fwo_737826 - ITALY - GRAND DUCHY OF TUSCANY - FERDINAND III OF LORRAINE 1 Quattrino 1796 Florence

ITALY - GRAND DUCHY OF TUSCANY - FERDINAND III OF LORRAINE

(1790-1801)

Ferdinand III, of the House of Lorraine-Austria, is the son of Grand Duke Leopold who became Emperor Leopold II. He ascended the throne of Tuscany in 1790. He was forced by the English to take sides against France and consequently saw his States invaded in 1796 by the armies of Bonaparte. He retired to Vienna, while Louis of Parma, then Elisa Bonaparte occupied his throne. In 1805, he accepted from Napoleon the Grand Duchy of Würzburg and acceded to the Confederation of the Rhine. He returned to his duchy in 1814, and reigned there peacefully until 1824. His reign was therefore divided into two periods, from 1799 to 1801 and from 1814 to 1824..