Maximilian Franz visits with his sister Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. Painting by Josef Hauzinger

Maximilian Franz (1756-1801) was the 16th and the last child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. His siblings included two Holy Roman Emperors (Joseph II and Leopold II), as well as Queen Marie Antoinette of France and Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 422 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (546 × 775 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 422 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (546 × 775 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The worlds most famous coin, a silver thaler of Maria Theresa, dated 1780. ... Francis I Silver coin of Francis I, dated 1754. ... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... Joseph II (full name: Joseph Benedikt August Johannes Anton Michel Adam; March 13, 1741 – February 20, 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. ... Leopold II (born Peter Leopold Joseph) (May 5, 1747 – March 1, 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792 and Grand Duke of Tuscany. ... Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ...

In 1780 he succeeded his uncle Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine as Hochmeister (Grand Master) of the Teutonic Knights. Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (December 12, 1712 – July 4, 1780) was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine. ... The Hochmeister (German: ) was the holder of the supreme office, equivalent to a Superior general in a non-military religious order, of the Teutonic Order. ... For Sienkiewicz novel, see The Teutonic Knights. ...

In 1784 he became Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and remained in that office until his death, meaning that he participated as Elector in the election of his brother Leopold II in 1790. The Archbishopric of Cologne was one of the major ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

He was alleged to be a Grand Master of the Priory of Sion (q.v.). Prieuré de Sion, usually rendered in English translation as Priory of Sion or even Priory of Zion, is an elusive protagonist in many works of both non-fiction and fiction. ...

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