Archduke John of Austria
| Archduke John | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Leopold Kupelwieser, 1828
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| Imperial regent | |
| In office | 12 July 1848 – 20 December 1849 |
| Predecessor | Ferdinand I of Austria (President of the German Confederation) |
| Successor | Francis Joseph I of Austria (President of the German Confederation) |
| Born |
20 January 1782 Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany |
| Died | 11 May 1859 (aged 77) Graz, Styria, Austrian Empire |
| Burial | Schenna Castle, Tyrol |
| Spouse | Anna Maria Josephine Plochl |
| Issue | Franz, Count of Meran |
| House | House of Habsburg-Lorraine |
| Father | Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Maria Luisa of Spain |
Archduke John of Austria (German: Erzherzog Johann Baptist Joseph Fabian Sebastian von Österreich; 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and Imperial regent (Reichsverweser) of the emerging German Empire during the Revolutions of 1848.
John was born in Florence, the thirteenth child of the Habsburg grand duke Leopold of Tuscany and Maria Louisa of Spain. He was baptized with the name of John Baptist Joseph Fabian Sebastian, after the patron saint of the Tuscan capital. In 1790, Leopold succeeded his brother Joseph II as Holy Roman Emperor and his family moved from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany to the Imperial court in Vienna. Only two years later, John's elder brother Francis II ascended the Imperial throne.
John's native language was Italian, he learned to speak French and German fluently. Educated by the Swiss historian Johannes von Müller, he developed wide-ranging skills and interests, especially in the history and geography of the Alpine countries.
During the Napoleonic Wars, John was given command of the Austrian army in September 1800, despite his personal reluctance to assume the position. He showed personal bravery in the War of the Second Coalition, but his troops were crushed at the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December. Demoralized by defeat, the army nearly disintegrated in the subsequent retreat, which was only stopped by an armistice arranged on 22 December. After the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, Archduke John was made General Director of the Engineering and Fortification Service, and later commander of the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt.
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