FERDINAND II 



3116 



FERDINAND V 



Ferdinand II, 

 German king 



From an engraving 



latter's humiliation at the hands of 

 Maurice of Saxony, and arranged 

 with the Protestants the peace of 

 Augsburg. . His own reign as em - 

 peror (1558-64) saw but a continu 

 ance of his war with the Turks 

 and of his efforts to settle the re- 

 ligious differences. He died in 

 Vienna, July 25, 1564, his eldest 

 son. Maximilian II, succeeding him. 

 Ferdinand II (1578-1637). Ger- 

 man king and Roman emperor. 

 Born at Gratz, July 9, 1578, be 

 .,,.__^, N was a son of 

 *. 1 the archduke 



Charles and a 

 nephew of the 

 emperor Maxi- 

 m i 1 i a n II. 

 Educated by 

 the Jesuits, he 

 began his pub- 

 lic life as ruler 

 of Styria and 

 Carinthia, the 

 portion of the 

 Hapsburg domains that had been 

 his father's share. His rule was 

 chiefly distinguished for his per- 

 secution of the Protestants. In 

 1612 the emperor Rudolph, Fer- 

 dinand's cousin, died, and another 

 cousin, Matthias, became emperor. 

 He was old and childless, and the 

 outcome of much political strategy 

 was the decision that Ferdinand, 

 and not one of his own brothers, 

 should succeed him. The family 

 agreed to the arrangement, and as 

 a beginning the archduke was 

 chosen king of Bohemia and king 

 of Hungary. Matthias died in 1619 

 and in Aug. his nephew was elected 

 German king. 



Meanwhile, in 1618, the Thirty 

 Years' War had begun. A rival to 

 Ferdinand, set up by the Protes- 

 tants in Bohemia, kindled the 

 flame, and the struggle lasted 

 throughout the emperor's life- 

 time. Ferdinand acted vigorously, 

 and until the appearance of the 

 Swedes, aided by Maximilian of 

 Bavaria, he was completely vic- 

 torious. He recovered Bohemia, 

 put an end as far as possible to 

 Protestantism, and by the edict 

 of 1629 gave back lands taken from 

 the Church. The Swedish interven- 

 tion followed, and in 1635 the em- 

 peror made the treaty of Prague 

 with some of his foes. He died Feb. 

 15, 1637, leaving by his wife, a 

 Bavarian princess, two sons, his 

 successor, Ferdinand III, and 

 Leopold, a prelate. See Thirty 

 Years' War. 



Ferdinand HI (1608-57). Ger- 

 man king and Roman emperor. 

 Son of the emperor Ferdinand 

 II, he was born at Gratz, July 13, 

 1608. To secure his position his 

 father had him crowned king of 

 Hungary and king of Bohemia 



Ferdinand III, 

 German king 



during his own lifetime, and in 1636 

 he was chosen German king. In 

 1637 his father died and Ferdinand 

 ^_^^^^^^^___ became the 

 jjgJ^S^Iw real ruler of 

 these king- 

 doms and as- 

 sumed the 

 title of em- 

 peror. The 

 Thirty Years' 

 War, in which 

 he had taken 

 part, was then 

 raging, and 

 his reign saw its end in 1648. He 

 died April 2, 1657. Ferdinand was 

 succeeded by his eldest surviving 

 son, Leopold I. 



Ferdinand (b. 1861). Ex-tsar 

 of Bulgaria. Born at Vienna, Feb. 

 26, 1861, he was the youngest 

 son of Augus- m^nR^^H^Bl! 

 tus, prince of j 

 Saxe-Coburg- 1 

 Got ha, and 1 

 Clementine, JJ 

 daughter of i 

 Louis Philippe. | 

 He was well 1 

 educated, and g 

 with his bro- 1!L_ .,'^Jal 

 ther Augustus Ferdinand, 



CMished a Ex-tsar of Bulgaria 

 k on his botanical observations 

 in Brazil. He entered the Austrian 

 army, but soon his ambition led 

 him in another direction. In 1887 

 Alexander, prince of Bulgaria, ab- 

 dicated, and after much intrigue 

 Ferdinand was chosen as his suc- 

 cessor. Russia was opposed to him, 

 but he won through and by 1896 

 most of the objections to him had 

 ceased. In 1908 he proclaimed the 

 independence of Bulgaria, and 

 called himself king or tsar, winning 

 recognition from the powers shortly 

 afterwards. He was an advocate 

 of the Balkan League, and was one 

 of the instigators of the war of 

 1912-13. 



On the outbreak of the Great 

 War, Ferdinand was cautious 

 enough to await developments be- 

 fore committing himself to any 

 definite policy. His strong German 

 tendencies gradually became more 

 apparent, however, and finally, 

 having exhausted all the prevari- 

 cations of diplomacy, he declared 

 war, Oct. 13, 1915. He played no 

 conspicuous part in the war itself, 

 and, on the final breakdown of the 

 Bulgarian effort, he abdicated, Oct. 

 4, 1918, in favour of his son Boris, 

 and retired to Germany. Ferdi- 

 nand married first, in 1893, a 

 Bourbon princess, daughter of the 

 duke of Parma ; and secondly, in 

 1908, Eleanor, a princess of 

 Reuss. 



Ferdinand (b. 1865). King of 

 Rumania. Born at Sigmaringen, 



Aug. 24, 1865, he was a son of 

 Leopold, a member of the non- 

 reigning and Roman Catholic" 

 branch of the Hohenzollern family. 

 In 1866 i 



uncle Charles |-> JflHP'^-v 

 had been cho- j 

 sen king of 

 Rumania, and 

 as his heir Fer- 

 dinand became 

 king in Oct., 

 1914. The 

 Great War was 1 

 then in pro- Ferdinand, 



gress, but it King of Romania 

 was not until 1916 that Rumania 

 joined in on the side of the Allies. 

 The land was soon overrun by Aus- 

 tro-Germans, and during the diffi- 

 cult period that followed there were 

 rumours of the king's abdication ; 

 but these did not materialise, 

 and the end of the war saw him 

 again in possession of his country. 

 Ferdinand married in 1893 Marie, 

 cousin of King George V. 



Ferdinand. Name of several 

 kings of Spain and Naples. Other 

 than those who are given separate 

 biographies, the principal are Ferdi- 

 nand I (d. 1065), El Magno, or the 

 Great, who became king of Castile 

 in 1028; Ferdinand II (d. 1188), 

 king of Leon; and Ferdinand IV 

 (d. 1312), king of Castile. Of the 

 Neapolitan kings, Ferdinand I 

 (1423-84) was the natural son of 

 Alphonso V of Aragon and I of 

 Sicily. He succeeded to the throne 

 by the will of his father. His reign 

 was troubled by the jealousy of 

 the other Italian states, wars with 

 the Turks, and difficulties with 

 France. His grandson, Ferdinand 



II (1469-96), was temporarily 

 dispossessed by Charles VIII of 

 France. The Bourbon Ferdinand 



III (1751-1825), king of Sicily, 

 welded the titles of Naples into 

 one and became Ferdinand I of 

 the Two Sicilies. 



Ferdinand III (1199-1252). 

 King of Castile and Leon, called the 

 Saint. Son of Alfonso IX of Leon 

 and Berengaria of Castile, he suc- 

 ceeded his cousin Henry as king of 

 Castile in 1217, and showed him- 

 self a prudent and merciful ruler. 

 In 1231 the death of his father 

 brought him the throne of Leon, 

 and as king of Castile and Leon he 

 waged war vigorously against the 

 Moors, eventually confining them 

 to Granada, and securing Seville in 

 1248. He was canonised by Clement 

 X in 1671 on account of his un- 

 flinching orthodoxy in repressing 

 the Albigenses, and for his services 

 towards the Crusades. 



Ferdinand V (1452-1516). King 

 of Spain. Known as Ferdinand of 

 Aragon, he was the son of John II, 

 king of Aragon and Sicily, and was 



