Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor

Born

12 February 1768

Died

2 March 1835

The son of Leopold II and a nephew of Marie Antoinette, Francis succeeded to the Habsburg lands on 1 March 1792 but had not yet been elected emperor when the Legislative Assembly declared war on 20 April; the declaration was accordingly made against the king of Bohemia and Hungary. He was elected and crowned that July. He prosecuted the war of the First Coalition through his generals, briefly taking the field in Flanders in 1794, and suppressed a conspiracy in his own army the same year. Approached in 1793 about ransoming his aunt, he declined to make concessions. He made peace at Campo Formio in October 1797, took the title of emperor of Austria in 1804, and abdicated the imperial crown in 1806, ending the Holy Roman Empire. He died in 1835.

Related peopleForeign Courts & Powers

Duke of Brunswick

King Frederick William II

Emperor Leopold II All in this faction →

Articles about

Emperor Francis II

No articles about this figure yet.

Browse all articles →