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Austria
Ferdinand I
– Emperor of Austria: 1835-1848
1840 Silver
20 Kreuzer 27m (6.64 grams)
.5830 silver, approximately 0.1252 oz. ASW
Reference: KM 2208
Laureate head of Ferdinand I right.
Crowned imperial double eagle.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Ferdinand I (19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria,
President of the German Confederation
, King of
Hungary and Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), as well as associated dominions
from the death of his father (Francis
II, Holy Roman Emperor) on 2 March 1835, until his abdication after
the
Revolutions of 1848
.
He married
Maria Anna of Savoy
, the sixth child of
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
. They had no
issue. Ferdinand was incapable of ruling his empire because of his mental
deficiency, so his father, before he died, drafted a will promulgating that he
consult
Archduke Louis
on every aspect of internal
policy, and urged him to be influenced by
Prince Metternich
, Austria’s
foreign minister
.
He abdicated on December 2, 1848. He was succeeded by his
nephew
,
Francis Joseph
. Following his abdication, he
lived in
Hradčany Palace
,
Prague
Biographyy
Early life
Ferdinand was the eldest son of
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
and
Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
. As a result
of his parents’
genetic closeness
(they were
double first cousins
), Ferdinand suffered from
epilepsy,
hydrocephalus
, neurological problems, and a
speech impediment
. Upon his marriage to
Joseph Kalasanz, baron Erberg
Maria Anna of Savoy
Regencyy
Coronation of King Ferdinand V in 1836 in Prague
Ferdinand has been depicted as
feeble-minded
and incapable of ruling, but
although he had epilepsy
, he kept a coherent and legible diary
and has even been said to have had a sharp wit. Having as many as twenty
seizures per day, however, severely restricted his ability to rule with any
effectiveness.
Though he was not declared incapacitated, a regent’s council (Archduke
Kolowrat
Louis
and Prince
Metternich
) steered the government. His
marriage to Princess
Maria Anna of Sardinia
(1803–1884) was probably
never
consummated
, nor is he believed to have had any
other liaisons. When he tried consummating the marriage, he had 5 seizures. He
is famous for his one coherent command: when his cook told him he could not have
apricot dumplings
(Marillenknödel)
because apricots
were out of season, he said “I’m the
Emperor, and I want dumplings!” (German:
Ich bin der Kaiser und ich will Knödel
1848 Revolutionn
Photograph of the aged Ferdinand dated circa 1870
Ferdinand’s sarcophagus in Kaisergruft, the Imperial Crypt,
in Vienna, Austria
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?” (Viennese
German: Ja, dürfen’s denn des?) He was convinced by
Felix zu Schwarzenberg
to abdicate in favour of
his nephew,
Franz Joseph
(the next in line was Ferdinand’s
younger brother
Franz Karl
, but he was persuaded to waive his
succession rights in favour of his son) 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.”
Ferdinand was the last
King of Bohemia
to be crowned as such. Due to
his sympathy with Bohemia (where he spent the rest of his life in
Prague Castle
) he was given the
Czech
Ferdinand
Dobrotivý). In Austria, Ferdinand was similarly nicknamed “Ferdinand der
Gütige” (Ferdinand the Benign), but also ridiculed as “Gütinand der Fertige” (Goodinand
the Finished).
He is interred in tomb number 62 in the
Imperial Crypt
in Vienna.
Titles
His
Imperial Royal
Apostolic Majesty
Ferdinand the First,
By the Grace of God
-
Emperor of Austria
,
King of Hungary
,
Bohemia
, fifth by this name, King of the
Lombardy and Venice
, King of
Dalmatia
,
Croatia
,
Galicia, Lodomeria
Slavonia
, and
Illyria
;
-
King of Jerusalem
etc.
- Archduke
of
Austria
- Grand duke
of
Tuscany
and
Cracow
[from 1846];
- Duke
of
Lorraine
,
Salzburg
,
Styria
,
Carinthia
and
Carniola
,
Upper and Lower Silesia
, of
Modena
,
Parma
,
Piacenza
and
Guastalla
, of
Auschwitz
and
Zator
, of
Teschen
,
Friuli
,
Ragusa
, and
Zara
;
-
Grand prince
of
Transylvania
;
- Margrave
of
Moravia
;
- Princely Count
of
Habsburg
,
Kyburg
,
Tyrol
,
Gorizia and Gradisca
;;
- Prince
of
Trent
and
Brixen
;
- Margrave of
Upper
and
Lower Lusatia
and in
Istria
, Count of
Hohenems
,
Feldkirch
,
Bregenz
,
Sonnenberg
, etc.
- Lord of Trieste
,
Cattaro
and over the
Windic March
.
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Ferdinand I of Austria
. |
-
Charles II of Spain
(1661-1700)
-
List of heirs to the Austrian throne
-
Rulers of Germany family tree
. He was
related to every other ruler of Germany.
Ancestors
of Ferdinand I of Austria |
Ferdinand’s parents were
double first cousins
as they shared all four
grandparents (Francis’ paternal grandparents were his wife’s maternal
grandparents and vice versa). 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.
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