He was born at Alcala de Henares on the 10th of March 1503, his father being Philip the Handsome, son of the emperor Maximilian L, and his mother Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Castile and Aragon. Ferdinand I was regarded with especial favour by his maternal grandfather who wished to form a Spanish-Italian kingdom for his namesake.
He was educated in Spain.
In 1521 he got from Carl five Austrian duchies (Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Krain) as a share in the inheritance after his grandfather, Maximilian I. The following year, under the Brussels Treaty, Charles V handed over to his brother more Tyrol, Swabian and Alsatian lands Habsburg home and ceded to Charles in 1520 by the Swabian Union of Württemberg, but demanded that this deal be kept secret for six years. In the summer of 1526 he took part in the work of the First Speyer Reichstag. In 1526, King Ludovic / Lajos II was killed in the Mohacs battle, after which Ferdinand claimed his rights to the crown of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moravia and Silesia, based on the fact that Louis had no children and his successor was Anna Jagellonskaya. But the Hungarians and Czechs did not recognize the heredity of royal dignity in these countries. In October 1526, the Bohemian Sejm elected Ferdinand as a king, at the same time they placed him some conditions, the ranks of Moravia, Silesia and Luzatia recognized Anna and her husband as their sovereigns by right of inheritance. In February 1527, the coronation of Ferdinand took place in Prague. The state of affairs in Hungary was much more complicated. As the king the Hungarians chose the governor and the largest tycoon of Transylvania, Janos Zapoliai, and crowned him in November of that year. Another part of the Hungarians chose Ferdinand in Presburg, which led to a long struggle for Hungary, which was further aggravated by the intervention of the Turks. The combination of the Czech Republic, Moravia, Silesia and Hungary with the hereditary Habsburg lands created an extensive Habsburg monarchy, which for Western Europe was a cover for the Turks. The consequence of the acquisition of the Slavic and Hungarian lands was the movement to the east of the center of gravity of the interests of Ferdinand and his successors, which contributed to the weakening of the imperial power in Germany. In 1547 was severely suppressed the estate uprising in Prague.
In 1556, after the abdication of his brother Charles V, Ferdinand became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (approved in this title by the Electors College in 1558). Though lacking resources, he managed to defend his land against the Ottomans with limited support from his brother, and even secured a part of Hungary that would later provide the basis for the conquest of the whole kingdom by the Habsburgs. In his own possessions, he built a tax system that, though imperfect, would continue to be used by his successors. His handling of the Protestant reformation proved more flexible and more effective than that of his brother and he played a key part in the settlement of 1555, which started an era of peace in Germany.
He pursued a policy aimed at strengthening the peace in the imperial world, reaching a compromise between Catholics and Protestants (in many ways, the Trident Cathedral was renewed by his efforts).
In May 1521 he was married at Linz to Anna (d. 1547), a daughter of Ladislaus, king of Hungary and Bohemia. They had 15 children.
July 22, 1478 - 25 September 1506
6 November 1479 - 12 April 1555
13 February 1457 - 27 March 1482
April 22, 1451 - November 26, 1504
March 22, 1459 - 12 January 1519
10 March 1452 - January 23, 1516
23 July 1503 - 27 January 1547
1533-1572
1526-1545
1531-1581
1543-1574
1536-1567
1539-1572
1534-1594
1532-1590
1547-1578
1541-1543
1528-1590
1527-1576
1538-1539
1540-1590
1529-1595
