Name Ferdinand Grand | House House of Lorraine | |
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Reign 21 July 1859 – 22 March 1860 Issueamong others... Archduke Leopold FerdinandLouise, Crown Princess of SaxonyArchduke Josef FerdinandArchduke Peter Ferdinand Children Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of Austria Parents Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies Similar People Ferdinand III - Grand Duke of T, Archduke Johann Salvator, Charles III - Duke of Parma, Princess Louise Marie Th, Archduchess Auguste Ferdinan | ||
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.
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Biography
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.
Family and children
He married twice and had issue:
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, was born:
From his second marriage in Frohsdorf on 11 January 1868 to Princess Alice "Alix" of Parma (Parma, 27 December 1849 - Schwertberg, 16 November 1935), daughter of Charles III of Parma: