Francis II, duke of Brittany
Francis II, 1435–88, duke of Brittany. He succeeded (1458) his uncle Arthur III. In his struggle with the French crown for the independence of his duchy, Francis entered (1465) the League of the Public Weal against King Louis XI Louis XI, 1423–83, king of France (1461–83), son and successor of Charles VII.Early Life
As dauphin Louis was almost constantly in revolt against his father.
..... Click the link for more information. and invaded Normandy in 1467. Though forced to sign the Peace of Ancenis (1468), he continued to plot against Louis. In 1484 he joined in a rebellion against Louis's successor, King Charles VIII, but was decisively defeated in 1488. After Francis's death his daughter, Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany, 1477–1514, queen of France as consort of Charles VIII from 1491 to 1498 and consort of Louis XII from 1499 until her death. The daughter of Duke Francis II of Brittany, she was heiress to his duchy.
..... Click the link for more information. , was married to Charles VIII.
Francis II, king of France
Francis II, 1544–60, king of France (1559–60), son of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. He married (1558) Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart), and during his brief reign the government was in the hands of her uncles, François and Charles de Guise Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise, 1555–88, was killed at the same time as Henri. After their deaths the leadership of the League devolved upon their brother, Charles, duc de Mayenne ...... Click the link for more information. . Their ruthless persecution of Protestantism led to the conspiracy of Amboise (1560; see Amboise, conspiracy of Amboise, conspiracy of, 1560, plot of the Huguenots (French Protestants) and the house of Bourbon to usurp the power of the Guise family, which virtually ruled France during the reign of the young Francis II .
..... Click the link for more information. ), an attempt to remove the Guises from power. During Francis's reign French Protestantism became a political force (see Huguenots Huguenots (hy
`gənŏts), French Protestants, followers of John Calvin ...... Click the link for more information. ). Francis was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX.
Francis II, Holy Roman emperor
Francis II, 1768–1835, last Holy Roman emperor (1792–1806), first emperor of Austria as Francis I (1804–35), king of Bohemia and of Hungary (1792–1835). He succeeded his father, Leopold II, shortly before the outbreak of war with France (see French Revolutionary Wars French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution and developed into wars of conquest under the empire...... Click the link for more information. ). Francis's armies were eventually defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte; by the Treaty of Campo Formio Campo Formio, Treaty of (käm`pō fôr`myō), Oct.
..... Click the link for more information. (1797) Francis ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France but obtained Venetia and Dalmatia. In 1798 he joined the Second Coalition against France, was again defeated, and in the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) consented to the virtual dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire 3); Grand Alliance, War of the ; Spanish Succession, War of the ).
The death (1740) of Charles VI ended the male Hapsburg line, precipitating further conflict (see Austrian Succession, War of the ; Seven Years War ).
..... Click the link for more information. , which was formally ended (1806) after the Austrian rout at Austerlitz Austerlitz (ô`stərlĭts, Ger. ou`–), Czech Slavkov u Brna, town, S Czech Republic, in Moravia.
..... Click the link for more information. (see also Pressburg, Treaty of Pressburg, Treaty of, 1805, peace treaty between Napoleon I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (also emperor of Austria), signed at Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia).
..... Click the link for more information. ). Francis assumed the title emperor of Austria in 1804. In 1809 he again declared war on Napoleon, now Emperor Napoleon I Napoleon I (nəpō`lēən, Fr. näpôlāōN`), 1769–1821, emperor of the French, b.
..... Click the link for more information. , who was embroiled in difficulties in Spain. Francis's brother, Archduke Charles Charles, 1771–1847, archduke of Austria; brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Despite his epilepsy, he was the ablest Austrian commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars; however, he was handicapped by unwise decisions imposed on him from
..... Click the link for more information. , defeated Napoleon at Aspern, but was crushed at Wagram. Napoleon entered Vienna and imposed on Francis the Peace of Schönbrunn, in which Austria was forced to give up Galicia, Istria, and part of Dalmatia, and to join Napoleon's Continental System Continental System, scheme of action adopted by Napoleon I in his economic warfare with England from 1806 to 1812. Economic warfare had been carried on before 1806, but the system itself was initiated by the Berlin Decree, which claimed that the British blockade of
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1810, Francis's daughter, Marie Louise Marie Louise, 1791–1847, empress of the French (1810–15) as consort of Napoleon I and duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla (1816–47), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (later Emperor of Austria as Francis I.
..... Click the link for more information. , married Napoleon. This marriage was engineered by Metternich Metternich, Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Fürst von (klā`mĕns vĕn`tsəl nā`pōm
..... Click the link for more information. , who from 1809 dominated Austrian politics. In Aug., 1813, Francis joined Russia, Prussia, and England in their war against Napoleon. He presided (1814–15) over the Congress of Vienna (see Vienna, Congress of Vienna, Congress of, Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I.
..... Click the link for more information. ), in which Austria, through Metternich's diplomacy, emerged as the leading power in Europe. Francis was a chief architect of the Holy Alliance Holy Alliance, 1815, agreement among the emperors of Russia and Austria and the king of Prussia, signed on Sept. 26. It was quite distinct from the Quadruple Alliance (Quintuple, after the admission of France) of Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, arrived
..... Click the link for more information. . The events of his early reign shaped his later reactionary views, and he instituted severe repressive measures throughout the empire. Francis was succeeded by his son Ferdinand Ferdinand, 1793–1875, emperor of Austria (1835–48), son and successor of Emperor Francis I (who also, as Francis II, had been the last Holy Roman emperor). A well-meaning monarch in his lucid moments, he was subject to fits of insanity.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Bibliography
See biography by W. C. Langsam (1949).
Francis II, king of the Two Sicilies
Francis II, 1836–94, last king of the Two Sicilies (1859–61), son and successor of Ferdinand II. A weak ruler, he let his ministers follow his father's reactionary policy. Faced with the growing movement for Italian unity (see Risorgimento Risorgimento (rēsôr'jēmĕn`tō) [Ital...... Click the link for more information. ), he first sided with Austria. When he sought the alliance of Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II, 1820–78, king of Sardinia (1849–61) and first king of united Italy (1861–78). He fought in the war of 1848–49 against Austrian rule in Lombardy-Venetia and ascended the throne when his father, Charles Albert , abdicated
..... Click the link for more information. of Sardinia, around whom the movement for Italian unification had coalesced, it was too late—Garibaldi Garibaldi, Giuseppe (gărĭbôl`dē, Ital. j
..... Click the link for more information. had conquered Sicily and was marching (1860) on Naples. Francis fled to Gaeta. There he and his queen, Maria of Bavaria (sister of Empress Elizabeth of Austria), resisted gallantly until 1861, when they surrendered to Victor Emmanuel. They went into exile, at first in Rome, then in Paris and the Tyrol.
Francis II
French François(born Jan. 19, 1544, Fontainebleau, France—died Dec. 5, 1560, Orléans) King of France (1559–60). He was the son of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis and was married in 1558 to Mary Stuart (later Mary, Queen of Scots), a relation of the powerful Guise family. Sickly and weak-willed, Francis was dominated throughout his brief reign by the Guises, who tried to use him to break the strength of the Huguenots. His premature death temporarily ended the Guises' dominion. He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX.
Francis II
German Franz(born Feb. 12, 1768, Florence—died March 2, 1835, Vienna, Austria) Last Holy Roman emperor (1792–1806); as Francis I, emperor of Austria (1804–35); as Francis, king of Hungary (1792–1835) and king of Bohemia (1792–1835). He succeeded his father, Leopold II, as emperor in 1792. An absolutist who hated constitutionalism, Francis supported the first coalition war against France (1792–97). Twice defeated by France, he elevated Austria to an empire (1804) soon after Napoleon made himself emperor of France. Napoleon dictated the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and Francis abdicated in 1806. Though he despised Napoleon, he was forced by reasons of state to marry his daughter Marie-Louise to Napoleon in 1810. Francis helped destroy Napoleon's power in battles in 1813–14. After the Congress of Vienna (1815), Francis supported his chief minister, Klemens, prince von Metternich, in instituting a conservative and restrictive political system in Germany and Europe.
Francis II
Italian Francesco(born Jan. 16, 1836, Kingdom of Naples—died Dec. 27, 1894, Arco, Italy) King of the Two Sicilies (1859–60), the last of the Bourbon kings of Naples. He succeeded his father, Ferdinand II, in 1859 and on his accession rejected proposals made by Count Cavour that he join Piedmont-Sardinia in the war against Austria and grant liberal reforms on its conclusion. Alarmed by the invasion of Sicily by Giuseppe de Garibaldi in 1860, Francis capitulated to the liberals in his kingdom and restored the constitution of 1848, granted freedom of the press, and promised new elections. It was too late to save the monarchy, however; the Bourbon forces were defeated by Garibaldi, and less than a month later Francis was deposed by a plebiscite. He then lived in exile in Rome and Paris.
Francis II
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