Francis IV, Duke of Modena


Francis IV Joseph Charles Ambrose Stanislaus was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara, Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Biography

Francis was born in Milan. His father was Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Duke of Breisgau, his mother Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara, who was the last descendant of the House of Este and, through her mother, of the House of Cybo-Malaspina.
He was a grandson of Maria Theresa of Austria, head of the House of Habsburg, and was heir to the Este states through his father, who had been invested with the succession in the imperial fies of the Este by the Perpetual Imperial Diet in 1771, just before his marriage to Maria Beatrice, although he could never actually ascend the throne during the Napoleonic era. Francis's mother was not entitled to inherit due to the Salic law in force in Modena and Reggio. He thus became the first member of the House of Habsburg-Este to rule the Este inheritance in Northern Italy.
Francis is distinguished for his stern and tyrannic rule by which he repressed all the democratic movements appearing during his reign, particularly following a major revolt in 1830. The harshness of the Ducal policies are illustrated by the hanging of Ciro Menotti for an attempted insurrection against the Duke.

Family

In 1812, Francis married his niece the Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy, who was the daughter of his sister Archduchess [Maria Teresa of Austria-Este (1773-1832)|Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este] and King Victor [Emmanuel I of Sardinia]. The couple had four children: