Biography of Karl I. - Archontology
Karl I.

Karl I.

b. 17 Aug 1887, Schloß Persenbeug, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary
d. 1 Apr 1922, Villa Quinta do Monte, Madeira

Title: Von Gottes Gnaden, Kaiser von Österreich, Apostolischer König von Ungarn, König von Böhmen, Dalmatien, Kroatien, Slavonien und Galizien, Lodomerien und Illyrien, König von Jerusalem, etc.; Erzherzog von Österreich, Großherzog von Toskana und Krakau, Herzog von Lothringen und von Salzburg, von Steier, von Kärnten, Krain und der Bukovina; Großfürst von Siebenbürgen; Markgraf von Mähren; Herzog von Ober- und Niederschlesien, von Modena, Parma, Piacenza und Guastalla, von Auschwitz und Zator, von Teschen, Friaul, Ragusa und Zara; Gefürsteter Graf von Habsburg und Tyrol, von Kyburg, Görz und Gradisca; Fürst von Trient und von Brixen; Markgraf von Ober- und Niederlausitz und in Istrien; Graf von Hohenembs, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg etc.; Herr von Triest, von Cattaro und auf der Windischen Mark; Grosswojwod der Wojwodschaft Serbien, etc.
(By the grace of God, Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, and Galitzia, Lodomeria and Illyria, King of Jerusalem, etc.; Archduke of Austria, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine and of Salzburg, of Styria, of Carinthia, Carniola and the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, of Auschwitz [Oswiecim] and Zator, of Teschen [Czeszyn], Friuli, Ragusa [Dubrovnik] and Zara [Zadar]; Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent [Trento] and Brixen [Bressanone]; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenembs, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro [Kotor], and in the Wendish Mark; Grand Voivode of the Voivodina of Serbia, etc.)
Term: 21 Nov 1916 - 11 Nov 1918
Chronology: 21 Nov 1916, succeeded to the throne of Austria, Hungary etc. [1]
11 Nov 1918, renounced participation in all affairs of state in Austria, proclamation (dated 11 Nov 1918) [2]
Names/titles: Original name: Carl Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria (baptised 19 Aug 1887); IV. Károly as Apostolic King of Hungary, etc.
Other offices: Magyarország Apostoli Királya (Apostolic King of Hungary) as IV. Károly [21 Nov 1916 - 1 Apr 1922, continued as title holder in the period when he was absent and/or not recognised in Hungary] (link)
Biography:
Son of Erzherzog Otto Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Maria and descendant of Emperor Franz I; privately educated; attended the Schotten grammar school in Vienna (1900-1902); appointed second lieutenant in the Ulan Regiment Erzherzog Otto No. 1 (1903); joined the Seventh Dragoon Regiment (1905); promoted to full lieutenant (1906), captain (1909), major (1912); studied law and state-craft at the University of Prague (1906-1908); served with his regiment in Bohemia (1908-1912) and Eastern Galicia (1912); married Zita Marie der Gnaden Adelgunde Michaele Raphaele Gabriele Josephine Antonie Luise Agnes (Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese) Princess of Bourbon-Parma (21 Oct 1911); moved to Vienna, where assumed command of a battalion in the Infantry Regiment No. 39 (1912); after the death of his uncle, Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef Maria (28 Jun 1914), became heir presumptive; assigned to the Hussar Regiment No. 1 Kaiser with the rank of colonel (21 Jul 1914); promoted to major-general (1915), lieutenant-field-marshal (1916); acceded to the throne after the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I.; crowned as King of Hungary in Budapest (30 Dec 1916); attempted to take Austria-Hungary out of the First World War through a separate peace (Sixtus Affair); renounced participation in all affairs of state in Austria (11 Nov 1918) and in Hungary (13 Nov 1918), hesitating to sign abdications; moved together with his family to Switzerland (1919); made two attempts to regain the Hungarian throne (1921); interned by the Allies on Madeira, where he died after a few months.
Biographical sources: "Kaiser Karl: Der letzte Monarch Österreich-Ungarns 1887-1922", by Heinz Rieder (Munich: Callwey, 1981); Wiener Zeitung, Nr. 187, Donnerstag, den 18. August 1887, p. 1 (notice on birth); Pester Lloyd, Nr. 76, Montag, 3. April 1922, pp. 1-2 (obituary).

[1] Wiener Zeitung, Nr. 269, Mittwoch, den 22. November 1916. Extra-Ausgabe.
[2] Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, Nr. 12168, Montag, 11. November 1918, p. 1.
Image: photograph by E. Foerster, 1917.