Archduke Gottfried of Austria
| Archduke Gottfried of Austria | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of the House of Habsburg-Tuscany | |||||
| Reign | 8 November 1948 - 21 January 1984 | ||||
| Predecessor | Archduke Peter Ferdinand | ||||
| Successor | Archduke Leopold Franz | ||||
| Born | 14 March 1902 Linz, Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary | ||||
| Died | 21 January 1984 (aged 81) Bad Ischl, Upper Austria, Austria | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Dorothea of Bavaria | ||||
| Issue | Archduchess Elisabeth Archduchess Alice Archduke Leopold Franz Archduchess Maria Antoinette | ||||
| |||||
| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria | ||||
| Mother | Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies | ||||
Archduke Gottfried of Austria (German: Gottfried Maria Joseph Peter Ferdinand Hubert Anton Rupert Leopold Heinrich Ignaz Alfons, Erzherzog von Österreich, Prinz von Toskana; 14 March 1902 – 21 January 1984), also styled as Gottfried Erzherzog von Österreich. On 20th December 1866, Goffredo's grandfather, Ferdinando IV, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his children were readmitted to the imperial family. The House of Tuscany ceased to exist as a sovereign branch and merged with the Austrian imperial house. Ferdinand was able to maintain his fons honorum vita natural durante, while his children became only imperial princes (archdukes of Austria) and no longer princes/princesses of Tuscany. The Grand Magistry of the Order of St Stephen died out with the death of Ferdinand IV. In fact, after the death of Grand Duke Ferdinand IV in 1908, Emperor Franz Joseph I forbade the acceptance of the title of Grand Duke or Prince or Princess of Tuscany: none of Ferdinand IV's children born after 1866 accepted the title of Prince or Grand Duke of Tuscany. They were also unable to legitimately take possession of the extinct dynastic orders, previously conferred by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
While his grandfather had kept the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany after the abolition of the dukedom in 1860, he had abdicated it in favor of the Austrian Emperor in 1870. Peter Ferdinand, Goffredo's father, never claimed the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany. The former Prime Minister of Saxony and later Imperial and Household Minister Beust declared: ‘The Tuscan Grand Ducal family has lost its sovereign rights as a result of political events. This branch of the Austrian imperial family is therefore naturally subordinate to the rights and duties of all other members of the imperial family. The Grand Dukes Leopold and Ferdinand and their more famous brothers are therefore from now on to be considered only as Archdukes of Austria and to be treated in accordance with the Statute of the High Noble Family of 3 February 1839."