Ferdinand IV | |||||
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Grand Duke Ferdinand IV, in later life.
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Grand Duke of Tuscany | |||||
Reign | 21 July 1859 – 22 March 1860 | ||||
Predecessor | Leopold II | ||||
Born | 10 June 1835 Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany |
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Died | January 17, 1908 Salzburg, Austria-Hungary |
(aged 72)||||
Consort |
Princess Anna of Saxony Princess Alice of Parma |
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Issue among others... |
Archduke Leopold Ferdinand Louise, Crown Princess of Saxony Archduke Josef Ferdinand Archduke Peter Ferdinand |
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House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
Father | Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany | ||||
Mother | Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Full name | |
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(Italian: Ferdinando Salvatore Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Francesco Lodovico Gonzaga Raffaele Ranerio Gennaro) (German: Ferdinand Salvator Maria Joseph Johann Baptist Franz Ludwig Gonzaga Raphael Rainerius Gennarius) |
Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (Italian: Ferdinando IV, Granduca di Toscana; 10 June 1835 – 17 January 1908) was the last Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1859 to 1860. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine continued to hold the title as pretenders until the end of World War I.
Born at Florence, he was the son of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies.
He and his family were forced to flee Florence on April 27, 1859, with the outbreak of a revolution inspired by the outbreak of a war by France and Sardinia-Piedmont against Austria as part of the unification of Italy. The family took refuge in Austria. After the end of the war, Leopold II abdicated on July 21, and Ferdinand succeeded him as Grand Duke. Ferdinand proved unable to return to Florence to claim his throne, and an elected Tuscan National Assembly formally deposed him only a month later, on August 16. Ferdinand still hoped to recover his throne, as both France and Austria had promised to recognize his rights to it in the Armistice of Villafranca. However, neither power was willing to take any steps to bring about his restoration. The Kingdom of Sardinia annexed Tuscany on March 22, 1860, ending Ferdinand's hopes to reclaim the throne.
Ferdinand spent the rest of his life in exile in Austria. He died there, in Salzburg, in 1908.
He married twice and had the following children:
From his first marriage in Dresden on 24 November 1856 to Princess Anna of Saxony, (Dresden, 4 January 1836 - Naples, 10 February 1859), daughter of King John I of Saxony: