Archduke Alexander died tragically on 12 July 1795. He was born in Florence as the fourth son of Leopold and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, then Duke and Duchess of Tuscany. From an early age, he excelled in the sciences, particularly chemistry, although he was expected to pursue the more traditional path of a military career. When Leopold ascended the imperial throne, he appointed 18-year-old Alexander as Palatine (or vice-regent) of Hungary — a position he continued to hold during the early years of his elder brother Francis II’s reign.
It is difficult to say much with certainty about the young Archduke’s statesmanship or whether he leaned more towards loyalty or dynastic conservatism. During another plot against Habsburg supremacy in Hungary, Alexander was offered both the Hungarian and Polish crowns. He refused both proposals and punished the conspirators rather harshly.
On the last day of his short life, Alexander was preparing a firework display — one of his favourite amusements — to greet and surprise his sister-in-law, Empress Maria Theresa of Naples, at Laxenburg Palace. With the help of a few servants, he personally set up the pyrotechnics. At the moment of lighting the display, a sudden gust of wind redirected a rocket toward the gunpowder barrels, causing a fatal explosion. Alexander (and the servants) were killed instantly. He was 22 years old.
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