Francis IV, Duke of Modena

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Francis IV
Portrait by Adeodato Malatesta, 1831
Duke of Modena and Reggio
Reign	14 July 1814 – 21 January 1846
Predecessor	Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena
Successor	Francis V, Duke of Modena
Born	(1779-10-06)6 October 1779 Milan, Duchy of Milan
Died	21 January 1846(1846-01-21) (aged 66) Modena, Duchy of Modena
Spouse	Maria Beatrice of Savoy ​ ​ (m. 1812; died 1840)​
Issue	Maria Theresa, Countess of Chambord Francis V, Duke of Modena Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor Maria Beatrix, Countess of Montizón
House	Habsburg-Este
Father	Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este
Mother	Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Francis IV Joseph Charles Ambrose Stanislaus (Italian: Francesco IV Giuseppe Carlo Ambrogio Stanislao d'Asburgo-Este; 6 October 1779 – 21 January 1846) was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola (from 1815), Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara (from 1829), Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Francis was born in Milan. His father was Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Duke of Breisgau, his mother Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara, who was the last descendant of the House of Este and, through her mother, of the House of Cybo-Malaspina.

He was a grandson of Maria Theresa of Austria, head of the House of Habsburg, and was heir to the Este states through his father, who had been invested with the succession in the imperial fies of the Este by the Perpetual Imperial Diet in 1771, just before his marriage to Maria Beatrice, although he could never actually ascend the throne during the Napoleonic era. Francis's mother was not entitled to inherit due to the Salic law in force in Modena and Reggio (but not applied in Massa and Carrara). He thus became the first member of the House of Habsburg-Este to rule the Este inheritance in Northern Italy.

Francis is distinguished for his stern and tyrannic rule by which he repressed all the democratic movements appearing during his reign, particularly following a major revolt in 1830. The harshness of the Ducal policies are illustrated by the hanging of Ciro Menotti for an attempted insurrection against the Duke (1831).

In 1812, Francis married his niece the Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy, who was the daughter of his sister Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este and King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. The couple had four children:

• Maria Theresa (1817–1886), married Henri, comte de Chambord.
• Francis V, Duke of Modena (1819–1875), married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria.
• Ferdinand Karl (1821–1849), married Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria. Father of Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este.
• Maria Beatrix (1824–1906), married Infante Juan de Bourbon, Count of Montizón.

• Duke of Ferrara and of Modena
• House of Este
• Modena

• Media related to Francis IV, Duke of Modena at Wikimedia Commons
• Romanello, Marina (1997). "FRANCESCO IV d'Austria-Este, duca di Modena e Reggio". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 49: Forino–Francesco da Serino (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.