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.
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
