Ferdinand had been the hope of the Habsburg dynasty during the final stages of the Thirty Years' War. According to his father Emperor Ferdinand III's succession plan, he was expected to lead the Habsburg monarchy into a period of stability after thePeace of Westphalia.[2]
At a young age, Ferdinand IV took his father's place asArchduke of Austria.[3] In 1646, Ferdinand IV became King of Bohemia, sharing the role and that ofDuke of Cieszyn with his father Emperor Ferdinand III. He was crowned on 5 August 1646.[4][5] Ferdinand IV also shared the role of King of Hungary and Croatia with his father; his coronation took place on 16 June 1647 inPressburg, present-day Slovakia.[1][4]
After the French attempted to modify the system of the election ofKing of the Romans, Emperor Ferdinand III took advantage of a recent decline in the prestige ofFrance, and was able to install Ferdinand IV as King of the Romans, andde facto heir to the Holy Roman Empire in the1653 imperial election. He was crowned in Ratisbon (Regensburg, present-day south-east Germany) on 18 June 1653 after gaining the position on 31 May 1653.[6] However, Ferdinand IV unexpectedly died ofsmallpox in Vienna on 9 July 1654.[1] Prior to his death, it was planned that he would marryPhilip IV of Spain's daughterMaria Theresa of Spain, his cousin.[3] Upon the death of Ferdinand III,Leopold was elected asHoly Roman Emperor.[6]
^The Annals of Europe, Or Regal Register; Shewing the Succession of the Sovereigns, ... Together with the Bishops and Popes of Rome, Etc. F. Newbery. 1779. p. 165.
^abJ. P. Cooper (20 December 1979).The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 4, The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War, 1609-48/49. CUP Archive. p. 419.ISBN978-0-521-29713-4.
Generations are numbered by male-line descent from the first archdukes. Later generations are included although Austrian titles of nobility were abolished in 1919.