Double Emperor

The Life and Times of Francis of Austria

Chip Wagar

For forty-three years, Francis I of Austria ruled a vast heterogenous Empire that came to dominate the continent of Europe. Ascending Charlemagne’s thousand-year throne of the Holy Roman Empire at the age of twenty-four on the unexpected death of his father, this scion of the ancient Habsburg dynasty became the first Emperor of Austria and for two years, the only Double Emperor in history.

Both the father in law of Napoleon Bonaparte and his chief rival for dominance of the continent of Europe, Francis eventually led a coalition of nations to Paris in 1814 and sent Napoleon into exile. The exiled Napoleon’s only son and heir lived with his grandfather thereafter in Vienna until his tragic early death.

Kings, ministers, generals and the glitterati of Europe gathered under his watchful eye at the Congress of Vienna to decide the fate of a continent in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars in which he played a pivotal role. The Congress saw the emergence of his new Austrian Empire as the most dominant power in continental Europe until long after his death twenty years later.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, his modest lifestyle and simple tastes that set the tone of the Biedermeier era concealed a complex and calculating ruler whose initial, cautious liberalism gradually evolved into a stoic conservatism. No other life-biography in English has been written about this mysterious but powerful figure of early 19th century Europe whom Metternich and Radetzky called their master.

Hamilton Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7618-7077-7 • Paperback • October 2018 • $29.99 • (£25.00)

978-0-7618-7078-4 • eBook • October 2018 • $28.00 • (£19.99)

Subjects: History / Europe / Austria & Hungary

Double Emperor

The Life and Times of Francis of Austria

Paperback

eBook

Summary

For forty-three years, Francis I of Austria ruled a vast heterogenous Empire that came to dominate the continent of Europe. Ascending Charlemagne’s thousand-year throne of the Holy Roman Empire at the age of twenty-four on the unexpected death of his father, this scion of the ancient Habsburg dynasty became the first Emperor of Austria and for two years, the only Double Emperor in history.

Both the father in law of Napoleon Bonaparte and his chief rival for dominance of the continent of Europe, Francis eventually led a coalition of nations to Paris in 1814 and sent Napoleon into exile. The exiled Napoleon’s only son and heir lived with his grandfather thereafter in Vienna until his tragic early death.

Kings, ministers, generals and the glitterati of Europe gathered under his watchful eye at the Congress of Vienna to decide the fate of a continent in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars in which he played a pivotal role. The Congress saw the emergence of his new Austrian Empire as the most dominant power in continental Europe until long after his death twenty years later.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, his modest lifestyle and simple tastes that set the tone of the Biedermeier era concealed a complex and calculating ruler whose initial, cautious liberalism gradually evolved into a stoic conservatism. No other life-biography in English has been written about this mysterious but powerful figure of early 19th century Europe whom Metternich and Radetzky called their master.

Details

Hamilton Books

Pages: 288 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7618-7077-7 • Paperback • October 2018 • $29.99 • (£25.00)

978-0-7618-7078-4 • eBook • October 2018 • $28.00 • (£19.99)

Subjects: History / Europe / Austria & Hungary

Author

Chip Wagar is a lawyer in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Preface

Part I

Chapter 1: Birth and the Florentine Years

Chapter 2: Coming of Age – Vienna and Joseph II

Chapter 3: A Brief Transition – Leopold II

Chapter 4: Accession to Power – 1792

Part II

Chapter 5: The Economics of War and Peace

Chapter 6: The Habsburg Inheritance

Chapter 7: The Second Coalition

Chapter 8: Beethoven, The Third Coalition and The Birth of the Austrian Empire

Chapter 9: Conservative Reform in the Franciscan Era

Chapter 10: Wagram

Part III

Chapter 11: Metternich, Radetzky and the Policy of Collaboration

Chapter 12: Resurrection

Chapter 13: Triumph and Redemption

Chapter 14: Finis Napoleon

Chapter 15: The Congress of Vienna

Part IV

Chapter 16: After the Congress – Biedermeier Austria

Chapter 17: Family

Chapter 18: Francis and the Post War Era

Chapter 19: Luxury and Austrian Biedermeier Culture

Chapter 20: Revolution and Reaction

Chapter 21: Franciscan Twilight

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Double Emperor

The Life and Times of Francis of Austria

Chip Wagar

Double Emperor

The Life and Times of Francis of Austria

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