Editing Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

==Early life==
Francis was born in [[Lunéville]], [[Duchy of Lorraine|Lorraine]] (now in France), the fourth and oldest surviving son of [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine]], and his wife Princess [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]]. He was connected with the [[Habsburg]]s through his grandmother [[Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland|Eleonore]], daughter of Emperor [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He was very close to his brother [[Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine|Charles]] and sister [[Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine|Anne Charlotte]].

[[File:Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor at the age of 15.jpeg|thumb|upright|Francis at the age of 15 in his hunting attire|left]]

Emperor [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]] favoured the family, who, besides being his cousins, had served the house of [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]] with distinction. He had designed to marry his daughter [[Maria Theresa]] to Francis' older brother [[Léopold Clément, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine|Leopold Clement]]. On Leopold Clement's death, Charles adopted the younger brother as his future son-in-law. Francis was brought up in [[Vienna]] with Maria Theresa with the understanding that they were to be married, and a real affection arose between them.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

At the age of 15, when he was brought to Vienna, he was established in the [[Silesia]]n [[Duchy of Teschen]], which had been [[German mediatisation|mediatised]] and granted to his father by the Emperor in 1722. Francis succeeded his father as [[Duke of Lorraine]] in 1729.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 1731 he was initiated into freemasonry ([[Premier Grand Lodge of England|Grand Lodge of England]]) by [[John Theophilus Desaguliers]] at a specially convened lodge in [[The Hague]] at the house of the British Ambassador, [[Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield]].<ref>Audrey Carpenter, ''John Theophilus Desaguliers: A Natural Philosopher, Engineer and Freemason in Newtonian England'', (London : Continuum, 2011), {{ISBN|978-1-4411-2778-5}}, p. 47</ref> During a subsequent visit to England, Francis was made a Master Mason at another specially convened lodge at [[Houghton Hall]], the [[Norfolk]] estate of British Prime Minister [[Robert Walpole]].<ref>Malcolm Davies, ''The masonic muse : songs, music, and musicians associated with Dutch freemasonry, 1730–1806''. (Utrecht : Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 1995), {{ISBN|90-6375-199-0}}, pp. 22–23</ref>

Maria Theresa arranged for Francis to become "[[Lord Lieutenant]]" (locumtenens) of [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526-1867)|Hungary]] in 1732. He was not excited about this position, but Maria Theresa wanted him closer to her. In June 1732 he agreed to go to the Hungarian capital, Pressburg (today's [[Bratislava]]).

When the [[War of the Polish Succession]] broke out in 1733, [[Kingdom of France|France]] used it as an opportunity to seize Lorraine, since France's chief minister, [[Cardinal Fleury]], was concerned that, as a Habsburg possession, it would bring Austrian power too close to France.

A preliminary peace was concluded in October 1735 and ratified in the [[Treaty of Vienna (1738)|Treaty of Vienna]] in November 1738. Under its terms, [[Stanisław I]], the father-in-law of King [[Louis XV]] and the losing claimant to the Polish throne, received Lorraine, while Francis, in compensation for his loss, was made heir to the [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], which he would inherit in 1737.

In March 1736, the Emperor persuaded Francis, his future son-in-law, to secretly exchange Lorraine for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. France had demanded that Maria Theresa's fiancé surrender his ancestral Duchy of Lorraine to accommodate the deposed King of Poland. The Emperor considered other possibilities (such as marrying her to the future [[Charles III of Spain]]) before announcing the engagement of the couple. If something were to go wrong, Francis would become governor of the [[Austrian Netherlands]].

[[Elisabeth of Parma]] had also wanted the Grand Duchy of Tuscany for her son [[Charles III of Spain]]; [[Gian Gastone de' Medici]] was childless and was related to Elisabeth via her great-grandmother [[Margherita de' Medici]]. As a result, Elisabeth's sons could claim by right of being a descendant of Margherita.

Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace, the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of Gian Gastone in 1737, to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect.

On 31 January 1736, Francis agreed to marry Maria Theresa. He hesitated three times (and laid down the feather before signing). Especially his mother [[Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans]] and his brother [[Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine]] were against the loss of Lorraine. On 1 February, Maria Theresa sent Francis a letter: she would withdraw from her future reign, when a male successor for her father appeared.