| Ferdinand III | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elector of Salzburg (1803–1805) Elector of Würzburg (1805–1806) Grand Duke of Würzburg (1806–1814) | |||||
%2c_Sohn_von_Leopold_II.%2c_in_seiner_Bibliothek_sitzend%2c_Kniest%25C3%25BCck.jpg) Grand Duke Ferdinand sitting in his library, 1797, after Joseph Dorffmeister | |||||
| Grand Duke of Tuscany | |||||
| Reign | 22 July 1790 – 3 August 1801 | ||||
| Predecessor | Leopold I | ||||
| Successor | Louis I (as King of Etruria) | ||||
| Reign | 27 April 1814 – 18 June 1824 | ||||
| Predecessor | Elisa Bonaparte | ||||
| Successor | Leopold II | ||||
| Duke of Salzburg | |||||
| Reign | 27 April 1803 —26 December 1805 | ||||
| (Grand) Duke of Würzburg | |||||
| Reign | 26 December 1805 – 3 June 1814 | ||||
| Born | 6 May 1769 Florence,Grand Duchy of Tuscany | ||||
| Died | 18 June 1824(1824-06-18) (aged 55) Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue Detail | |||||
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| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor | ||||
| Mother | Maria Luisa of Spain | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
Ferdinand III[nb 1] (6 May 1769 – 18 June 1824) wasGrand Duke ofTuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also thePrince-elector and Grand Duke ofSalzburg (1803–1805) and Duke and Elector (to 1806, Grand Duke from 1806) ofWürzburg (1805–1814).
Ferdinand was born inFlorence, Tuscany, into theHouse of Habsburg-Lorraine on 6 May 1769. He was the second son ofLeopold, then Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and InfantaMaria Luisa of Spain. As the Grand Duchy was asecundogeniture, when his father was electedEmperor of theHoly Roman Empire, Ferdinand succeeded him asGrand Duke of Tuscany, officially taking the office on 22 July 1790.[1][2]
In 1792, during theFrench Revolution, Ferdinand became the first monarch to recognize the newFrench First Republic formally, and he attempted to work peacefully with it.[2] As theFrench Revolutionary Wars commenced, however, the rulers ofBritain andRussia persuaded him to join their side in theWar of the First Coalition. Ferdinand provided his allies with passive support but no enthusiasm, and after he witnessed a year of resounding victories by the French, he became the first member of the coalition to give up. In a proclamation dated 1 March 1795, he abandoned the alliance and declared Tuscany's neutrality in the war.[3]
His normalization of relations with France helped stabilize his rule for several years, but by 1799, he was compelled to flee to Vienna for protection when republicans established a newprovisional government in Florence. He was forced to renounce his throne by theTreaty of Aranjuez (1801):Napoleon brushed him aside to make way for theKingdom of Etruria, created as compensation for theBourbonDukes of Parma, dispossessed by thePeace of Lunéville in that same year.[1][2]
Ferdinand was compensated with theElectorate of Salzburg, the secularized former territory of thePrince-Archbishopric of Salzburg. He was also made aPrince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire (a role which expired with the empire's dissolution in 1806), receiving the title and land on 26 December 1802.
On 25 December 1805, Ferdinand had to give up Salzburg as well, which by theTreaty of Pressburg was annexed by his older brother, EmperorFrancis II. Ferdinand was then made duke of Würzburg, a new state created for him from the oldPrince-Bishopric of Würzburg, while remaining an elector. With thedissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, he took the new title ofGrand Duke of Würzburg.
On 30 May 1814, after Napoleon's fall, Ferdinand was restored as grand duke of Tuscany.
Ferdinand died on 18 June 1824 in Florence and was succeeded by his sonLeopold.
InNaples on 15 August 1790by proxy and inVienna on 19 September 1790 in person, Ferdinand married firstly his double first cousin,Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily (1773–1802), daughter ofFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies andMaria Carolina of Austria.
They had five children:
Their first two children, Carolina and Francis, died at very young ages (eight and five respectively) but the later three prospered under their father's care. Luisa died when they were all quite young, on 19 September 1802, together with a stillborn son who was unnamed. Two decades later, inFlorence on 6 May 1821, Ferdinand married again, this time to the much youngerPrincess Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony (1796–1865). She was the daughter ofMaximilian, Prince of Saxony, andCaroline of Parma; she was also his first cousin once removed, as well as the first cousin once removed of the dead Luisa, and the sister of his daughter-in-lawPrincess Maria Anna of Saxony. Though Ferdinand was likely hoping to produce another male heir, there were no children born of this second marriage.
| Ancestors of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany[4] |
|---|
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cadet branch of theHouse of Lorraine Born: 6 May 1769 Died: 18 June 1824 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Grand Duke of Tuscany 1790–1801 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prince-Elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg 1803–1805 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by part ofBavaria | Grand Duke of Würzburg 1805–1814 | Succeeded by part ofBavaria |
| Preceded by part of theFirst French Empire | Grand Duke of Tuscany 1814–1824 | Succeeded by |
