Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

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Francis I (8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was also known as Francis III Stephen, Duke of Lorraine.

He was born in Nancy, Lorraine (now in France), the second son of Leopold Joseph, duke of Lorraine, and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of Philippe I, duc d'Orléans and Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine. He was connected with the Habsburgs through his grandmother Eleanore, daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III, and wife of Charles Leopold of Lorraine, his grandfather.

Emperor Charles VI favoured the family, who, besides being his cousins, had served the house of Austria with distinction. He had designed to marry his daughter Maria Theresa to Francis' older brother Clement. On Clement's death, Charles adopted the younger brother as his future son-in-law. Francis was brought up in Vienna with Maria Theresa on the understanding that they were to be married, and a real affection arose between them.

At the age of 15, when he was brought to Vienna, he was established in the Silesian Duchy of Cieszyn, which had been mediatized and granted to his father by the emperor in 1722. He succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine in 1729, but the emperor, at the end of the War of the Polish Succession, desiring to compensate his candidate Stanislaus Leszczynski for the loss of his crown in 1735, persuaded Francis to exchange Lorraine for the grand duchy of Tuscany.

On 12 February 1736 Francis and Maria Theresa were married, and they went for a short time to Florence, when he succeeded to the grand duchy on the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici, the last of the ruling house of Medici. His wife secured his election to the Empire on 13 September 1745, in succession to Charles VII, and she made him co-regent of her hereditary dominions.

Francis was well content to leave the wielding of power to his able wife. He had a natural fund of good sense and some business capacity and was a useful assistant to Maria Theresa in the laborious task of governing the complicated Austrian dominions, but his functions appear to have been primarily secretarial. He also took a great interest in the natural sciences.

He died suddenly in his carriage while returning from the opera at Innsbruck on 18 August 1765. He is buried in tomb number 55 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

Maria Theresa and Francis I had sixteen children--their youngest daughter was the future queen consort of France, Marie Antoinette (1755-1793). He was officially succeeded by his eldest son Joseph II although the real power remained with his wife. Another son was the Emperor Leopold II. See Children of Francis Stephen and Maria Theresa for a full list.

[edit] Ancestors

**Francis's ancestors in three generations**
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor	Father: Leopold, Duke of Lorraine	Father's father: Charles V, Duke of Lorraine	Father's father's father: Nicholas II, Duke of Lorraine
			Father's father's mother: Claudia (1621-1648)
		Father's mother: Eleanor Maria Josepha of Austria	Father's mother's father: Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
			Father's mother's mother: Eleonora of Mantua (Gonzaga)
	Mother: Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans	Mother's father: Philippe I, Duke of Orleans	Mother's father's father: Louis XIII of France
			Mother's father's mother: Anne of Austria
		Mother's mother: Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine	Mother's mother's father: Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
			Mother's mother's mother: Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel

[edit] External link and reference

Image:Commons-logo.svg	Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

Encyclopedia of Austria: Franz I

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Preceded by: Leopold Joseph	Duke of Lorraine 1729-1737	Succeeded by: Stanislaus
Preceded by: Gian Gastone de' Medici	Grand Duke of Tuscany 1737-1765	Succeeded by: Peter Leopold
Preceded by: Charles VII	Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany 1745-1765	Succeeded by: Joseph II