The House of Habsburg From the famed House of Habsburg, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I reigned for 68 years, the third longest reign in the history of European aristocracy. His grandfather was Francis II, the last of the Holy Roman Emperors. Franz insisted on marrying his cousin Elisabeth of Bavaria, whose side of the family had a long history of mental illness. Elisabeth was stabbed to death at age 60 by an anarchist. Their son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf, hooked up with a 17-year-old baroness and shocked the world by committing murder-suicide. As a result, Franz Ferdinand, the emperor’s nephew, became heir apparent. In 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, the event is widely considered to be the precursor to World War I. Next generation: The assassination effectively ended some eight centuries of Habsburg reign in Europe.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:00:22 +0000
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