Austrian Empire influence in the Austrian Empire. Francis' heir was his son Ferdinand I, but he suffered from an intellectual disability. Ferdinand's accession preserved the Habsburg dynastic succession, but he was not capable of ruling. The leadership of the Austrian Empire was transferred to a state council composed of Metternich, Francis II's brother Archduke Louis, and Count Franz Anton Kolowrat, who later became the first Minister-President of the Austrian Empire. The liberal Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire forced Metternich's resignation. Metternich is remembered for his success in maintaining the status quo and the Habsburg influence in international affairs. No Habsburg
Italy and the colonization of the Americas Thornton considered as a possible site of a Tuscan or Italian colony now lies in modern French Guiana, near Cayenne, which would be colonised by France in 1630. In the first years of the 17th century Ferdinando I of Tuscany evaluated the possibility of a colony in Brasil and gave captain Thornton a caravelle and a tartane for an expedition in 1608. Thornton sailed for one year, reaching Guyana and Brasil, exploring the Amazon and Orinoco river but in February of that year the Grand Duke died and in Florence nobody after him was still thinking about establishing an overseas