Ferdinand I of Austria


Ferdinand I was the Emperor of Austria from 1835 until his abdication in 1848. As ruler of Austria, he was also President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, King of Lombardy–Venetia and holder of many other lesser titles. Due to his rocky, passive but good-intended character, he gained the sobriquet The Benign or The Good.
Ferdinand succeeded on the death of his father Francis II and I on 2 March 1835. He was incapable of ruling his empire because of his mental deficiency, so his father, before he died, made a will which promulgated that Ferdinand should consult Archduke Louis on all aspects of internal policy and urged him to be influenced by Prince Metternich, Austria's Foreign Minister.
Following the Revolutions of 1848, Ferdinand abdicated on 2 December 1848. He was succeeded by his nephew, Franz Joseph. Following his abdication, he lived in Hradčany Palace, Prague, until his death in 1875.
Ferdinand married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child of Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. They had no children.

Biography

Early life

Ferdinand was the eldest son of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. Possibly as a result of his parents' genetic closeness, Ferdinand suffered from epilepsy, hydrocephalus, neurological problems, and a speech impediment. He was educated by Baron Josef Kalasanz von Erberg, and his wife Josephine, by birth a Countess von Attems.

Reign

Ferdinand has been depicted as feeble-minded and incapable of ruling. Yet, although he had epilepsy, he kept a coherent and legible diary and has even been said to have had a sharp wit. However, suffering as many as twenty seizures per day severely restricted his ability to rule with any effectiveness. Though he was not declared incapacitated, a Regent's Council steered the government.
When Ferdinand married Princess Maria Anna of Savoy, the court physician considered it unlikely that he would be able to consummate the marriage. When he tried to consummate the marriage, he had five seizures. He is best remembered for his command to his cook: when told he could not have apricot dumplings because apricots were out of season, he said "I am the Emperor, and I want dumplings!".

1848 Revolution

As the revolutionaries of 1848 were marching on the palace, he is supposed to have asked Metternich for an explanation. When Metternich answered that they were making a revolution, Ferdinand is supposed to have said "But are they allowed to do that?" He was convinced by Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg to abdicate in favour of his nephew, Franz Joseph who would occupy the Austrian throne for the next sixty-eight years.
Ferdinand recorded the events in his diary: "The affair ended with the new Emperor kneeling before his old Emperor and Lord, that is to say, me, and asking for a blessing, which I gave him, laying both hands on his head and making the sign of the Holy Cross... then I embraced him and kissed our new master, and then we went to our room. Afterwards I and my dear wife heard Holy Mass... After that I and my dear wife packed our bags."

In retirement (1848–1875)

Ferdinand was the last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such. Due to his sympathy with Bohemia he was given the Czech nickname "Ferdinand V, the Good". In Austria, Ferdinand was similarly nicknamed "Ferdinand der Gütige", but also ridiculed as "Gütinand der Fertige".
He is interred in tomb number 62 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

Titles and honours

He used the titles:
His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Ferdinand the First, By the Grace of God

Ancestry

Ferdinand's parents were double first cousins as they shared all four grandparents. Therefore, Ferdinand only had four great-grandparents, being descended from each of them twice. Further back in his ancestry there is more pedigree collapse due to the close intermarriage between the Houses of Austria and Spain and other Catholic monarchies.