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Ferdinand I German : Ferdinand I. Ferdinand succeeded his father Francis I upon his death on 2 March He was incapable of ruling the empire because of severe epilepsy, so his father, before he died, made a will promulgating that Ferdinand should consult his uncle Archduke Louis on all aspects of internal policy and urged him to be influenced by Prince Metternich, Austria's Foreign Minister.

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Following the Revolutions of , Ferdinand abdicated on 2 December He was succeeded by his nephew, Franz Joseph. They had no children. Possibly as a result of his parents' genetic closeness they were double first cousins , Ferdinand had hydrocephalus, neurological problems including epilepsy , and a speech impediment. Ferdinand suffered from epilepsy.

Although he has been depicted as feeble-minded and incapable of ruling, he kept a coherent and legible diary and has even been said to have had a sharp wit. However, suffering as many as twenty seizures per day severely restricted his ability to rule with any effectiveness. When Ferdinand married Princess Maria Anna of Savoy , the court physician considered it unlikely that he would be able to consummate the marriage.

When he tried to consummate the marriage, he had five seizures.

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As the revolutionaries of were marching on the palace, he is supposed to have asked Metternich for an explanation. When Metternich answered that they were starting a revolution, Ferdinand is supposed to have said "But are they allowed to do that? He was convinced by Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg to abdicate in favour of his nephew, Franz Joseph the next in line was Ferdinand's younger brother Franz Karl, but he was persuaded to renounce his succession rights in favour of his son who would occupy the Austrian throne for the next 68 years.