Ferdinand III. (Tuscany)

Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
painting by Joseph Dorffmeister, 1797

Ferdinand III. , Joseph Johann Baptist Archduke of Austria-Tuscany (* May 6, 1769 in Florence ; † June 18, 1824 ibid) from the House of Habsburg-Lothringen was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 , then as Ferdinand (I) Elector of Salzburg (1803–1806) and Grand Duke of Würzburg (1806–1814) and from 1814 to 1824 again Grand Duke of Tuscany.

biography

Archduke Ferdinand III. von Österreich was born in 1769 as the second son of Grand Duke Peter Leopold of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen . He received an education from German and Italian teachers. Between 1790 and 1793 he ranked first in the Habsburg line of succession, right behind his imperial brother Franz II . Only with the birth of his eldest son Ferdinand did he move back in line to the throne.

Grand Duke of Tuscany

With the succession of his father to the throne as Emperor (Leopold II) of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , the latter transferred the Grand Duchy of Tuscany to him on July 22, 1790.

In the following year, 1791, he himself took over the management of the affairs of state in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . As the first European sovereign, he signed a treaty with revolutionary France in 1792 , which he formally recognized. In the following coalition wars , the duke had to take a position against France due to pressure from other European royal houses. On February 9, 1795, however, he made peace again. During the Second Coalition War , French troops had invaded Tuscany in 1799 and forced the Grand Duke to flee the country. The Treaty of Lunéville of February 9, 1801 between France and the Emperor provided in Article 5 that Ferdinand III. had to renounce his Grand Duchy, which was to be transferred to the Duke of Parma as compensation .

In 1801 Ferdinand therefore lost his Grand Duchy, but retained the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany .

Elector of Salzburg

Kursalzburg 1803

Ferdinand was, however, compensated by the Treaty of Paris (December 26, 1802) between the French consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Ferdinand's older brother, Emperor Franz II with the newly formed Electorate of Salzburg , in order to be adequately cared for as the emperor's brother. This national territory was formed by secularization from church property, namely the archbishopric of Salzburg , the prince provost of Berchtesgaden and parts of the dioceses of Passau and Eichstätt . On February 11, 1803, the previous sovereign in Salzburg, Archbishop Count Hieronymus Colloredo , abdicated. Four days later the change of ownership took place at Ferdinand III. instead, who also received the electoral dignity .

With the Peace of Preßburg on December 26, 1805, Salzburg went to the Austrian Empire at the end of 1805, but without Eichstätt and Passau, both of which were annexed to the Kingdom of Bavaria. With the simultaneous end of the Holy Roman Empire, the electoral dignity, which was an electoral office for the Roman-German royal dignity, became obsolete, and Salzburg was converted into a duchy in 1806.

Grand Duke of Würzburg

Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany, the state portrait shows Ferdinand on the one hand as the Austrian Archduke in a white and red Austrian field marshal's uniform, on the other hand as the Grand Duke of Würzburg. In addition to the bicorn that is part of the uniform, the ducal hat and scepter of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg are draped on the table. Ferdinand wears the jewel of the Order of the Golden Fleece as well as the Grand Cross and sash of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen.

As compensation, Archduke Ferdinand was given the Grand Duchy of Würzburg . Ferdinand moved into Würzburg on May 1, 1806. He was welcomed with joy by the population and soon ensured more religious freedom by relaxing the Bavarian laws on the practice of religion. In terms of foreign policy, he had little choice but to closely follow France. The Grand Duchy was subsequently incorporated into the Confederation of the Rhine on September 25, 1806 and territorially rounded off again in 1810. Only after the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig did Ferdinand break ties with France on October 26, 1813 and join the allied coalition against Napoleon. The following year once again brought serious changes for Ferdinand. With the Bavarian-Austrian State Treaty of June 3, 1814, he lost his possessions to the Kingdom of Bavaria and officially ceded Würzburg to Bavaria on June 21, 1814.

Grand Duke of Tuscany

Since the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was restituted in the Paris Peace Treaty on May 30, 1814 after the fall of Napoleon , Ferdinand was finally able to return to the Grand Duchy inherited from his father, where he died in Florence in 1824. His tomb is in the crypt of the Basilica di San Lorenzo .

Ferdinand was regarded by his contemporaries as extremely passive and reluctant to make decisions. He was considered a musical and respected monarch and representative of enlightened absolutism .

Austrian succession to the throne

As the second son of Emperor Leopold II, Ferdinand also had a place in the Austrian line of succession. When he died in 1824, he was third in line to the throne after the two sons of his imperial brother ( Ferdinand and Franz Karl ).

progeny

Grand Duke Ferdinand III. was married to Princess Luisa Maria of Naples-Sicily (1773-1802), second daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Karolina of Austria , in her first marriage since 1790 . The marriage had six children:

Carolina Ferdinanda (born August 2, 1793, † January 5, 1802)
Franz Leopold (* December 15, 1794, † May 18, 1800)
Leopold (born October 3, 1797, † January 29, 1870), Grand Duke of Tuscany (1824–1859)
Maria Luisa (born August 30, 1798, † June 15, 1857), unmarried
Maria Theresia (* March 21, 1801, † January 12, 1855) - married to Karl Albert I, King of Sardinia
stillborn son (* / † September 19, 1802)

In his second marriage from 1821 he was married to Princess Maria of Saxony (1796-1865) (the sister-in-law of his son Leopold II), the daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony and Princess Caroline of Bourbon-Parma . This marriage remained childless.

ancestors

Pedigree of Ferdinand III.
Great-great-grandparents	Duke Karl V. Leopold (1643–1690) ⚭ 1678 Eleanor of Austria (1653–1697)	Philip I of Bourbon (1640–1701) ⚭ 1671 Elisabeth of the Palatinate (1652–1722)	Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705) ⚭ 1676 Eleonore Magdalene von der Pfalz (1655–1720)	Duke Ludwig Rudolf of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1671–1735) ⚭ 1690 Christine Luise von Oettingen (1671–1747)	Louis of France (1661–1711) ⚭ 1680 Maria Anna of Bavaria (1660–1690)	Odoardo II. Farnese (1666–1693) ⚭ 1690 Dorothea Sophie von der Pfalz (1670–1748)	King August II (1670–1733) ⚭ 1693 Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1671–1727)	Emperor Joseph I (1678–1711) ⚭ 1699 Wilhelmine Amalie von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1673–1742)
Great grandparents	Duke Leopold Joseph of Lorraine (1679–1729) ⚭ 1698 Élisabeth Charlotte de Bourbon-Orléans (1676–1744)		Emperor Charles VI. (1685–1740) ⚭ 1708 Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1691–1750)		King Philip V (1683–1746) ⚭ 1714 Elisabetta Farnese (1692–1766)		King August III. (1696–1763) ⚭ 1719 Maria Josepha of Austria (1699–1757)
Grandparents	Emperor Franz I Stephan (1708–1765) ⚭ 1736 Maria Theresia (1717–1780)				King Charles III (1716–1788) ⚭ 1738 Maria Amalia of Saxony (1724–1760)
parents	Emperor Leopold II (1747–1792) ⚭ 1765 Maria Ludovica of Spain (1745–1792)
Ferdinand III.

literature

Alfred Wendehorst : Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 96 ( digitized version ).
Franz Pesendorfer: A fight for Tuscany. Grand Duke Ferdinand III. 1790-1824. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-7001-0632-7 ( publications of the commission for the history of Austria 12).
Dieter Schäfer : Ferdinand of Austria. Grand Duke of Würzburg, Elector of Salzburg, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Verlag Styria, Cologne et al. 1988, ISBN 3-7990-5548-7 .

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand III. - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Ferdinand III. in the catalog of the German National Library
Works by and about Ferdinand III. in the German Digital Library

Individual evidence

↑ Heinz Dopsch u. Hans Spatzenegger: History of Salzburg, A. Pustet University Press, Salzburg 1984 ISBN 3-7025-0197-5 .
^ Gerhard Ammerer, Alfred Stefan Weiss (ed.): The secularization of Salzburg in 1803. Requirements - events - consequences. Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-631-51918-4 .
↑ Wolfgang Altgeld , Matthias Stickler (ed.): "Italy on the Main". Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany as Elector and Grand Duke of Würzburg. (= Historical studies of the University of Würzburg. Volume 7). With the collaboration of Verena Spinnler. Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 2007 (= Mainfränkische Studien. Volume 75), ISBN 978-3-89646-839-0 .
^ Robert Meier: The bombing of Würzburg on October 24th, 1813. A piece of jewelery from the Brod collection and its background. In: Andreas Mettenleiter (Ed.): Tempora mutantur et nos? Festschrift for Walter M. Brod on his 95th birthday. With contributions from friends, companions and contemporaries. , Akamedon, Pfaffenhofen 2007 (= From Würzburg's city and university history. Volume 2), ISBN 3-940072-01-X , pp. 200–202; here: p. 201.

predecessor	Office	successor
Leopold I.	Grand Duke of Tuscany (first term) 1790–1801	Louis of Etruria
––– ( Hieronymus Colloredo as Prince Archbishop of Salzburg )	Elector of Salzburg 1803–1805	Franz I.
Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria	Elector and Grand Duke of Würzburg from 1806 only Grand Duke 1806–1814	Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria
Elisa Bonaparte	Grand Duke of Tuscany (second term) 1814–1824	Leopold II.

personal data
SURNAME	Ferdinand III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Joseph Johann Baptist
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Grand Duke of Tuscany
DATE OF BIRTH	May 6, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH	Florence
DATE OF DEATH	June 18, 1824
Place of death	Florence

[1] Heinz Dopsch u. Hans Spatzenegger: History of Salzburg, A. Pustet University Press, Salzburg 1984 ISBN 3-7025-0197-5 .

[2] Gerhard Ammerer, Alfred Stefan Weiss (ed.): The secularization of Salzburg in 1803. Requirements - events - consequences. Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-631-51918-4 .

[3] Wolfgang Altgeld , Matthias Stickler (ed.): "Italy on the Main". Grand Duke Ferdinand III. of Tuscany as Elector and Grand Duke of Würzburg. (= Historical studies of the University of Würzburg. Volume 7). With the collaboration of Verena Spinnler. Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 2007 (= Mainfränkische Studien. Volume 75), ISBN 978-3-89646-839-0 .

[4] Robert Meier: The bombing of Würzburg on October 24th, 1813. A piece of jewelery from the Brod collection and its background. In: Andreas Mettenleiter (Ed.): Tempora mutantur et nos? Festschrift for Walter M. Brod on his 95th birthday. With contributions from friends, companions and contemporaries. , Akamedon, Pfaffenhofen 2007 (= From Würzburg's city and university history. Volume 2), ISBN 3-940072-01-X , pp. 200–202; here: p. 201.