Augustus III of Poland

Augustus III of Poland.

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; b. Dresden, 17 October 1696 - d. Dresden, 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).

Biography

Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, by his wife, Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. 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

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).

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

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.

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 Czartoryski Familia — supported by Russian troops — on September 7, 1764.

Marriage and children

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

1. Frederick Augustus (b. Dresden, 18 November 1720 - d. Dresden, 22 January 1721).
2. Joseph Augustus (b. Pillnitz, 24 October 1721 - d. Dresden, 14 March 1728).
3. Frederick Christian (b. Dresden, 5 September 1722 - d. Dresden, 17 December 1763), succesor of his father as Elector of Saxony.
4. Stillborn son (Dresden, 23 June 1723).
5. Maria Amalia Christina (b. Dresden, 24 November 1724 - d. Buen Retiro, 27 September 1760); married on 19 June 1738 to Charles VII of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, later King Charles III of Spain.
6. Maria Margaretha Franziska (b. Dresden, 13 September 1727 - d. Dresden, 1 February 1734).
7. Maria Anna Sophie (b. Dresden, 29 August 1728 - d. Munich, 17 February 1797); married on 9 August 1747 to Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria.
8. Franz Xavier (b. Dresden, 25 August 1730 - d. Dresden, 21 June 1806), Regent of Saxony (1763-1768).
9. Maria Josepha Karolina (b. Dresden, 4 November 1731 - d. Versailles, 13 March 1767); married on 9 February 1747 to the Dauphin Louis, son of King Louis XV of France (she was the mother of King Louis XVI of France).
10. Karl Christian (b. Dresden, 13 July 1733 - d. Dresden, 16 June 1796), Duke of Courland and Semigalia (1758-1763).
11. Maria Christina Anna (b. Warsaw, 12 February 1735 - d. Brumath, 19 November 1782), Princess-Abbess of Remiremont.
12. Maria Elisabeth Apollonia (b. Warsaw, 9 February 1736 - d. Dresden, 24 December 1818).
13. Albert Kasimir Augustus (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 (b. Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf, 28 September 1739 - d. Marktoberdorf, Allgäu, 27 July 1812), Archbishop-Elector of Trier.
15. Maria Kunigunde Dorothea (b. Warsaw, 10 November 1740 - d. Dresden, 8 April 1826), Princess-Abbess of Thorn and Essen.

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.

Construction work at castles

• Schloss Hubertusburg
• Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden
• Sächsisches Schloss, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)
• Brühlsches Schloss, Warsaw (destroyed 1944)

See also

• History of Poland (1569-1795)