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Francis V of Modena

Italian politician (1819–1875)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ434061
Source-derived summary

Francis V, Duke of Modena, Reggio and Guastalla, Archduke of Austria-Este, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Mirandola and of Massa, Prince of Carrara (Italian: Francesco Ferdinando Geminiano d'Asburgo-Lorena; 1 June 1819 – 20 November 1875) was a reigning prince. He was Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Duke of Guastalla from 1847 and Duke of Massa and Prince of Carrara from 1846 to 1859. His parents were Francis IV of Modena and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. He was the last reigning duke of Modena before the duchy was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.

Life and legacy

Born in Modena on 1 June 1819, Francis was baptised 5 days after birth by the local archbishop in the local cathedral; Emperor Francis I of Austria, the former Holy Roman Emperor, was his godfather, but his uncle Archduke Ferdinand acted as proxy for the emperor.

In 1826 Francis IV of Modena appointed Count Clemente Coronini as tutor to Francis, with Don Pietro Raffaelli, who would later become Bishop of Carpi and Reggio, as his assistant. In 1829, Baron Ernest Geramb became Francis's new tutor.

On 15 September 1836, Francis became a Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece, and 3 years later he received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

After the death of his mother in 1840, Francis was considered the legitimate heir to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland by Jacobites as Francis I. At his death his younger brother's daughter Maria Theresa of Austria-Este became Jacobite claimant.

On 30 March 1842, Francis married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, in the Allerheiligen-Hofkirche at the Munich Residenz.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Francis V of Modena” is italian politician (1819–1875). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Francis, Modena and Italian, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1819, 1875, 1847, 1846—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1819-06-01. For this dossier, Francis, Modena and Italian is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “italian politician (1819–1875)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q434061. VIAF identifies the subject as 10105641. The Library of Congress control number is n83150531. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1819, 1875, 1847 and 1846.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Francis V of Modena”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Francis V of Modena primary sources, Francis V of Modena archive and Francis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Francis V of Modena”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Francis V of Modena” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.