Augustus III of Poland

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Augustus III Frederick Augustus II
King of Poland Elector of Saxony
King of Poland
Reign	1734 – 5 October 1763
Predecessor	Stanisław Leszczyński
Successor	Stanisław August Poniatowski
Elector of Saxony
Predecessor	Frederick Augustus I
Successor	Frederick Christian
Consort	Maria Josepha of Austria
Issue
Prince Frederick Augustus Prince Joseph Augustus Frederick Christian Stillborn daughter Queen Maria Amalia of Spain Princess Maria Magaretha Electress Maria Anna Sophia of Bavaria Prince Franz Xavier Maria Josepha, Dauphine of France Carl, Duke of Courland Princess Maria Christina, Princess-Abbess of Remiremont Albert, Duke of Teschen Clemens Wenceslaus, Archbishop of Trier Princess Maria Kunigunde, Princess-Abbess of Thorn and Essen
Detail Titles and styles
HM King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia (i.e. Galicia), Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia, Chernihiv, and also hereditary Duke of Saxony, prince and Elector, etc.
Royal house	Wettin
Father	Augustus II the Strong
Mother	Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Born	17 October 1696 Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Died	5 October 1763 Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Burial	Dresden, family vault at Katholische Hofkirche

Augustus III, known as the Saxon or the Corpulent German: August III. von Polen; Polish: August III. Sas, August III. Gruby; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II (Dresden, 17 October 1696 – 5 October 1763 in Dresden) was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II (German: Kurfürst Friedrich August II.), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Marriage and children 3 Royal titles 4 Ancestry 5 Construction work at castles 6 See also

[edit] Biography

Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector of Saxony and monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, by his wife, Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. He was groomed to succeed his father as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and thus in 1721, converted to Catholicism.

After his father's death, he inherited Saxony and was elected King of Poland, with the support of Russian and Austrian military forces in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1738). As King, Augustus III was uninterested in the affairs of his Polish-Lithuanian dominion, focusing on interests like hunting, opera and collecting paintings (see Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister). During his 30-year reign, he spent less than a total of three years in Poland, where the struggle between the House of Czartoryski and the Potocki paralysed the Sejm (Liberum Veto), fostering internal political anarchy and further weakening the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Augustus III delegated most of his powers and responsibilities to Heinrich von Brühl, who became quasi-dictator of Poland.

The thirty years of Augustus III's reign saw the Seven Years' War (1754 and 1756–1763), and neighboring Prussia, Austria and Russia refining their plans to partition Poland, among them.

His eldest surviving son, Frederick Christian, eventually succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony, but not as King of Poland. It was Stanisław August Poniatowski, who was elected King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after a coup d'état by the House of Czartoryski, supported by Russian troops on September 7, 1764.

[edit] Marriage and children

In Dresden on 20 August 1719, Augustus married the Archduchess, Maria Josepha of Austria, daughter of Joseph I, the Holy Roman Emperor. They had fifteen children:

1. Frederick Augustus Franz Xavier (b. Dresden, 18 November 1720 - d. Dresden, 22 January 1721).
2. Joseph Augustus Wilhelm Frederick Franz Xavier Johann Nepomuk (b. Pillnitz, 24 October 1721 - d. Dresden, 14 March 1728).
3. Frederick Christian Leopold Johann Georg Franz Xaver (b. Dresden, 5 September 1722 - d. Dresden, 17 December 1763), succesor of his father as Elector of Saxony.
4. Stillborn daughter (Dresden, 23 June 1723).
5. Maria Amalia Christina Franziska Xaveria Flora Walburga (b. Dresden, 24 November 1724 - d. Buen Retiro, 27 September 1760); married on 19 June 1738 to Charles VII, King of Naples, later King Charles III of Spain.
6. Maria Margaretha Franziska Xaveria (b. Dresden, 13 September 1727 - d. Dresden, 1 February 1734).
7. Maria Anna Sophie Sabina Angela Franziska Xaveria (b. Dresden, 29 August 1728 - d. Munich, 17 February 1797); married on 9 August 1747 to Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria.
8. Franz Xavier Albert August Ludwig Benno (b. Dresden, 25 August 1730 - d. Dresden, 21 June 1806), Regent of Saxony (1763-1768).
9. Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria (b. Dresden, 4 November 1731 - d. Versailles, 13 March 1767); married on 9 February 1747 to Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), son of Louis XV of France (she was the mother of Louis XVI of France).
10. Karl Christian Joseph Ignaz Eugen Franz Xaver (b. Dresden, 13 July 1733 - d. Dresden, 16 June 1796), Duke of Courland and Zemgale (1758-1763).
11. Maria Christina Anna Teresia Salomea Eulalia Franziska Xaveria (b. Warsaw, 12 February 1735 - d. Brumath, 19 November 1782), Princess-Abbess of Remiremont. [1]
12. Maria Elisabeth Apollonia Casimira Francisca Xaveria (b. Warsaw, 9 February 1736 - d. Dresden, 24 December 1818). [2]
13. Albert Kasimir August Ignaz Pius Franz Xavier (b. Moritzburg, near Dresden, 11 July 1738 - d. Vienna, 10 February 1822), Duke of Teschen and Governor of the Austrian Netherlands (1781-1793).
14. Clemens Wenceslaus August Hubertus Franz Xavier (b. Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf, 28 September 1739 - d. Marktoberdorf, Allgäu, 27 July 1812), Archbishop of Trier.
15. Maria Kunigunde Dorothea Hedwig Franziska Xaveria Florentina (b. Warsaw, 10 November 1740 - d. Dresden, 8 April 1826), Princess-Abbess of Thorn and Essen.

[edit] Royal titles

• Royal titles in Latin: Augustus III, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russie, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Kijoviae, Volhyniae, Podoliae, Podlachiae, Livoniae, Smolensciae, Severiae, Czerniechoviae, nec non haereditarius dux Saxoniae princeps et elector etc.

• English translation: August III, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia (i.e. Galicia), Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia, Chernihiv, and also hereditary Duke of Saxony, prince and Elector, etc.

[edit] Ancestry

v • d • e Ancestors of Augustus III of Poland

16. John George I, Elector of Saxony               8. John George II, Elector of Saxony                       17. Magdalene Sybille of Prussia               4. John George III, Elector of Saxony                             9. Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       2. Augustus II the Strong                                   20. Christian IV of Denmark               10. Frederick III of Denmark                       21. Anne Catherine of Brandenburg               5. Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark                             22. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               11. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       23. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt               1. Augustus III of Poland                                         24. Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth               12. Erdmann August of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       25. Marie of Prussia               6. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                             26. Joachim Ernst of Brandenburg-Ansbach               13. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach                       3. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                                   28. Johann Frederick, Duke of Württemberg               14. Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg                       29. Barbara Sophia of Brandenburg               7. Sophia Louisa of Württemberg                             15. Anna Katharina of Salm-Kyrburg

[edit] Construction work at castles

• Hubertusburg
• Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden
• Saxon Palace, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)
• Brühl Palace, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)

[edit] See also

• History of Poland (1569–1795)
• Mass in B Minor

Augustus III of Poland House of Wettin Born: 17 October 1696 Died: 5 October 1763
Regnal titles
Preceded by Stanisław Leszczyński	King of Poland 1733-1763	Succeeded by Stanisław August Poniatowski
Preceded by Frederick Augustus I	Elector of Saxony as Frederick Augustus II 1733-1763	Succeeded by Frederick Christian

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: August III the Saxon

v • d • e Ancestors of Augustus III of Poland

16. John George I, Elector of Saxony               8. John George II, Elector of Saxony                       17. Magdalene Sybille of Prussia               4. John George III, Elector of Saxony                             18. Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth               9. Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       19. Marie of Prussia               2. Augustus II of Poland                                   20. Christian IV of Denmark               10. Frederick III of Denmark                       21. Anne Catherine of Brandenburg               5. Anna Sophie of Denmark                             22. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               11. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       23. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt               1. Augustus III of Poland                                         24. Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (= 18)               12. Erdmann August of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       25. Marie of Prussia (= 19)               6. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                             26. Joachim Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach               13. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach                       27. Sophie of Solms-Laubach               3. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth