Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

“ On the death of Louis the same strenuous competition for the vacant throne was aroused as before his father’s accession, and this time the Archduke Ferdinand, brother of the reigning Emperor, Charles of Austria, was chosen. Ferdinand became also King of Hungary and Archduke of Austria, thus uniting in the person of a common ruler three kingdoms inhabited by different nationalities. This settled the matter as to the succession for a while, for the throne passed from Ferdinand’s son to his grandson Rudolph. Rudolph was eventually deposed in favour of his brother Matthias. ”

“ People grumbled at the sadness that hung like a pall over the Court. They said that it was merely a resort for military men and officials, and wished that young life could be introduced to restore Vienna and Budapesth to their former gaiety. Archduke Francis Ferdinand had laboured under great disadvantages since sudden and unexpected events had made him heir to the throne. His attendants and the Court officials summed up the position in one sentence: “He has never been trained for a throne.” ”

“ In spite of the rank thus granted to her, the Duchess of Hohenberg was frequently slighted by Archdukes and Archduchesses of the House of Hapsburg, and when the present Emperor, the Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, in 1911, and this marriage was followed by the birth of a son, on November 20, 1912, it was plain to Franz Ferdinand and his wife that the hostility of the old Emperor and the other members of the House of Hapsburg, aided by events, had succeeded in definitely excluding his children by Countess Sophie from the throne. ”

“ The Union and the League would then have combined to oppose the house of Austria.
But meanwhile open resistance to the claims of this family had already broken out in its own provinces. While the Emperor Matthias was still alive, the Archduke Ferdinand, through the combination, as prescribed by Bohemian usage, of an election with the recognition of his hereditary claims, [Pg 487] had been acknowledged future King of Bohemia, and had been already crowned, on condition that he would not mix in public affairs before the death of his predecessor. ”

“ Various Continental cities were mentioned, but rejected, and eventually the archduke's suggestion that they should travel to London at once, go through the marriage ceremony at a register office, and then in the presence of a priest, and afterwards return to Aix-la-Chapelle, was adopted. From there Francis Ferdinand was to inform his uncle as to what had happened, and prepare for his entry into Austria with his bride by his side.
"Once you are mine, even the Emperor will not be able to separate us," he assured her confidently, "and you can always rely upon my love and protection. ”

“ She then implored the assembly to grant help to protect the empire from its enemies. The people were flattered by this appeal to their patriotism, and hastened to prove that their emperor had not appealed to them in vain.
On the 5th of May 1521 the Archduke Ferdinand concluded his marriage with Princess Anne of Hungary, and Charles conferred the five duchies of Austria, Carinthia, Carniola, Styria, and Tyrol upon his brother, to which he added later the German possessions inherited from Maximilian. ”

“ Gradually, however, the tumult was appeased, a constitutional assembly was called into being and opened by the Archduke John, and the Emperor Ferdinand re-entered Vienna amid the warm acclamations of the people. The outbreak was at an end. Austria had been converted from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy.
Revolt in Prussia and the German Union
In Berlin the spirit of revolution became as marked as in Vienna. The King resisted the demands of the people, who soon came into conflict with the soldiers, a fierce street fight breaking out which continued with violence for two weeks. ”

“ Princes, lords, and ecclesiastical dignitaries were being compelled far and wide to save their lives, after their property was probably already confiscated, by swearing allegiance to the Christian League or Brotherhood of the peasants and by countersigning the "Twelve Articles" and other demands of their refractory villeins and serfs. So threatening was the situation that the Archduke Ferdinand began himself to yield, in so far as to enter into negotiations with the insurgents. In many cases the leaders and chief men of the bands were got up in brilliant costume. ”

“ WAS the son of Philip III., King of Spain, by Margaret, daughter of Charles Archduke of Austria, and born at the Escurial.
When only ten years old he was created Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, and other dignities were conferred on him, which brought in enormous revenues. His father on his deathbed sent for the little ecclesiastic, and admonished him on the sacred nature of his duties. Ferdinand was remarkable as a warrior, a politician, a connoisseur of art, a man of pleasure, and much given to hospitality. ”

“ The facts presented in that article beginning with the open breach between Franz Joseph and the Archduke on his marriage to Sophie Chotek; the entente between Kaiser and Archduke at Eckartzau and Potsdam; the seizure of the Archduke's papers by the Austrian government after the assassination; the instructions to the Sarajevo police from the military authorities of Austria-Hungary to make no special arrangements for the Archduke's protection; the fact that no evidence has ever been adduced proving the complicity of the Serbian government ”

“ Farmers, rise of, ii. 240 Farne, islet of, i. 71 Fastolfe, Sir John, iii. 46, 162 Fawkes, Guido, v. 158, 159 Feckenham, Abbot of Westminster, iv. 106 Felton, John, v. 264, 265 Ferdinand (I.) , Archduke of Austria, iii. 208, 243; iv. 19; Emperor, 98; v. 174, 175 Ferdinand (II.) , Archduke of Austria, v. 213; king of Bohemia, 216; Emperor, 217 Ferdinand V., king of Aragon, iii. 186, 187, 207; forms the Holy League, 209; seizes Navarre, ib.; dies, 234 Ferdinand VII., king of Spain, viii. 185 Ferrar, Bishop of St. ”

“ The thirty-one years' reign of Archduke Ferdinand was chiefly notable for the encouragement given by him to Art. Indeed, during this period the country reached its highest culture. The world-famous art collection now in Vienna, concerning which most authorities are in agreement that it was the most extensive and beautiful formed up to that period, owes its existence almost entirely to him. In his Castle of Ambras, near Innsbruck, he gathered together art treasures that are now, as regards many examples, almost if not quite unique ”

“ The Archbishop of Vienna, with a retinue of priests, actually came out to Schönbrunn to administer it, but they were met downstairs by Frau Catherina Schraatt, who told them that it would frighten him to death, and induced them to return without carrying out their mission. Archduke Francis Ferdinand arrived at the capital. He and his morganatic wife, Duchess Hohenberg, established themselves at the Belvedere Palace for the season. The Archduke, a man who lacked refinement and who was utterly devoid of tact, immediately began to act as if he had already succeeded to the throne. ”

“ His only daughter, Marie Beatrice (d. 1829) , was married to the archduke Ferdinand, third son of the emperor Francis I. Ferdinand was created duke of Breisgau in 1803, and at his death in 1806 he was succeeded by his son Francis IV. (q.v.) , to whom the duchy of Modena was given at the treaty of Vienna in 1814. He died in 1846 and was succeeded by Francis V. (q.v.) , who lost his possessions by the events of 1859. With his death in 1875 the title and estates passed to the archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. ”

“ In 1911 he published a signed essay on the measures to be taken to preserve the union of the empire (Zur Erhaltung der Reichseinheit) , which represented the views of the heir to the throne, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, with whom he had become intimate. In Feb. 1912 he became a member of the Austrian Upper House, attaching himself to the Constitutional party. ”

“ In order to oppose one monarch to another, and by the presence of their sovereign to animate the courage of the troops, Ferdinand, in the ardor of the moment, had offered himself to be the leader of his army; but little trouble was required to overturn a resolution which was the offspring of despair alone, and which yielded at once to calm reflection. But the situation which his dignity, and the duties of administration, prevented the Emperor from holding, might be filled by his son, a youth of talents and bravery, and of whom the subjects of Austria had already formed great expectations. ”

“ During his retreat his troops were so harassed by the Hungarians that he lost a large part of his army. He arrived at the capital of Hungary a broken and dishonoured man, where he died shortly afterwards of grief and shame.
On the other hand, the Archduke Ferdinand returned to his father with well-earned laurels. His success will not only be of immediate advantage, but it will enhance for the future the prestige of our arms. The Turks have now had ample proof that, if they trouble the Emperor, he is one who has both soldiers and generals wherewith to chastise their insolence. ”

“ The despairing citizens, thus deserted by their sovereign, and with a victorious foe at their very walls, had no alternative but to throw open their gates and submit to the mercy of the conqueror. The next day the whole imperial army, under the Duke of Bavaria, with floating banners and exultant music, entered the streets of the capital, and took possession of the palaces. The tyrant Ferdinand was as vengeful and venomous as he was vigorous and unyielding. ”

“ But the Emperor Charles V. was at that time in Italy, all engrossed in the fiercest warfare there. Throughout the German empire the Catholics and the Protestants were engaged in a conflict which absorbed all other thoughts. And the Protestants resolutely refused to assist in repelling the Turks while the sword of Catholic vengeance was suspended over them. From Raab the invading army advanced some hundred miles further to the very walls of Vienna. Ferdinand, conscious of his inability to meet the foe in the open field, was concentrating all his available strength to defend his capital. ”

“ This connexion with the declining fortunes of Spain was disastrous to the well-being of the Belgian people, for during many years a close alliance bound together France and the United Provinces, and the Southern Netherlands were exposed Peace of Münster. to attack from both sides, and constantly suffered from the ravages of hostile armies. The cardinal archduke Ferdinand, governor-general from 1634-1641, was a capable ruler, and by his military skill prevented in a succession 674 of campaigns the forces of the enemy from overrunning the country. ”

“ Ferdinand was fond of power, and his first steps showed that he would strive to maintain it. Not a few of the discontented, because disappointed, nobles retired from Toro in disgust, assembled others of the same faction at Valladolid, and wrote letters to Philip, then governor of Flanders, pressing him to come and assume the administration of the kingdom. The archduke, eager to seize his consort’s inheritance, had the insolence to order his father-in-law to retire into Aragon, against whose every act of government, since the death of Isabella, he equally protested. ”

“ Your majesty, the people cheer the archdukes because they are the brothers of the emperor, and because the confidence of your majesty has placed them at the head of the Austrian armies to lead them to battle, and, if it please God, to victory. It is your majesty alone that appointed the Archduke Charles generalissimo of all your forces, and the Archduke John commander of the army of Lower Austria. ”

“ In the month of October 1513 the king and emperor still appeared to be willing to fulfil the contract, and signed a treaty arranging that Maximilian and Margaret should accompany the Archduke Charles to Calais before the 15th of May following for the celebration of the marriage. But six months later Ferdinand and Louis signed another treaty agreeing to marry the archduke to Renée, Louis XII.'s daughter, who was barely four years old. Ferdinand, as Charles's maternal grandfather, claimed the right to control the marriage of his grandson and heir. ”

“ In certain circles, however, people persist in crediting him with a mysterious sway over his Imperial master, and in regarding him as the power behind the throne who whispers advice into the Sovereign’s ear. That he may have served now and then as a link between Vienna and Berlin, between the Archduke Ferdinand and William II., is not unlikely. At the close of the Balkan War, the Kaiser seemed to have abandoned his ally during the latter’s vain efforts to secure the revision of the Treaty of Bucharest. ”

“ On these occasions the two sovereigns make their headquarters at Francis-Joseph's picturesque shooting-lodge, or rather château, at Mürzsteg. They are usually accompanied by the emperor's eldest son-in-law, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, Archduke Francis-Ferdinand, heir apparent to the throne, some younger members of the imperial family, and a few of the dignitaries of the court who have been the longest attached to the service of his majesty, prominent among whom is Baron Gudemus, grand huntsman of the empire. ”

“ From year to year the Archduke had acquired [8] more and more weight in the governance of the Empire, in proportion as his uncle's will grew weaker beneath the burden of advancing age. Thus he had succeeded in his efforts to provide Austria-Hungary with a new navy, the counterpart, on a more modest scale, of the German fleet, and to reorganize the effective army, here again taking Germany for his model. ”