Kaiser Franz I

Franz I, Kaiser (Nancy, 1708-65, Innsbruck), originally Franz Stephan, Herzog von Lothringen, and, from 1735, when he had to renounce Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, married in 1736 the Empress Maria Theresia, who was then an Austrian archduchess. After her accession in 1740 Franz was her co-regent. During the War of the Austrian Succession (see Österreichischer Erbfolgekrieg) he was elected emperor (1745) in succession to Karl VII. As Maria Theresia, who cherished him as her husband and as the father of her children, preferred to conduct her policy on her own and with the help of her ministers, he had no political role. He used his financial acumen for the benefit of Maria Theresia's reforms, and for the family fortunes, and took a great interest in the cultural development of Vienna. He was a patron of the theatre, and the founder of the zoological and botanical gardens in Schönbrunn (see Wien) and of the Natural History Museum.