Ferdinand I

Austria state institutions Monarchy and royalism 1793–1875 ○ Natural causes

Epileptic Austrian emperor whose regency council governed for him until he abdicated to his nephew Franz Joseph in 1848

Born in 1793 the eldest son of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, to parents who were double first cousins, he had hydrocephalus, epilepsy and a speech impediment. He succeeded his father in 1835 as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (as Ferdinand V), but with as many as twenty seizures a day he could not rule effectively, and a regency council of Archduke Louis, Count Kolowrat and Prince Metternich steered the government. From 1835 to July 1848 he was also president of the German Confederation. After the revolutions of 1848 Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg persuaded him to abdicate, and on 2 December 1848 he gave up the throne to his nephew Franz Joseph. He spent the rest of his life at Prague Castle and died in 1875. His passive but well-meaning character earned him the sobriquet "the Benign".

Also known as: Ferdinand the Benign · Ferdinand V of Hungary