Varillas, Histoire de François II.; Mémoire de Condé ; Hénault, François II. roi de France, 1748; De La Barre-Duparcq, Histoire de François II., 1867.

FRANCIS II. (1768-1835), the last Holy Roman Emperor, and, as Francis I., first emperor of Austria, was born in Florence on the 12th Feburary 1768. He was the son of the emperor Leopold II., after whose death, in 1792, he succeeded to the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria, being crowned emperor in the same year. Before this time he had gained some experience of war during the conflict of the emperor Joseph II. with the Turks, ∏e was immediately involved in the first of his famous wars with France, in which, till 1795, he had the support of the king of Prussia. In 1794 he himself was with the Austrian army which defeated the French at Tournay; but when fortune turned on the side of France he went back to Vienna. He was compelled, mainly in consequence of the victories of Napoleon, who pressed northward from Italy into Carinthia, to conclude, on the 17th October 1797, the treaty of Campo Formio, whereby the empire lost the greater part of the left bank of the Rhine, and Austria had to give up the Netherlands and Lombardy. Austria received in return Venetia, Friuli, Istria, and Dalmatia. In 1799 war broke out afresh, the emperor having on this occasion England and Russia as allies. During the first campaign the French were everywhere defeated; but in the following year Napoleon gained the brilliant victory of Marengo, while Moreau was equally successful at Hohenlinden. The shock of these two battles made it impossible for Austria to continue the war, and on the 9th February 1801 she concluded t’.ie treaty of Lunéville, which confirmed that of Campo Formio, besides exacting fresh sacrifices. France now obtained the whole of the left bank of the Rhine. Once more in association with Russia and England, the emperor began another war with France in 1805. The capitulation of tslm and the battle of Austerlitz, great as were these disasters, did not make the case of Austria hopeless, for she still had large forces, Russia was willing to continue the war, and the power of France had been seriously crippled at Trafalgar. But Francis was dispirited, and craved peace. On December 25, 1805, was concluded the treaty of Presburg, which deprived Austria of Venetia and Tyrol. In 1806, after the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine, he formally resigned the imperial crown, thus bringing to an end the ∣Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of Germany. 'Forgetting the true meaning of the word emperor, he had in 1804 proclaimed himself, as Francis I., hereditary emperor of Austria; and this title has been retained by his successors. He took no part in the war of Prussia with France in 1806, but after some time began to make preparations for a determined struggle, by which he should regain all the advantages lost in previous wars. The new conflict broke out in 1809, and the whole of Germany awaited the result with intense anxiety. Austria was unfortunate at first; but the highest hopes were excited by her thorough victory of Aspern. It was followed by the battle of Wagram, which enabled Napoleon to dictate peace from the palace of Schönbrunn, where he had once before taken up his quarters. By the treaty of Schönbrunn (October 14, 1809) he transferred the allegiance of about four millions of Austrian subjects to other rulers; but as in the following year he married Maria Louisa, the eldest daughter of Francis, it seemed probable that the two sovereigns would in future be on friendly terms. Francis was the ally of Napoleon in his war with Russia in 1812; and when, after the retreat from Moscow, France found herself confronted by Russia and Prussia, Austria at first remained neutral, and in the summer of 1813 acted as mediator. In August of the same year she joined the allies; and, like the sovereigns of Prussia and Russia, Francis accompanied his troops in the war which followed. The settlement of Europe which resulted from the final defeat ’of Napoleon made Francis a more powerful sovereign than he had been at the beginning of his reign; and from this time forward he lived at peace, except that he had to put down a rising in Lombardy in 1821. He was a well-meaning ruler, but had been so alarmed by the successes of the French Revolution that he detested modern ideas of government. The aspirations of his various states for some measure of independence he regarded as criminal, and in Prince Metternich he found a willing agent for his policy of stern repression. Thus a large amount of discontent was excited, which prepared serious, troubles for the emperors who came after him. Francis was married four times, having by his second wife, Maria Theresa, princess of Sicily, thirteen children. He died on the 2d March 1835, and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand.