Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor


Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 untilAugust 1806, when he dissolved the Holy Roman Empire 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 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 was a son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife Maria Luisa of Spain , daughter of Charles III of Spain. Francis was born in Florence, the capital of Tuscany, where his father reigned as Grand Duke from 176590. Though he had a happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings, his family knew Francis was likely to be a future Emperor , and so in 1784 the young Archduke was sent to the Imperial Court in Vienna to educate and prepare him for his future role.

Source: Wikipedia


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