Ferdinand I
Tsar of Bulgaria
Reign
7 July 1887 – 3 October 1918
Born
26 February 1861(1861-02-26)
Birthplace
Vienna, Austria
Died
10 September 1948 (aged 87)
Place of death
Coburg, Germany
Predecessor
Alexander of Bulgaria
Successor
Boris III of Bulgaria
Consort
i) Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma
ii) Eleonore of Reuss-Köstritz
Offspring
Boris III of Bulgaria
Kyrill, Prince of Preslav
Eudoxia of Bulgaria
Nadejda of Bulgaria
Royal House
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father
August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Mother
Clémentine of Orléans
Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria (February 26, 1861 - September 10, 1948), born Prince Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the Prince Regnant and later Tsar of Bulgaria as well as an author, botanist, entomologist and philatelist.
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Family background
Ferdinand was born in Vienna, a prince of the Kohary branch of the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He grew up in the cosmopolitan environment of Austro-Hungarian high nobility and also in their ancestral lands in Slovakia and in Germany. The Kohary, descending from a noble Slovak family of Hungary, were quite wealthy, holding for example the princely lands of Čabrad and Sitno, in what is now Slovakia. The family’s property was also augmented by Clémentine of Orléans’ remarkable dowry.
The son of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary and his wife Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of king Louis Philippe I of the French, Ferdinand was a grand-nephew of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and of Leopold I, first king of the Belgians. His father Augustus was a brother of Ferdinand II of Portugal, and also a first cousin to Queen Victoria, her husband Albert, Prince Consort, Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother Leopold II of Belgium. These last two, Leopold and Carlota, were also first cousins of Ferdinand I’s through his mother, a princess of Orléans. This made the Belgian siblings his first cousins, as well as his first cousins once removed (his father’s first cousins). Indeed, the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha had contrived to occupy, either by marriage or by direct election, several European thrones in the course of the 19th century. Following the family kierunek, Ferdinand was himself to found the royal dynasty of Bulgaria.
Ferdinand had some ancestry from medieval rulers of Bulgaria, descents from both his mother’s and father’s side.
Prince of Bulgaria
Silver coin of Ferdinand I, struck 1894
Obverse: (Bulgarian): ΦЕРДИНАНДЪ I БЪЛГАРCКИЙ КНЯЗЬ, or in English, “Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria”
Reverse: (Bulgarian): 5 ЛЕВА 1894, or in English, “5 Leva, 1894.”
Bulgaria replaced its first Prince, Alexander of Battenberg in 1886, only seven years after he had been installed.
Bulgaria’s domestic political life was dominated during the early years of Ferdinand’s reign by liberal biesiada leader Stefan Stambolov, whose foreign policy saw a marked cooling in relations with Russia, formerly seen as Bulgaria’s protector.
Personal life
Ferdinand was bisexual throughout his life, obuwie up to middle age, his proclivities for women predominated. Ferdinand’s bisexuality was both well-known and exploited throughout European diplomatic circles.
Ferdinand entered a marriage of convenience with Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of Roberto I of Parma on April 20, 1893 at the Villa Pianore in Lucca in Italy, producing four children:
- Boris III (1894–1943)
- Kyril (1895–1945)
- Eudoxia (1898–1985)
- Nadejda (1899–1958). Married Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg.
Maria Louise died on 31 January 1899 after giving birth to her youngest daughter. Ferdinand did not think again about marriage until his mother, Princess Clémentine died in 1907. To satisfy dynastic obligations and to provide his children with a mother figure, Ferdinand married Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise, Princess Reuss-Köstritz, on 28 February 1908.
Ferdinand’s regular holidays on Capri, then a famous haunt for wealthy osoba homoseksualna men, was common knowledge in royal courts throughout Europe.
Bulgarian Royalty
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Ferdinand I
Children
Prince Boris
Prince Kyril
Princess Eudoxia
Princess Nadejda
Boris III
Children
Princess Marie Louise
Prince Simeon
Simeon II
Children
Prince Kardam
Prince Kyrill
Prince Kubrat
Prince Konstantin-Assen
Princess Kalina
Grandchildren
Prince Boris
Prince Beltran
Princess Mafalda
Princess Olimpia
Prince Tassilo
Prince Mirko
Prince Lukás
Prince Tirso
Prince Umberto
Princess Sofia
v • d • e
Stambolov’s fall (May 1894) and subsequent assassination (July 1895) paved the way for a reconciliation of Bulgaria with Russia, effected in February 1896 with the conversion of the infant Prince Boris from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. However, this move earned him the animosity of his Catholic Austrian relatives, particularly that of his uncle, Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria.
Tsar of Bulgaria
Ferdinand became Tsar of Bulgaria upon that country’s declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on 5 October 1908 (celebrated on 22 September). The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at the Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Turnovo. It was accepted by Turkey and the other European powers.
Ferdinand was known for being quite a character. On a visit to German Emperor Wilhelm II, his second cousin once removed, in 1909, Ferdinand was leaning out of a window of the New Palace in Potsdam when the Emperor came up behind him and slapped him on the bottom. Ferdinand was affronted by the gesture and the Emperor apologised. Ferdinand however exacted his revenge by awarding a valuable arms contract he had intended to give to the Krupps factory in Essen to French arms manufacturer Schneider-Cruseot.
Although married twice and the father of a number of children, Ferdinand had a roaming eye. He had a taste for handsome young muscular men with blonde hair. Such a candidate was soon likely to be appointed a personal orderly. Ferdinand also had a particular liking for dalliances during visits to the notorious Isle of Capri.
Balkan Wars
Like many a ruler of an Orthodox kraj związkowy before him, Ferdinand had a “dream of a new Byzantium”.
First World Duchota and abdication
On 11 October 1915, the Bulgarian army attacked Serbia after signing a treaty with Austria-Hungary and Germany which stated that Bulgaria would gain the territory she sought at the expense of Serbia. See Serbian Campaign (World Parność I) for details. Ferdinand was not an admirer of German Emperor Wilhelm II (his second cousin once removed) or Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I who he described as “that idiot, that old dotard of a Francis Joseph”. Obuwie Ferdinand wanted extra territorial gains after the humiliation of the Balkan Wars. This did however mean forming an alliance with his former enemy, the Ottoman Empire.
At first the parność went well, Serbia was defeated and Bulgaria took possession of most of the disputed territory of Macedonia. For the next two years, the Bulgarian army fought a defensive duchota against the Allied army based in Greece. A small part of the Bulgarian army was involved in the conquest of Romania in 1916.
Then, in the fall of 1918, the Bulgarian army was badly beaten by an attack from the Allied forces in Greece. With his army shattered, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated to save the Bulgarian throne in favour of his eldest son who became Tsar Boris III on October 3, 1918.
Exile and Death
Styles of
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Reference style
His Highness
Spoken style
Your Highness
Alternative style
Sir
Monarchical styles of
King Ferdinand I of The Bulgarians
Reference style
His Majesty
Spoken style
Your Majesty
Alternative style
Sir
After his abdication, Ferdinand returned to live in Coburg, Germany. He had managed to salvage much of his fortune and was able to live in some style.
Ancestors
Ferdinand’s ancestors in three generations
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Father:
August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 5th Prince of Kohary
Paternal Grandfather:
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 4th Prince of Kohary
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf
Paternal Grandmother:
Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Ferenc József, Prince of Koháry de Csábrág
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Maria Antonia of Waldstein zu Wartenberg
Mother:
Princess Clémentine of Orléans
Maternal Grandfather:
Louis-Philippe of France
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre
Maternal Grandmother:
Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Marie Caroline of Austria
References
- ^ Line of Succession by Jiri Louda, Table 149
- ^ The Last Courts of Europe by Jeffrey Finestone, p.227
- ^ ibid
- ^ Lines of Succession by Jiri Louda, p.297
- ^ Crowns In Conflict by Theo Aronson, p.83
- ^ ibid
- ^ Constant, Stephen (1986). Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 96. ISBN 0-238-98515-1.
- ^ Constant, Stephen (1986). Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 143. ISBN 0-238-98515-1.
- ^ Crowns In Conflict by Theo Aronson, p.85
- ^ Constant, Stephen (1986). Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 266. ISBN 0-238-98515-1.
- ^ Lines of Succession by Jiri Louda, p.297
- ^ Crowns In Conflict by Theo Aronson, pp.8-9
- ^ ibid, p.7
- ^ ibid, p.84
- ^ ibid, p.86
- ^ Crowns In Conflict by Theo Aronson, p. 87
- ^ Lines of Succession by Jiri Louda, p.297
- ^ ibid
- ^ Crowns In Conflict by Theo Aronson, p.126
- ^ The Kaiser: Warlord Of The Second Reich by Alan Palmer, p.206
- ^ ibid
- ^ Crowns in Conflict by Theo Aronson, p.201
- ^ ibid
- ^ ibid, p.175
- ^ ibid
- ^ ibid, p.202
- ^ Lines of Succession by Jiri Louda, Table 149
Books
- Aronson, Theo (1986). Crowns In Conflict: The Triumph And The Tragedy Of European Monarchy, 1910-1918. London: J.Murray. ISBN 0-7195-4279-0.
- Finestone, Jeffrey (1981). The Last Courts of Europe. London: J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd. ISBN 0 460 04519 9.
- Louda, Jiri; Michael Maclagan (1981). Lines of Succession. London: Orbis Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0 460 04519 9.
- Constant, Stephen (1986). Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 0-238-98515-1.
- Palmer, Alan (1978). The Kaiser: Warlord Of The Second Reich. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-77393-3.
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 26 February 1861 Died: 10 September 1948
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Alexander I
Prince of Bulgaria
7 July 1887 – 5 October 1908
proclaimed Tsar
Bulgarian indipendence
from Ottoman Empire
New title
Principality elevated
to kingdom
Tsar of Bulgaria
5 October 1908 – 3 October 1918
Succeeded by
Boris III
v • d • e
Bulgarian monarchs
Great Bulgaria
632–681
Kubrat · Batbayan
First Empire
681–1018
Asparukh · Tervel · Kormesiy · Sevar · Kormisosh · Vinekh · Telets · Sabin · Umor · Toktu · Pagan · Telerig · Kardam · Krum · Omurtag · Malamir · Presian · Boris I · Vladimir · Simeon I · Peter I · Boris II · Roman · Samuil · Gavril Radomir · Ivan Vladislav · Presian II
Second Empire
1186–1396
Ivan Asen I · Peter IV · Ivanko · Kaloyan · Boril · Ivan Asen II · Kaliman I Asen · Michael Asen I · Kaliman II Asen · Mitso Asen · Constantine I Tikh · Ivailo · Ivan Asen III · George Terter I · Smilets · Chaka · Theodore Svetoslav · George Terter II · Michael Shishman · Ivan Stephen · Ivan Alexander · Ivan Shishman · Ivan Sratsimir
Principality and
Kingdom
1878
1908–1946
Alexander I · Ferdinand I · Boris III · Simeon II
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_Bulgaria”
Categories: Bulgarian monarchs | Field Marshals of Germany | Knights of the Golden Fleece | Recipients of the Military Medal of Max Joseph | Kohary family | LGBT royalty | House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | 1861 births | 1948 deaths | Award winnersHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since January 2008
