Archduke Franz Karl of Austria

Archduke Franz Karl Joseph of Austria (17 December 1802 – 8 March 1878) was father of two emperors (Austria and Mexico) and the grandfather of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, whose assassination helped precipitate the start of World War I.

He was born in Vienna, the second son of Emperor Francis II and his wife Maria Theresa of the Two Sicilies.

On 4 November 1824 in Vienna he married Sophie of Bavaria, a daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria by his second wife Karoline of Baden. Franz Karl was an unambitious and generally ineffectual man, although he was a member of the Council that ruled in the stead of his mentally retarded brother Emperor Ferdinand from 1835 to 1848. At the urging of his wife, he renounced his claims to the throne at the time of his brother's abdication in December 1848, allowing their eldest son Franz Joseph to take the throne. Archduke Franz Karl died in Vienna in 1878, six years after the death of his wife.

Issue

Infobox Austrian monarch styles
royal name = Archduke Franz Carl of Austria
dipstyle = His Imperial and Royal Highness
offstyle = Your Imperial and Royal Highness
altstyle = Sir

Ancestors

ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
2= 2. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
(Francis I of Austria)
3= 3. Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies
4= 4. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
5= 5. Maria Louisa of Spain
6= 6. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
7= 7. Marie Caroline of Austria
8= 8. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
(Francis III Stephen, Duke of Lorraine)
9= 9. Maria Theresa of Austria
Queen of Hungary & Bohemia
10= 10. Charles III of Spain
11= 11. Maria Amalia of Saxony
12= 12. Charles III of Spain (= #10)
13= 13. Maria Amalia of Saxony (= #11)
14= 14. Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (= #8)
(Francis III Stephen, Duke of Lorraine)
15= 15. Maria Theresa of Austria (= #9)
Queen of Hungary & Bohemia
16= 16. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
17= 17. Princess Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans
18= 18. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
19= 19. Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
20= 20. Philip V of Spain
21= 21. Elisabeth of Parma
22= 22. Augustus III of Poland
23= 23. Maria Josepha of Austria
24= 24. Philip V of Spain (= #20)
25= 25. Elisabeth of Parma (= #21)
26= 26. Augustus III of Poland (= #22)
27= 27. Maria Josepha of Austria (= #23)
28= 28. Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (= #16)
29= 29. Princess Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans (= #17)
30= 30. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (= #18)
31= 31. Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (= #19)