Was Gregor Mendel imprisoned in 1849 by the order of the young Emperor François-Joseph?

Abstract

The appreciation of Gregor Mendel's discovery in 1865 of what we now know as "genes," occurred long after his death in 1884. The difficulties during his life that may have contributed to this have been much discussed. I here propose that Mendel was imprisoned by order of the young Austrian Emperor Franz- Joseph after a public reading of a petition seeking that monks be given the same civic rights as normal citizens. Including Mendel, this was signed by six monks of the Saint Thomas monastery of Brünn and was formally presented to the Kremsier Austrian Constitutional Parliament in January 1849. The impact of its adverse reception long influenced Mendel's life.