz: Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Princess Maria Luisa of Spain

Parents Elisabeth: Duke Friedrich II Eugen of Wurttemberg and Margravine Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt

Parents Maria Teresa: King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Karolina of Austria

Parents Maria Ludovika: Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, (later Duke Ferdinando of Modena, Reggio, Mirandola and Breisgau) Princess Maria Beatrice d'Este Princess of Modena, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara

Parents Caroline Auguste: King Maximilian I of Bavaria and Landgravine Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt

Siblings Franz: Queen Marie Theresia of Saxony; Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany; Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria; Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen; Archduke Alexander, Archduke Albrecht and Archduke Maximilian of Austria; Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary; Crownprincess Maria Clementina of Napels & Sicily; Archduke Anton, Archduchess Maria Amalia, Archduke Johann, Archduke Rainer and Archduke Ludwig of Austria and Archduke Rudolf of Austria, Fuerst-Bisshop of Olmütz

Siblings Elisabeth: King Friedrich I, Prince Ludwig and Prince Eugen of Wurttemberg; Empress Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea) of Russia; Prince Wilhelm and Prince Ferdinand of Wurttemberg, Duchess Friederike of Oldenburg, Princess Wilhelmine, Prince Karl Friedrich, Prince Alexander and Prince Karl Heinrich of Wurttemberg

Siblings Maria Teresa: Grand Duchess Luisa of Tuscany; Pricne Carlo of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Princess Marie Anna of the Two Sicilies; King Fransesco I of the Two Sicilies; Queen Maria Christina of Sardinia; Princess Amelia, Prince Carlo Gennaro and Prince Guiseppe of the Two Sicilies, Queen Maria Amelia of the French; Queen Maria Antonietta of Spain; Princess Maria Clothilda, Princess Maria Enriquetta, Prince Carlo, Prince Leopoldo, Prince Carlo Alberto and Princess Maria Isabella of the Two Sicilies

Siblings Maria Ludovika: Archduke Joseph-Karl of Austria-Este; Queen Maria Theresia of Sardinia; Archduchess Josephine of Austria-Este; Electress Maria Leopoldine of Bavaria; Duke Francesco IV of Modena; Archduke Ferdinand Karl, Archduke Maximilian, Archduchess Maria Antonia and Archduke Karl Ambrosius of Austria-Este

Siblings Caroline Auguste: King Ludwig I of Bavaria; Duchess Auguste of Leuchtenberg, Fuerstin of Eichstadt; Princess Amalie and Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria

Half-Siblings of Caroline Auguste: Prince Maximilian of Bavaria; Queen Elisabeth of Prussia; Queen Amalie of Saxony; Archduchess Sophie of Austria; Queen Marie Anne of Saxony; Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria and Princess Maximiliana of Bavaria

 

[Marengo]

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (German language: Franz II, Heiliger Römischer Kaiser) (Florence, 12 February 1768 – Vienna, 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804 he founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I of Austria (Franz I.), the first Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the one and only Doppelkaiser (double emperor) in history. For the two years between 1804 and 1806 Francis used the title and style by the grace of God elected Roman Emperor, always August, hereditary Emperor of Austria and he was called the Emperor of both Germany and Austria. Francis I continued his leading role as an opponent of Napoleonic France in the Napoleonic Wars, and suffered several more defeats after Austerlitz, the most severe of which led to his delivering his daughter, Marie Louise of Austria, as a bride in a reluctant marriage of state.

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 1765–90. Though he had 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 himself took charge of Francis's development, and his disciplinarian regime 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 was the only thing of importance."
Joseph's martinet method of improving the young Francis were "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 "fail[ed] to lead himself, to do his own thinking". Nonetheless, Francis greatly admired his uncle, if rather feared him. To complete his training, Francis was sent to join an army regiment in Hungary and he settled easily into the routine of military life.
After the death of Joseph II in 1790, Francis's 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 told on Leopold, and by the winter of 1791 he became ill. He gradually worsened throughout early 1792, and, 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.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Elisabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg (21 April1767Treptow, Brandenburg - 18 February1790Vienna, Austria) She was the daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg amd Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Her elder sister Sophie Dorothea was Empress of Russia through her marriage to Emperor Paul I of Russia. Her elder brother, Duke Louis of Württemberg, is a direct-line ancestor of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily (Cascais, June 6, 1772 – April 13, 1807 in Vienna) was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily (later Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies) (1751-1825) and his wife, Marie Caroline of Austria (1752-1814).
On August 15, 1790 she married her first cousin Archduke Francis of Austria, who would later become Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, and then Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, also known as Maria Ludovika of Modena, (German: Maria Ludovika Beatrix von Modena) (Monza, 14 December 1787 – 7 April 1816 in Vienna) was daughter of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este (1754-1806) and his wife, Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este (1750-1829). She was a member of the House of Austria-Este a branche of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

On 6 January 1808 she married Francis I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia. They had no children. She was a great enemy of the French Emperor Napoleon I of France and therefore also in opposition to the Austrian foreign minister Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, who showed her private correspondence with her relatives to her husband, the Emperor Francis I.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (German: Karoline Auguste von Bayern; Mannheim, 8 February 1792 – 9 February 1873 in Vienna) was daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria (1756-1825) and his wife, Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765-1796). She was a member of the House of Wittelsbach.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[jadwiga]

Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, also known as Maria Ludovika of Modena

I can't find anywhere some nice picture of this empress. This one in Wiki article is rather ridiculous than realistic.

 

[grandlordbenji16]

too many wives after another i think he should realise that they were something about him cause almost all his wife died and he keep picking those poor innocent princesses who most are almost the same age as his children and cousins to his decease wives what was he affraid to died alone

 

[CyrilVladisla]

I can't find anywhere some nice picture of this empress. This one in Wiki article is rather ridiculous than realistic.

Empress Maria Ludovika​

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/211247038741649805​

 

[CyrilVladisla]

What were the political reasons for Emperor Joseph II choosing Franz's first wife, Elisabeth of Wurttemberg?

 

[Gawin]

An alliance with Russia. Elizabeth's older sister Sophie (Maria Feodorovna) was the wife of Catherine the Great's son and heir Paul. Because of this Frederick the Great of Prussia opposed the marriage.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

The Peace of Pressburg was signed in 1805 between Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and Napoleon.
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pe...and-holy-roman-emperor-francis-137806489.html

 

[Blog Real]

Franz II (I): The ‘apprentice emperor’
Franz was the longed-awaited first male grandchild of Maria Theresa. When news of the birth arrived in Vienna, the empress burst into the Court Theatre in the Hofburg during a performance, announcing joyfully in Viennese dialect to all assembled: ‘Children, children, Poldl has a boy!’
https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/franz-ii-i-apprentice-emperor

https://www.habsburger.net/en/persons/habsburg-emperor/franz-ii-i

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Emperor Franz I and Empress Caroline Augusta attended the theatre.
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-franz-i-and-carolina-augusta-108405540.html