Augustus III of Poland

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August III the Saxon
Reign 1734
5 October 1763
Elected 1734 at Wola, Warsaw, Poland
Coronation 17 January 1734
Wawel Cathedral, Cracow
Royal House Wettin
Parents August II the Strong,
Christiane v. Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Consorts Maria Josepha of Austria
Children Frederick Christian.
Date of Birth 7 October 1696
Place of Birth Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Date of Death 5 October 1763
Place of Death Dresden, Saxony, Germany
Place of Burial Dresden, family vault of Hofkirche

Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (Augustus III the Saxon or the Corpulent) (German: August III. von Polen; Polish: August III Sas, August III Gruby) (7 October 1696 - 5 October 1763) was as Frederick Augustus II (German: Kurfürst Friedrich August II.) the Elector of Saxony 1733-1763, and also King of Poland 1734-1763.


Contents

[edit] Biography

August III was born in Dresden in 1696, son of August II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was groomed to succeed his father as King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thus in 1721 converted to Catholicism.

August III the Saxon
August III the Saxon

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, August III was uninterested in the affairs of his Polish-Lithuanian dominion, focussing 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 Czartoryski and the Potocki paralysed the Sejm (Liberum Veto), fostering internal political anarchy and further weakening the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. August delegated most of his powers and responsibilities to Heinrich, Count von Brühl, who became quasi-dictator of Poland.

The thirty years of August III's reign saw the Seven Years' War (1754 and 1756–1763), and neighboring Prussia, Austria, and Russia refined their plans to partition the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth among them.

[edit] Marriage and children

On August 20, 1719, August married Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (1699-1757), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Their eldest surviving son, Frederick Christian, eventually succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony.

The children of August and Marie Josepha were:

  1. Friedrich August (1720-1721);
  2. Joseph (1721-1728);
  3. Frederick Christian (1722-1763), Elector of Saxony;
  4. Maria Amalia Christina (1724-1760), who married Charles III of Spain;
  5. Maria Margaretha (1727-1734);
  6. Maria Anna Sophia (1728-1797), who married Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria;
  7. Franz Xaver (1730-1806), Regent of Saxony, 1763 – 1768;
  8. Marie-Josèphe (1731-1767), who married Louis-Ferdinand, Dauphin of France (1729-1765), son of King Louis XV of France (1710-1774), and became the mother of Louis XVI of France;
  9. Carl Christian (1733-1796), Count of Saxony and duke of Courland;
  10. Maria Christina Anna (1735-1782), Reigning Abbess of Remiremont;
  11. Maria Elisabeth Apollonia (1736-1818);
  12. Albert Kasimir August (1738-1822);
  13. Clemens Wenceslaus (1739-1812), Elector and Archbishop of Trier; and
  14. Maria Kunigunde Dorothea (1740-1826), Reigning Abbess of Thorn and Essen.

[edit] Titles

[edit] Construction work at castles

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  • Schloss Hubertusburg
  • Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden
  • Sächsisches Schloss, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)
  • Brühlsches Schloss, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)

[edit] See also


Preceded by
August II the Strong
Elector of Saxony
1733-1763
Succeeded by
Frederick Christian
Preceded by
Stanisław Leszczyński
King of Poland
1733-1763
Succeeded by
Stanisław August Poniatowski