Ferdinand III., Grand-duke of Tuscany and Archduke of Austria, born at Florence; succeeded to the government of Tuscany in 1790; introduced many wise measures of reform, which brought peace and prosperity to his State; reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in 1793, but two years later entered into friendly relations with France, and in 1797, in order to save his States being merged in the Cisalpine Republic, undertook to make payment of an annual subsidy; later he formed an alliance with Austria, and was by Napoleon driven from his possessions, which were, however, restored to him in 1814 by the Peace of Paris (1769‒1824).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Ferdinand II. * Ferdinand VII. of Spain