Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1729 to 1737, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 to 1765. He became ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and Tuscany through his marriage to his second cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles VI, and was the last non-Habsburg monarch of the empire. He and Maria Theresa founded the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and their marriage produced sixteen children.
Facts
Role
Role (category) FAQs
Why did Francis I give up the Duchy of Lorraine for Tuscany?
Lorraine went to the losing Polish claimant Stanisław I as part of the peace that ended the War of the Polish Succession; Francis received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in compensation.
Francis gave up Lorraine as a term of the peace that ended the War of the Polish Succession. When that war broke out in 1733, France used it as an opportunity to seize Lorraine, because the French chief minister, Cardinal Fleury, feared that Lorraine as a Habsburg possession would bring Austrian power too close to France. Under the settlement ratified in the Treaty of Vienna in 1738, Stanisław I, the father-in-law of King Louis XV and the losing claimant to the Polish throne, received Lorraine, while Francis was compensated by being made heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which he would inherit in 1737. His future father-in-law, Emperor Charles VI, had persuaded him in 1736 to make the exchange in secret, and his mother and his brother Charles Alexander opposed the loss of Lorraine.
Connections
In Era
Source Wikipedia: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Lead paragraph, first sentence
was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765
Lead paragraph, birth date
8 December 1708
Biography, birthplace
Francis was born in Lunéville, Lorraine (now in France)
Lead paragraph, death date
18 August 1765
Biography, death place
Hofburg, Innsbruck
Lead paragraph, opening name list
Francis I (Francis Stephen;
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor: Gender
He became the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and Tuscany through his marriage to his second cousin Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles VI. Francis was the last non-Habsburg monarch of the Empire.
In Era: The Early Modern Period, lead paragraph, lifespan
Franz Stephan von Lothringen (1708-1765).
View the SourceWikidata: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
Wikidata Q151075, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.