Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria

Archduke Alexander Leopold
Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria
Born	(1772-08-14)14 August 1772 Florence, Tuscany
Died	12 July 1795(1795-07-12) (aged 22)
Burial	Imperial Crypt, Vienna (body) Herzgruft, Augustinian Church, Vienna (heart)
Full name Alexander Leopold Johann Joseph
House	Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Luisa of Spain

Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria (Alexander Leopold Johann Joseph; Hungarian: Sándor Lipót; 14 August 1772 – 12 July 1795) was Palatine of Hungary, appointed during the reign of his father, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, and serving into the reign of his elder brother, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.

Archduke Alexander Leopold was born in Florence, Tuscany, as the sixth child and fourth son of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor), and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. During his education, Alexander Leopold excelled in mathematics and chemistry. He had a fine physique and his father thus wanted him to pursue a military career, with the intent to eventually appoint him president of the Hofkriegsrat.

In 1790, Grand Duke Leopold succeeded his brother, Joseph II, as Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia. Hungary had been ruled by governors since 1765, but the Emperor-King wished to reinstate the office of palatine and allowed the Diet of Hungary to elect a new officeholder. The Diet elected Archduke Alexander Leopold, who thus became the first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to occupy the post. In 1792, his father died; from then on, Alexander Leopold served his elder brother who had succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.

As palatine, Archduke Alexander Leopold initially led a moderate government. However, he changed his policy after the Jacobin conspiracy in 1794, which left him deeply disappointed. The object of the plot was to make Hungary independent from the Habsburg Monarchy, with Alexander Leopold as its king. He severely punished the rebels and replaced the moderate dignitaries, adopting a policy of repression. The same year, Tadeusz Kościuszko, wishing to secure the neutrality of Austria during an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, offered the crown of Poland to Archduke Alexander Leopold. The offer was turned down.