Ferdinand Suffered Seizures During Sex

Austrian emperor Ferdinand I, the son of Francis II, the last Holy Roman emperor, became known as “the Benevolent” because of his passive but well-intentioned nature. Ferdinand suffered from severe epilepsy and reportedly experienced as many as 20 seizures per day, leaving a regency council to manage much of the government after he inherited the throne in 1835. When he attempted to consummate his marriage to Maria Anna of Savoy, he reportedly suffered five seizures, and the couple remained childless. Following the revolutionary upheavals of 1848, Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph and lived in retirement until 1875.

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