In June 1732 he agreed to go to Pressburg. He was not excited about this position, but Maria wanted him closer to her.
Maria Theresa arranged for Francis to become "Lord Lieutenant" (locumtenens) of Hungary in 1732. During a subsequent visit to England, Francis was made a Master Mason at another specially convened lodge at Houghton Hall, the Norfolk estate of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole. In 1731 he was initiated into freemasonry (Grand Lodge of England) at a specially convened lodge in The Hague at the house of the British Ambassador, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. Francis Stefan of Lorraine succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine in 1729. Francis was brought up in Vienna with Maria Theresa with the understanding that they were to be married, and a real affection arose between them.Īt the age of 15, when he was brought to Vienna, he was established in the Silesian Duchy of Teschen, which had been mediatized and granted to his father by the emperor in 1722.
On Leopold Clement's death, Charles adopted the younger brother as his future son-in-law. He had designed to marry his daughter Maria Theresa to Francis' older brother Leopold Clement. He was very close to his brother and sister Anne Charlotte.Įmperor Charles VI favored the family, who, besides being his cousins, had served the house of Austria with distinction. He was connected with the Habsburgs through his grandmother Eleonor, daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III, and wife of Charles Leopold of Lorraine, his grandfather. After taking the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, the return of the ancestral duchy of Lorraine went nominally to his brother Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (who was however engaged in ruling the Austrian Netherlands), until succession under derivate house alliances resulted in Lorraine's annexation to France in 1766.įrancis at the age of 15 in his hunting attire.įrancis was born in Nancy, Lorraine (now in France), the oldest surviving son of Leopold Joseph, duke of Lorraine, and his wife Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, daughter of Philippe, duc d'Orléans. Francis and the House of Lorraine received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in the peace treaty that ended that war. In 1737, Lorraine became managed by France under terms resulting from the War of the Polish Succession. From 1728 until 1737 he was Duke of Lorraine. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. Holy Roman Emper or Francis I - 1745-1765įrancis I (German: Franz Stefan Italian: Francesco Stefano English: Francis Stephen 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real powers of those positions.
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