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Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis II & I
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor by Friedrich von Amerling 003.jpg
Portrait by Friedrich von Amerling, 1832
Reign 1 March 1792 – 2 March 1835
Coronations
Predecessor Leopold II
Successor Ferdinand V
Holy Roman Emperor
King in Germany
Reign 5 July 1792 – 6 August 1806
Coronation 14 July 1792, Frankfurt
Predecessor Leopold II
Successor Napoleon (as Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine)
Emperor of Austria
Reign 11 August 1804 – 2 March 1835
Successor Ferdinand I
King of Lombardy–Venetia
Reign 9 June 1815 – 2 March 1835
Successor Ferdinand I
Born (1768-02-12)12 February 1768
Florence, Tuscany
Died 2 March 1835(1835-03-02) (aged 67)
Vienna, Austria
Burial Imperial Crypt, Vienna
Spouses
Issue
Detail
Full name
Franz Joseph Karl
House Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother Maria Luisa of Spain
Religion Roman Catholicism
Full name
Franz Joseph Karl

Francis II (German: Franz; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after the decisive defeat at the hands of the First French Empire led by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804, he had founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria, ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the one and only Doppelkaiser (double emperor) in history. For the two years between 1804 and 1806, Francis used the title and style by the Grace of God elected Roman Emperor, ever Augustus, hereditary Emperor of Austria and he was called the Emperor of both the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. He was also Apostolic King of Hungary and Bohemia as Francis I. He also served as the first president of the German Confederation following its establishment in 1815.

Francis II continued his leading role as an opponent of Napoleonic France in the Napoleonic Wars, and suffered several more defeats after Austerlitz. The proxy marriage of state of his daughter Marie Louise of Austria to Napoleon on 10 March 1810 was arguably his most severe personal defeat. After the abdication of Napoleon following the War of the Sixth Coalition, Austria participated as a leading member of the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna, which was largely dominated by Francis's chancellor Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich culminating in a new European map and the restoration of Francis' ancient dominions (except the Holy Roman Empire which was dissolved). Due to the establishment of the Concert of Europe, which largely resisted popular nationalist and liberal tendencies, Francis became viewed as a reactionary later in his reign.


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