Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (Florence, 6 May 1769 – Florence, 18 June 1824) was Grand Duke of Tuscany, (1790-1801; 1814-1824). He was also the Prince-elector and Duke of Salzburg (1803-1806) and Grand Duke of Würzburg (1806-1814).
Ferdinand was born in Florence, Tuscany. He was the son of Leopold, then Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and his wife infanta Maria Louisa of Spain.
When his father was elected Emperor in 1790, Ferdinand succeeded him as Grand Duke of Tuscany ceded by his father on 22 July 1790. He was driven out by the French in 1799 but still ruled in Tuscany until 1801, when in the Treaty of Aranjuez (1801), he was forced by Napoleon to make way for the Kingdom of Etruria, created as compensation for the Bourbon Dukes of Parma, being dispossessed by the Peace of Lunéville in that same year.
Ferdinand was compensated by being given the Dukedom and Electorate of Salzburg, the secularized lands of the Archbishop of Salzburg, as Duke of Salzburg. He was also made a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, both on 26 December 1802, a role which expired with the Empire's dissolution in 1806.
On 25 December 1805, Ferdinand had to give up Salzburg as well, which by the Treaty of Pressburg was annexed by his older brother, Emperor Francis II. Ferdinand was made Duke of Würzburg, a new state created for him from the old Bishopric of Würzburg, remaining an Elector. With the dissolution of the Empire in 1806 he took the new title of Grand Duke of Würzburg.
On 30 May 1814, after Napoleon's fall, Ferdinand was restored as Grand-Duke of Tuscany. However, in 1815, the Duchy of Lucca was carved out of Tuscany, again as temporary compensation for the Bourbons of Parma. (Lucca would be reintegrated into Tuscany in 1847.)
Ferdinand died in 1824 in Florence and was succeeded by his son Leopold.
Family and children
In Naples on 15 August 1790 by proxy and in Vienna on 19 September 1790 in person, Ferdinand married firstly his double first cousin, Princess Luisa Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies (Naples, 27 July 1773 - Vienna, 19 September 1802), daughter of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Marie Caroline of Austria.
Their children were:
- Archduchess Carolina Ferdinanda Teresa (Carolina Ferdinanda Theresia) (Florence, 2 August 1793 - Vienna, 5 January 1802)
- Archduke Francesco Leopoldo (Franz Leopold) (Florence, 15 December 1794 - Vienna, 18 March 1800)
- Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1797 - 1870), Grand Duke of Tuscany between 1824-1859
- Archduchess Maria Luisa Giuseppa Cristina Rosa (Marie Louise Josephe Christine Rose) (Florence, 30 August 1799 - Florence, 15 June 1857)
- Archduchess Maria Teresa (1801 - 1855). Married Charles Albert of Sardinia.
- Archduke unnamed (1802 - 1802), stillborn
In Florence on 6 May 1821, Ferdinand married secondly Maria of Saxony (Dresden, 27 April 1796 - Schloss Brandeis, Bohemia, 3 January 1865), daughter of Maximilian, Prince of Saxony, (1759 - 1838) and his wife Caroline of Bourbon-Parma (1770 - 1804). She was the first cousin once removed of his first wife and also his first cousin once removed. There were no children born of this second marriage.
Ancestry
External links
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Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 6 May 1769 Died: 18 June 1824 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Leopold |
Grand Duke of Tuscany 1790–1801 |
Succeeded by Louis I, King of Etruria |
| Preceded by Hieronymus von Colloredo, Archbishop of Salzburg |
Prince-Elector and Grand Duke of Salzburg 1803–1805 |
Succeeded by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Preceded by part of Bavaria |
Grand Duke of Würzburg 1806–1814 |
Succeeded by part of Bavaria |
| Preceded by Elisa Bonaparte |
Grand Duke of Tuscany 1814–1824 |
Succeeded by Leopold II |
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