Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Born at Florence, he was the son of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies.

His first wife died on February 1859. Sometime later, he and his family were forced to flee Florence on 27 April 1859, with the outbreak of a revolution inspired by the outbreak of the Second Italian War of Independence as part of the unification of Italy. The family took refuge in Austria. After the end of the war, Leopold II abdicated on 21 July and Ferdinand succeeded him as Grand Duke. Ferdinand proved unable to return to Florence to claim his throne, and an elected Tuscan National Assembly formally deposed him only a month later, on 16 August, with Tuscany being merged into the United Provinces of Central Italy. Ferdinand still hoped to recover his throne, as both France and Austria had promised to recognize his rights to it in the Armistice of Villafranca. However, neither power was willing to take any steps to bring about his restoration; Sardinia would annex Tuscany on 22 March 1860, and with Austria recognizing the new Kingdom of Italy after the Third War of Independence in 1866, Ferdinand's hopes to reclaim the throne were ended.

Subsequently Ferdinand and his family returned to Austria. While Ferdinand was allowed to keep the grand ducal title as a courtesy and retain his status as grand master of all Tuscan orders of chivalry for his lifetime, his descendants could only bear the title of "Archduke/Archduchess of Austria"; the right to bear the title "Prince/ss of Tuscany" became restricted solely to family members born before 1866. In 1870 Ferdinand relinquished all dynastic rights to the defunct Grand Duchy for himself and his future heirs in favour of his second cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph I, effectively ending the House of Habsburg-Tuscany's status as a sovereign cadet branch.[2][3]

Ferdinand died in Salzburg in 1908, after spending the rest of his life in exile. Upon his death, his descendants were barred from using their Tuscan titles by Imperial decree.[4][5]

He married twice and had issue:

From his first marriage in Dresden on 24 November 1856 to Princess Anna of Saxony, (Dresden, 4 January 1836 – Naples, 10 February 1859), daughter of King John I of Saxony, was born:

• Archduchess Maria Antonietta (Florence, 10 January 1858 – Cannes, 13 April 1883). She became Princess-Abbess of the Theresian Convent in the Hradschin in Prague. Unmarried and without Issue.

From his second marriage in Frohsdorf on 11 January 1868 to Princess Alice "Alix" of Bourbon-Parma (Parma, 27 December 1849 – Schwertberg, 16 November 1935), daughter of Duke Charles III of Parma:

• Archduke Leopold Ferdinand (1868–1935). He renounced his titles on 29 December 1902 and took the name Leopold Wölfling. He married three times, without issue.
• Archduchess Louise (1870–1947). Married first King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and after divorcing him married second Enrico Toselli and had issue by both marriages.
• Archduke Josef Ferdinand (1872–1942). He married, firstly, Rosa Kaltenbrunner and, after divorcing her married, secondly Gertrud Tomanek, by whom he had issue. Both marriages were morganatic.
• Archduke Peter Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany (1874–1948). Married Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and had issue.
• Archduke Heinrich Ferdinand (1878–1969). A major general in the Austrian army, morganatically married Maria Karoline Ludescher, and had issue.
• Archduchess Anna Maria (1879–1961). She married Johannes, Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein; their granddaughter married Hans Veit, Count of Toerring-Jettenbach, son of Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark.
• Archduchess Margareta Maria (1881–1965)
• Archduchess Germana Maria (1884–1955)
• Archduke Robert Ferdinand (1885–1895)
• Archduchess Agnes Maria (1891–1945)

Ferdinand received the following awards:[6]

• Grand Duchy of Tuscany:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Joseph[7]
  • Grand Master of the Order of Saint Joseph, 21 July 1859
  • Grand Master of the Order of Saint Stephen, 21 July 1859
  • Grand Master of the Order of Civil and Military Merit, 21 July 1859
•  Austrian Empire:
  • Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1852[8]
  • Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1891[9]
• Grand Duchy of Baden:
  • Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1886[10]
  • Knight of the Order of Berthold the First, 1886[10]
•  Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert, 1856[11]
•  Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 24 September 1856[12]
•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion, 19 December 1856[13]
• Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 26 January 1861[14]
•  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon, 12 January 1864[15]
•  Kingdom of Saxony: Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, 1856[16]
•  Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, 1882[17]

• Risorgimento

• Genealogy of Ferdinand IV
• Grand Ducal House of Tuscany