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Augustus II the Strong

Augustus II the Strong[a] (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin.

Augustus II
Portrait of Augustus with the star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle, by Louis de Silvestre
Elector of Saxony
Reign27 April 1694 – 1 February 1733
PredecessorJohn George IV
SuccessorFrederick Augustus II
King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania
Reign15 September 1697 –
13 October 1706
Coronation 15 September 1697
Wawel Cathedral
PredecessorJohn III
SuccessorStanisław I
Reign9 October 1709 –
1 February 1733
SuccessorStanisław I
Born(1670-05-12)12 May 1670
Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Died1 February 1733(1733-02-01) (aged 62)
Warsaw, Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1693; died 1727)
Issue
Detail
HouseWettin
FatherJohn George III, Elector of Saxony
MotherPrincess Anna Sophie of Denmark
Religion
Signature

Augustus' great physical strength earned him the nicknames "the Strong", "the Saxon Hercules" and "Iron-Hand". He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing by holding the end of his sling with just one finger while two of the strongest men in his court held the other end.[1] He is also notable for fathering a very large number of children.

In order to be elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Augustus converted to Roman Catholicism. As a Catholic, he received the Order of the Golden Fleece from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest distinction. As elector of Saxony, he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He transformed the Saxon capital of Dresden into a major cultural centre, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces in Dresden and Warsaw. In 1711 he served as the Imperial vicar of the Holy Roman Empire.

His reigns brought Poland some troubled times. He led the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Great Northern War, which allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence in Europe, especially within Poland. His main pursuit was bolstering royal power in the Commonwealth, characterized by broad decentralization in comparison with other European monarchies. In order to reduce the autonomy of the Commonwealth's subjects he was using foreign powers leading to destabilization of the country. Augustus ruled Poland with an interval; in 1704 the Swedes installed nobleman Stanisław Leszczyński as king, who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus' death in 1733 which sparked the War of the Polish Succession.

Augustus' body was buried in Poland's royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral. His only legitimate son, Augustus III of Poland, became king in 1733.

Early life edit

Augustus was born in Dresden on 12 May 1670, the younger son of John George III, Elector of Saxony and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark. As the second son, Augustus had no expectation of inheriting the electorate, since his older brother, John George IV, assumed the post after the death of their father on 12 September 1691. Augustus was well educated, and spent some years in travel and in fighting against France.[2]

Augustus married Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in Bayreuth on 20 January 1693. They had a son, Frederick Augustus II (1696–1763), who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland as Augustus III.[3]

While in Venice during the carnival season, his older brother, the Elector John George IV, contracted smallpox from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz. On 27 April 1694, Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became elector of Saxony, as Friedrich Augustus I.[4]

Conversion to Catholicism edit

To be eligible for election to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697, Augustus had to convert to Roman Catholicism. The Saxon electors had traditionally been called "champions of the Reformation". Saxony had been a stronghold of German Protestantism and Augustus' conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant Europe. Although the prince-elector guaranteed Saxony's religious status quo, Augustus' conversion alienated many of his Protestant subjects. As a result of the enormous expenditure of money used to bribe the Polish nobility and clergy, Augustus' contemporaries derisively referred to the Saxon elector's royal ambitions as his "Polish adventure".[4]

 
Augustus II by Marcello Bacciarelli

His church policy within the Holy Roman Empire followed orthodox Lutheranism and ran counter to his new-found religious and absolutist convictions. The Protestant princes of the empire and the two remaining Protestant electors (of Hanover and Prussia) were anxious to keep Saxony well-integrated in their camp. According to the Peace of Augsburg, Augustus theoretically had the right to re-introduce Roman Catholicism (see Cuius regio, eius religio), or at least grant full religious freedom to his fellow Catholics in Saxony, but this never happened. Saxony remained Lutheran and the few Roman Catholics residing in Saxony lacked any political or civil rights. In 1717, it became clear just how awkward the situation was: to realize his ambitious dynastic plans in Poland and Germany, it was necessary for Augustus' heirs to become Roman Catholic. After five years as a convert, his son—the future Augustus III—publicly avowed his Roman Catholicism. The Saxon Estates were outraged and revolted as it became clear that his conversion to Catholicism was not only a matter of form, but of substance as well.[4]

Since the Peace of Westphalia, the elector of Saxony had been the director of the Protestant body in the Reichstag. To placate the other Protestant states in the Empire, Augustus nominally delegated the directorship of the Protestant body to Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. However, when the Elector's son also converted to Catholicism, the electorate faced a hereditary Catholic succession instead of a return to a Protestant Elector upon Augustus's death. When the conversion became public in 1717, Brandenburg-Prussia and Hanover attempted to oust Saxony from the directorship and appoint themselves as joint directors, but they gave up the attempt in 1720. Saxony would retain the directorship of the Protestant body in the Reichstag until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, despite the fact that all remaining Electors of Saxony were Catholic.[5]

The wife of Augustus, the Electress Christiane Eberhardine, refused to follow her husband's example and remained a staunch Protestant. She did not attend her husband's coronation in Poland and led a rather quiet life outside Dresden, gaining some popularity for her stubbornness.[3]

King of Poland for the first time edit

 
Election of Augustus II for King of Poland in Wola near Warsaw in 1697

Following the death of Polish King John III Sobieski and having converted to Catholicism, Augustus won election as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697 with the backing of Russia and Austria, which financed him through the banker Issachar Berend Lehmann. At the time, some questioned the legality of Augustus' elevation, since another candidate, François Louis, Prince of Conti, had received more votes. Each candidate, Conti and Augustus, was proclaimed as king by a different ecclesiastical authority: (the Primate Michał Stefan Radziejowski proclaimed Conti and the bishop of Kujawy, Stanisław Dąmbski proclaimed Augustus, with Jacob Heinrich von Flemming swearing to the pacta conventa as Augustus's proxy). However, Augustus hurried to the Commonwealth with a Saxon army, while Conti stayed in France for two months.[6]

Although he had led the imperial troops against the Ottoman Empire in 1695 and 1696 without very much success,[7] Augustus continued the war of the Holy League against Turkey, and during a campaign against the Ottomans, his Polish army defeated a Tatar expedition in the Battle of Podhajce in 1698. Unfortunately on 22 September a conflict between Polish and Saxon troops was narrowly avoided, causing the campaign to end. Victory at Podhajce had the political impact of forcing the Ottoman Empire to return Podolia and Kamieniec Podolski in Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699.[8] An ambitious ruler, Augustus hoped to make the Polish throne hereditary within his family, and to use his resources as elector of Saxony to impose some order on the chaotic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was, however, soon distracted from his internal reform projects by the possibility of external conquest. He formed an alliance with Frederick IV of Denmark and Peter I of Russia to strip the young King Charles XII of Sweden (Augustus' cousin) of his possessions. Poland's reward for participation in the Great Northern War was to have been Swedish Livonia. Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at Narva in 1700, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus. However, this war ultimately proved as disastrous for Sweden as for Poland.

 
King Augustus II, by Louis de Silvestre

Charles defeated Augustus' army at Riga in July 1701, forcing the Polish-Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia, and followed this up with an invasion of Poland. He captured Warsaw on 14 May 1702, defeated the Polish-Saxon army again at the Battle of Kliszów (July 1702), and took Kraków. He defeated another of Augustus' armies under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Adam Heinrich von Steinau at the Battle of Pułtusk in spring 1703, and besieged and captured Toruń.

By this time, Augustus was certainly ready for peace, but Charles felt that he would be more secure if he could establish someone with whom he had more influence on the Polish throne. In 1704 the Swedes installed Stanisław Leszczyński and tied the commonwealth to Sweden, which compelled Augustus to initiate military operations in Poland alongside Russia (an alliance was concluded in Narva in summer 1704). The resulting civil war in Poland (1704-1706) and the Grodno campaign (1705-1706) did not go well for Augustus. Following the Battle of Fraustadt, on 1 September 1706, Charles invaded Saxony, forcing Augustus to yield the Polish throne to Leszczyński by the Treaty of Altranstädt (October 1706).

Meanwhile, Russia's Tsar Peter had reformed his army, and he dealt a crippling defeat to the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava (1709). This spelled the end of the Swedish Empire and the rise of the Russian Empire.

King of Poland for the second time edit

 
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1701

The weakened Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth soon came to be regarded as almost a protectorate of Russia. In 1709 Augustus II returned to the Polish throne under Russian auspices. Once again he attempted to establish an absolute monarchy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but was faced with opposition from the nobility (szlachta, see Tarnogród Confederation). He was handicapped by the mutual jealousy of the Saxons and the Poles, and a struggle broke out in Poland which was only ended when the king promised to limit the number of his army in that country to 18,000 men.[2] Peter the Great seized on the opportunity to pose as mediator, threatened the Commonwealth militarily, and in 1717 forced Augustus and the nobility to sign an accommodation favorable to Russian interests, at the Silent Sejm (Sejm Niemy).

For the remainder of his reign, in an uneasy relationship, Augustus was more or less dependent on Russia (and to a lesser extent, on Austria) to maintain his Polish throne. He gave up his dynastic ambitions and concentrated instead on attempts to strengthen the Commonwealth. Faced with both internal and foreign opposition, however, he achieved little.[3] In 1729 he established the Grand Musketeers Company in Dresden, one of the oldest Polish officers' schools, which in 1730 was relocated to Warsaw.[9]

 
Capsule with the heart of Augustus II the Strong in the Dresden Cathedral

Augustus died at Warsaw in 1733. Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house, his eldest son, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, succeeded him to the Polish throne as Augustus III of Poland although he had to be installed by the Imperial Russian Army during the War of the Polish Succession.

Legacy edit

Augustus II and the arts edit

 
Equestrian statue of Augustus II the Strong in Dresden

Augustus is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He had beautiful palaces built in Dresden, a city that became renowned for extraordinary cultural brilliance. He introduced the first public museums, such as the Green Vault in 1723, and started systematic collection of paintings that are now on display in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.

From 1687 to 1689, Augustus toured France and Italy. The extravagant court in Versailles—perfectly tailored to fit the needs of an absolute monarch—impressed him deeply. In accordance with the spirit of the baroque age, Augustus invested heavily in the representative splendor of Dresden Castle, his major residence, to advertise his wealth and power.

With strict building regulations, major urban development plans, and a certain feeling for art, the king began to transform Dresden into a renowned cultural center with one of Germany's finest art collections, though most of the city's famous sights and landmarks were completed during the reign of his son Augustus III. The most famous building started under Augustus the Strong was the Zwinger. Also known are Pillnitz Castle, his summer residence, Moritzburg Castle and Hubertusburg Castle, his hunting lodges. He greatly expanded the Saxon Palace in Warsaw with the adjacent Saxon Garden, which became the city's oldest public park and one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world. Following the devastation of the Great Northern War he also had the Royal Castle, Warsaw restored and enlarged. He also expanded the Wilanów Palace.

He granted composer Johann Adolph Hasse the title of the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Kapellmeister in 1731.[10]

A man of pleasure, the king sponsored lavish court balls, Venetian-style balli in maschera, and luxurious court gatherings, games, and garden festivities. His court acquired a reputation for extravagance throughout Europe. He held a famous animal-tossing contest in Dresden at which 647 foxes, 533 hares, 34 badgers and 21 wildcats were tossed and killed.[11] Augustus himself participated, reportedly demonstrating his strength by holding the end of his sling by just one finger, with two of the strongest men in his court on the other end.[1]

Gallery edit

Meissen porcelain edit

 
The Late Gothic Albrechtsburg castle in Meissen under Augustus II became the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Manufacture

Augustus II successfully sponsored efforts to discover the secret of manufacturing porcelain. In 1701 he rescued the young alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, who had fled from the court of King Frederick I of Prussia, who had expected that he produce gold for him as he had boasted he could.

Augustus imprisoned Böttger and tried to force him to reveal the secret of manufacturing gold. Böttger's transition from alchemist to potter was orchestrated as an attempt to avoid the impossible demands of the king. Being an alchemist by profession rather than a potter, gave Böttger an advantage. He realised that the current approaches, which involved mixing fine white substances like crushed egg shells into clay, would not work. Rather, his approach was to attempt to bake clay at higher temperatures than had ever before been attained in European kilns. That approach yielded the breakthrough that had eluded European potters for a century. By the king's decree, the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Manufactory was established in Meissen in 1709. The manufacture of fine porcelain continues at the Meissen porcelain factory.[12]

Order of the White Eagle edit

In November 1705 in Tykocin, Augustus founded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's first and preeminent order of chivalry. In 1723 he bought the Großsedlitz estate near Dresden, and after expanding the palace and garden complex, in 1727 he organized there the first ever festivities of the Order of the White Eagle.[13]

Other edit

 
Royal Monogram

Augustus II was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring (only one of them his legitimate child and heir). The most famous of the king's children born out of wedlock was Maurice de Saxe, a brilliant strategist who attained the highest military ranks in the Kingdom of France. In the War of the Polish Succession he remained loyal to his employer Louis XV, who was married to the daughter of Augustus's rival Stanisław I Leszczyński. Augustus' granddaughter, Maria Josepha of Saxony, later became Dauphine of France through her marriage to the Dauphin Louis, and the mother of three Kings of France (Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X).

Augustus was 1.76 meters (5 ft 9 in) tall, above average height for that time, but despite his extraordinary physical strength, he did not look big. In his final years he suffered from diabetes mellitus and became obese, at his death weighing some 110 kilograms (240 lb).[citation needed] Augustus II's body was interred in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków—all but his heart, which rests at the Dresden Cathedral.

Film edit

In 1936 Augustus was the subject of a Polish-German film Augustus the Strong directed by Paul Wegener. Augustus was portrayed by the actor Michael Bohnen.

Illegitimate issue edit

The Electress Christiane, who remained Protestant and refused to move to Poland with her husband, preferred to spend her time in the mansion in Pretzsch on the Elbe, where she died.[3]

Augustus, a voracious womanizer, never missed his wife, spending his time with a series of mistresses:[14][15]

Some contemporary sources, including Wilhelmine of Bayreuth, claimed that Augustus had as many as 365 or 382 children. The number is extremely difficult to verify. Perhaps the number refers not to the king's children but to the nights that he spent with his mistresses. Augustus officially recognised only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards (the mothers of these "chosen ones", with the possible exception of Fatima and Henriette Rénard, were all aristocratic ladies):

With Maria Aurora von Königsmarck edit

  1. Hermann Maurice (Goslar, 28 October 1696 – Château de Chambord, 30 November 1750), Count of Saxony.

With Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum edit

  1. Johann Georg (21 August 1704 – 25 February 1774), Chevalier de Saxe, later Governor of Dresden.

With Maria Aurora von Spiegel (originally Fatima) edit

  1. Frederick Augustus (Warsaw/Dresden [?], 19 June 1702 – Pillnitz, 16 March 1764), Count Rutowsky
  2. Maria Anna Katharina (1706–1746), Countess Rutowska; married firstly in January 1728 to Michał, Count Bieliński, divorced in early 1732; secondly, in February 1732, to Claude Marie Noyel, Comte du Bellegarde et d'Entremont.

With Anna Constantia von Brockdorff edit

  1. Augusta Anna Constantia (24 February 1708 – 3 February 1728), Countess of Cosel; married on 3 June 1725 to Heinrich Friedrich, Count of Friesen
  2. Fredericka Alexandrine (27 October 1709 – 1784), Countess of Cosel; married on 18 February 1730 to Jan Kanty, Count Moszyński
  3. Frederick Augustus (27 August 1712 – 15 October 1770), Count of Cosel; married on 1 June 1749 to Countess Friederike Christiane of Holtzendorff. They had four children. The two sons, Gustav Ernst and Segismund, died unmarried. One of the two daughters, Constantia Alexandrina, married Johann Heinrich, Lehnsgraf Knuth. The other, named Charlotte, first married Count Rudolf of Bünau and then married Charles de Riviere.

With Henriette Rénard edit

  1. Anna Karolina (26 November 1707 – Avignon, 27 September 1769), Countess Orzelska; married on 10 August 1730 to Karl Ludwig Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. They divorced in 1733.

Royal titles edit

Ancestry edit

Portraits by edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Polish: August II Mocny; German: August der Starke; Lithuanian: Augustas II; enumerated after Sigismund Augustus. In Saxony he was known as Frederick August I.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Sacheverell Sitwell. The Hunters and the Hunted, p. 60. Macmillan, 1947.
  2. ^ a b   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Augustus II.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 915–916.
  3. ^ a b c d Flathe, Heinrich Theodor (1878), "Friedrich August I., Kurfürst von Sachsen", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 7, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot: 781–784.
  4. ^ a b c Czok, Karl (2006), August der Starke und seine Zeit. Kurfürst von Sachsen und König von Polen (in German), Munich: Piper, ISBN 3-492-24636-2.
  5. ^ Kalipke, Andreas (2010). "The Corpus Evangelicorum". In Coy, J.P.; Marschke, B. Benjamin; Sabean D.W. (eds.). The Holy Roman Empire, Reconsidered. Berghahn. pp. 228–247.
  6. ^ Jasienica, Paweł (2007). Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów. Dzieje Agonii. Prószynski. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-83-7469-583-1.
  7. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  8. ^ Wojtasik, Janusz (1990). Podhajce 1698 (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Dom Wydawniczy Bellona. pp. 127–141. ISBN 83-11-07813-0.
  9. ^ Jacek Staszewski, Polacy w osiemnastowiecznym Dreźnie, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1986, p. 133 (in Polish)
  10. ^ . KomponistenQuartier. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  11. ^ Howard L. Blackmore. Hunting Weapons: From the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, p. xxiii. Courier Dover Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-486-40961-9
  12. ^ Walcha, Otto (1986), Meissner Porzellan. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (in German) (8th ed.), Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, ISBN 3-364-00012-3
  13. ^ "History". Barockgarten Grosssedlitz. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  14. ^ Delau, Reinhard (2005), August der Starke und seine Mätressen (in German), Dresden: Sächsische Zeitung, ISBN 3-938325-06-2.
  15. ^ Kühnel, Klaus (2005), August der Starke und das schwache Geschlecht. Die Liebschaften des Kurfürsten Friedrich August I. von Sachsen (in German), Wittenberg: Dreikastanienverlag, ISBN 3-933028-92-2.

External links edit

  •   Media related to August II the Strong at Wikimedia Commons
Augustus II of Poland (Frederick Augustus I of Saxony)
Born: 12 May 1670 Died: 1 February 1733
Regnal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
John III
King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania

1697–1706
Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania

1709–1733
Preceded by Elector of Saxony
1694–1733
Succeeded by

augustus, strong, 1670, february, 1733, elector, saxony, from, 1694, well, king, poland, grand, duke, lithuania, from, 1697, 1706, from, 1709, until, death, 1733, belonged, albertine, branch, house, wettin, augustus, iiportrait, augustus, with, star, polish, o. Augustus II the Strong a 12 May 1670 1 February 1733 was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733 He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin Augustus IIPortrait of Augustus with the star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle by Louis de SilvestreElector of SaxonyReign27 April 1694 1 February 1733PredecessorJohn George IVSuccessorFrederick Augustus IIKing of PolandGrand Duke of LithuaniaReign15 September 1697 13 October 1706Coronation15 September 1697Wawel CathedralPredecessorJohn IIISuccessorStanislaw IReign9 October 1709 1 February 1733SuccessorStanislaw IBorn 1670 05 12 12 May 1670Dresden Electorate of Saxony Holy Roman EmpireDied1 February 1733 1733 02 01 aged 62 Warsaw Poland Polish Lithuanian CommonwealthBurialDresden Cathedral Dresden heart Wawel Cathedral Krakow body SpouseChristiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg Bayreuth m 1693 died 1727 wbr IssueDetailAugustus III of Poland illegitimate Maurice de Saxe Johann Georg Chevalier de Saxe Frederick Augustus Rutowsky Maria Anna Katharina Rutowska Anna Karolina OrzelskaHouseWettinFatherJohn George III Elector of SaxonyMotherPrincess Anna Sophie of DenmarkReligionRoman Catholicism from 1697 Lutheran until 1697 SignatureAugustus great physical strength earned him the nicknames the Strong the Saxon Hercules and Iron Hand He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing by holding the end of his sling with just one finger while two of the strongest men in his court held the other end 1 He is also notable for fathering a very large number of children In order to be elected king of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth Augustus converted to Roman Catholicism As a Catholic he received the Order of the Golden Fleece from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle Poland s highest distinction As elector of Saxony he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture He transformed the Saxon capital of Dresden into a major cultural centre attracting artists from across Europe to his court Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces in Dresden and Warsaw In 1711 he served as the Imperial vicar of the Holy Roman Empire His reigns brought Poland some troubled times He led the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Great Northern War which allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence in Europe especially within Poland His main pursuit was bolstering royal power in the Commonwealth characterized by broad decentralization in comparison with other European monarchies In order to reduce the autonomy of the Commonwealth s subjects he was using foreign powers leading to destabilization of the country Augustus ruled Poland with an interval in 1704 the Swedes installed nobleman Stanislaw Leszczynski as king who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus death in 1733 which sparked the War of the Polish Succession Augustus body was buried in Poland s royal Wawel Cathedral in Krakow but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral His only legitimate son Augustus III of Poland became king in 1733 Contents 1 Early life 2 Conversion to Catholicism 3 King of Poland for the first time 4 King of Poland for the second time 5 Legacy 5 1 Augustus II and the arts 5 2 Gallery 5 3 Meissen porcelain 5 4 Order of the White Eagle 5 5 Other 6 Film 7 Illegitimate issue 7 1 With Maria Aurora von Konigsmarck 7 2 With Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum 7 3 With Maria Aurora von Spiegel originally Fatima 7 4 With Anna Constantia von Brockdorff 7 5 With Henriette Renard 8 Royal titles 9 Ancestry 10 Portraits by 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External linksEarly life editAugustus was born in Dresden on 12 May 1670 the younger son of John George III Elector of Saxony and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark As the second son Augustus had no expectation of inheriting the electorate since his older brother John George IV assumed the post after the death of their father on 12 September 1691 Augustus was well educated and spent some years in travel and in fighting against France 2 Augustus married Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg Bayreuth in Bayreuth on 20 January 1693 They had a son Frederick Augustus II 1696 1763 who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland as Augustus III 3 While in Venice during the carnival season his older brother the Elector John George IV contracted smallpox from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz On 27 April 1694 Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became elector of Saxony as Friedrich Augustus I 4 Conversion to Catholicism editTo be eligible for election to the throne of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697 Augustus had to convert to Roman Catholicism The Saxon electors had traditionally been called champions of the Reformation Saxony had been a stronghold of German Protestantism and Augustus conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant Europe Although the prince elector guaranteed Saxony s religious status quo Augustus conversion alienated many of his Protestant subjects As a result of the enormous expenditure of money used to bribe the Polish nobility and clergy Augustus contemporaries derisively referred to the Saxon elector s royal ambitions as his Polish adventure 4 nbsp Augustus II by Marcello BacciarelliHis church policy within the Holy Roman Empire followed orthodox Lutheranism and ran counter to his new found religious and absolutist convictions The Protestant princes of the empire and the two remaining Protestant electors of Hanover and Prussia were anxious to keep Saxony well integrated in their camp According to the Peace of Augsburg Augustus theoretically had the right to re introduce Roman Catholicism see Cuius regio eius religio or at least grant full religious freedom to his fellow Catholics in Saxony but this never happened Saxony remained Lutheran and the few Roman Catholics residing in Saxony lacked any political or civil rights In 1717 it became clear just how awkward the situation was to realize his ambitious dynastic plans in Poland and Germany it was necessary for Augustus heirs to become Roman Catholic After five years as a convert his son the future Augustus III publicly avowed his Roman Catholicism The Saxon Estates were outraged and revolted as it became clear that his conversion to Catholicism was not only a matter of form but of substance as well 4 Since the Peace of Westphalia the elector of Saxony had been the director of the Protestant body in the Reichstag To placate the other Protestant states in the Empire Augustus nominally delegated the directorship of the Protestant body to Johann Adolf II Duke of Saxe Weissenfels However when the Elector s son also converted to Catholicism the electorate faced a hereditary Catholic succession instead of a return to a Protestant Elector upon Augustus s death When the conversion became public in 1717 Brandenburg Prussia and Hanover attempted to oust Saxony from the directorship and appoint themselves as joint directors but they gave up the attempt in 1720 Saxony would retain the directorship of the Protestant body in the Reichstag until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 despite the fact that all remaining Electors of Saxony were Catholic 5 The wife of Augustus the Electress Christiane Eberhardine refused to follow her husband s example and remained a staunch Protestant She did not attend her husband s coronation in Poland and led a rather quiet life outside Dresden gaining some popularity for her stubbornness 3 King of Poland for the first time edit nbsp Election of Augustus II for King of Poland in Wola near Warsaw in 1697Following the death of Polish King John III Sobieski and having converted to Catholicism Augustus won election as King of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697 with the backing of Russia and Austria which financed him through the banker Issachar Berend Lehmann At the time some questioned the legality of Augustus elevation since another candidate Francois Louis Prince of Conti had received more votes Each candidate Conti and Augustus was proclaimed as king by a different ecclesiastical authority the Primate Michal Stefan Radziejowski proclaimed Conti and the bishop of Kujawy Stanislaw Dambski proclaimed Augustus with Jacob Heinrich von Flemming swearing to the pacta conventa as Augustus s proxy However Augustus hurried to the Commonwealth with a Saxon army while Conti stayed in France for two months 6 Although he had led the imperial troops against the Ottoman Empire in 1695 and 1696 without very much success 7 Augustus continued the war of the Holy League against Turkey and during a campaign against the Ottomans his Polish army defeated a Tatar expedition in the Battle of Podhajce in 1698 Unfortunately on 22 September a conflict between Polish and Saxon troops was narrowly avoided causing the campaign to end Victory at Podhajce had the political impact of forcing the Ottoman Empire to return Podolia and Kamieniec Podolski in Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 8 An ambitious ruler Augustus hoped to make the Polish throne hereditary within his family and to use his resources as elector of Saxony to impose some order on the chaotic Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth He was however soon distracted from his internal reform projects by the possibility of external conquest He formed an alliance with Frederick IV of Denmark and Peter I of Russia to strip the young King Charles XII of Sweden Augustus cousin of his possessions Poland s reward for participation in the Great Northern War was to have been Swedish Livonia Charles proved an able military commander however quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at Narva in 1700 thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus However this war ultimately proved as disastrous for Sweden as for Poland nbsp King Augustus II by Louis de SilvestreCharles defeated Augustus army at Riga in July 1701 forcing the Polish Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia and followed this up with an invasion of Poland He captured Warsaw on 14 May 1702 defeated the Polish Saxon army again at the Battle of Kliszow July 1702 and took Krakow He defeated another of Augustus armies under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Adam Heinrich von Steinau at the Battle of Pultusk in spring 1703 and besieged and captured Torun By this time Augustus was certainly ready for peace but Charles felt that he would be more secure if he could establish someone with whom he had more influence on the Polish throne In 1704 the Swedes installed Stanislaw Leszczynski and tied the commonwealth to Sweden which compelled Augustus to initiate military operations in Poland alongside Russia an alliance was concluded in Narva in summer 1704 The resulting civil war in Poland 1704 1706 and the Grodno campaign 1705 1706 did not go well for Augustus Following the Battle of Fraustadt on 1 September 1706 Charles invaded Saxony forcing Augustus to yield the Polish throne to Leszczynski by the Treaty of Altranstadt October 1706 Meanwhile Russia s Tsar Peter had reformed his army and he dealt a crippling defeat to the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava 1709 This spelled the end of the Swedish Empire and the rise of the Russian Empire King of Poland for the second time edit nbsp Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1701The weakened Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth soon came to be regarded as almost a protectorate of Russia In 1709 Augustus II returned to the Polish throne under Russian auspices Once again he attempted to establish an absolute monarchy in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth but was faced with opposition from the nobility szlachta see Tarnogrod Confederation He was handicapped by the mutual jealousy of the Saxons and the Poles and a struggle broke out in Poland which was only ended when the king promised to limit the number of his army in that country to 18 000 men 2 Peter the Great seized on the opportunity to pose as mediator threatened the Commonwealth militarily and in 1717 forced Augustus and the nobility to sign an accommodation favorable to Russian interests at the Silent Sejm Sejm Niemy For the remainder of his reign in an uneasy relationship Augustus was more or less dependent on Russia and to a lesser extent on Austria to maintain his Polish throne He gave up his dynastic ambitions and concentrated instead on attempts to strengthen the Commonwealth Faced with both internal and foreign opposition however he achieved little 3 In 1729 he established the Grand Musketeers Company in Dresden one of the oldest Polish officers schools which in 1730 was relocated to Warsaw 9 nbsp Capsule with the heart of Augustus II the Strong in the Dresden CathedralAugustus died at Warsaw in 1733 Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house his eldest son Frederick Augustus II of Saxony succeeded him to the Polish throne as Augustus III of Poland although he had to be installed by the Imperial Russian Army during the War of the Polish Succession Legacy editAugustus II and the arts edit nbsp Equestrian statue of Augustus II the Strong in DresdenAugustus is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture He had beautiful palaces built in Dresden a city that became renowned for extraordinary cultural brilliance He introduced the first public museums such as the Green Vault in 1723 and started systematic collection of paintings that are now on display in the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister From 1687 to 1689 Augustus toured France and Italy The extravagant court in Versailles perfectly tailored to fit the needs of an absolute monarch impressed him deeply In accordance with the spirit of the baroque age Augustus invested heavily in the representative splendor of Dresden Castle his major residence to advertise his wealth and power With strict building regulations major urban development plans and a certain feeling for art the king began to transform Dresden into a renowned cultural center with one of Germany s finest art collections though most of the city s famous sights and landmarks were completed during the reign of his son Augustus III The most famous building started under Augustus the Strong was the Zwinger Also known are Pillnitz Castle his summer residence Moritzburg Castle and Hubertusburg Castle his hunting lodges He greatly expanded the Saxon Palace in Warsaw with the adjacent Saxon Garden which became the city s oldest public park and one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world Following the devastation of the Great Northern War he also had the Royal Castle Warsaw restored and enlarged He also expanded the Wilanow Palace He granted composer Johann Adolph Hasse the title of the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Kapellmeister in 1731 10 A man of pleasure the king sponsored lavish court balls Venetian style balli in maschera and luxurious court gatherings games and garden festivities His court acquired a reputation for extravagance throughout Europe He held a famous animal tossing contest in Dresden at which 647 foxes 533 hares 34 badgers and 21 wildcats were tossed and killed 11 Augustus himself participated reportedly demonstrating his strength by holding the end of his sling by just one finger with two of the strongest men in his court on the other end 1 Gallery edit nbsp Dresden Castle nbsp Zwinger Dresden nbsp Moritzburg Castle nbsp Pillnitz Castle nbsp Hubertusburg CastleMeissen porcelain edit Main article Meissen porcelain nbsp The Late Gothic Albrechtsburg castle in Meissen under Augustus II became the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain ManufactureAugustus II successfully sponsored efforts to discover the secret of manufacturing porcelain In 1701 he rescued the young alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger who had fled from the court of King Frederick I of Prussia who had expected that he produce gold for him as he had boasted he could Augustus imprisoned Bottger and tried to force him to reveal the secret of manufacturing gold Bottger s transition from alchemist to potter was orchestrated as an attempt to avoid the impossible demands of the king Being an alchemist by profession rather than a potter gave Bottger an advantage He realised that the current approaches which involved mixing fine white substances like crushed egg shells into clay would not work Rather his approach was to attempt to bake clay at higher temperatures than had ever before been attained in European kilns That approach yielded the breakthrough that had eluded European potters for a century By the king s decree the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain Manufactory was established in Meissen in 1709 The manufacture of fine porcelain continues at the Meissen porcelain factory 12 Order of the White Eagle edit Main article Order of the White Eagle Poland In November 1705 in Tykocin Augustus founded the Order of the White Eagle Poland s first and preeminent order of chivalry In 1723 he bought the Grosssedlitz estate near Dresden and after expanding the palace and garden complex in 1727 he organized there the first ever festivities of the Order of the White Eagle 13 Other edit nbsp Royal MonogramAugustus II was called the Strong for his bear like physical strength and for his numerous offspring only one of them his legitimate child and heir The most famous of the king s children born out of wedlock was Maurice de Saxe a brilliant strategist who attained the highest military ranks in the Kingdom of France In the War of the Polish Succession he remained loyal to his employer Louis XV who was married to the daughter of Augustus s rival Stanislaw I Leszczynski Augustus granddaughter Maria Josepha of Saxony later became Dauphine of France through her marriage to the Dauphin Louis and the mother of three Kings of France Louis XVI Louis XVIII and Charles X Augustus was 1 76 meters 5 ft 9 in tall above average height for that time but despite his extraordinary physical strength he did not look big In his final years he suffered from diabetes mellitus and became obese at his death weighing some 110 kilograms 240 lb citation needed Augustus II s body was interred in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow all but his heart which rests at the Dresden Cathedral Film editIn 1936 Augustus was the subject of a Polish German film Augustus the Strong directed by Paul Wegener Augustus was portrayed by the actor Michael Bohnen Illegitimate issue editThe Electress Christiane who remained Protestant and refused to move to Poland with her husband preferred to spend her time in the mansion in Pretzsch on the Elbe where she died 3 Augustus a voracious womanizer never missed his wife spending his time with a series of mistresses 14 15 1694 1696 with Countess Maria Aurora von Konigsmarck 1696 1699 with Countess Anna Aloysia Maximiliane von Lamberg 1698 1704 with Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum later Princess of Teschen 1701 1706 with Maria Aurora later married von Spiegel a woman of Turkish origin captured as a toddler named Fatima at the Siege of Buda 1686 and brought up in Sweden as the goddaughter of Maria Aurora von Konigsmarck 1704 1713 with Anna Constantia von Brockdorff later Countess of Cosel 1706 1707 with Henriette Renard 1708 with Angelique Debargues French dancer and actress 1713 1719 with Maria Magdalena of Bielinski by her first marriage Countess of Donhoff and by the second Princess Lubomirska 1720 1721 with Erdmuthe Sophie of Dieskau by marriage of Loss 1721 1722 with Baroness Kristiane of Osterhausen by marriage of StanislawskiSome contemporary sources including Wilhelmine of Bayreuth claimed that Augustus had as many as 365 or 382 children The number is extremely difficult to verify Perhaps the number refers not to the king s children but to the nights that he spent with his mistresses Augustus officially recognised only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards the mothers of these chosen ones with the possible exception of Fatima and Henriette Renard were all aristocratic ladies With Maria Aurora von Konigsmarck edit Hermann Maurice Goslar 28 October 1696 Chateau de Chambord 30 November 1750 Count of Saxony With Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum edit Johann Georg 21 August 1704 25 February 1774 Chevalier de Saxe later Governor of Dresden With Maria Aurora von Spiegel originally Fatima edit Frederick Augustus Warsaw Dresden 19 June 1702 Pillnitz 16 March 1764 Count Rutowsky Maria Anna Katharina 1706 1746 Countess Rutowska married firstly in January 1728 to Michal Count Bielinski divorced in early 1732 secondly in February 1732 to Claude Marie Noyel Comte du Bellegarde et d Entremont With Anna Constantia von Brockdorff edit Augusta Anna Constantia 24 February 1708 3 February 1728 Countess of Cosel married on 3 June 1725 to Heinrich Friedrich Count of Friesen Fredericka Alexandrine 27 October 1709 1784 Countess of Cosel married on 18 February 1730 to Jan Kanty Count Moszynski Frederick Augustus 27 August 1712 15 October 1770 Count of Cosel married on 1 June 1749 to Countess Friederike Christiane of Holtzendorff They had four children The two sons Gustav Ernst and Segismund died unmarried One of the two daughters Constantia Alexandrina married Johann Heinrich Lehnsgraf Knuth The other named Charlotte first married Count Rudolf of Bunau and then married Charles de Riviere With Henriette Renard edit Anna Karolina 26 November 1707 Avignon 27 September 1769 Countess Orzelska married on 10 August 1730 to Karl Ludwig Frederick of Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Beck They divorced in 1733 Royal titles editIn Latin Augustus Secundus Dei Gratia rex Poloniae magnus dux Lithuaniae Russie Prussiae Masoviae Samogitiae Livoniae Kijoviae Volhyniae Podoliae Podlachiae Smolensciae Severiae Czerniechoviaeque necnon haereditarius dux Saxoniae et princeps elector etc English translation Augustus II by the grace of God King of Poland Grand Duke of Lithuania Ruthenia Prussia Masovia Samogitia Livonia Kiev Volhynia Podolia Podlachia Smolensk Severia and Chernihiv and Hereditary Duke and Elector of Saxony etc Ancestry editAncestors of Augustus II the Strong32 August Elector of Saxony 1526 1586 16 Christian I Elector of Saxony 1560 1591 33 Anna of Denmark Norway 1532 1585 daughter of 48 and 49 8 Johann Georg I Elector of Saxony 1585 1656 same as 2017 Sophie of Brandenburg 1568 1622 35 Sabina of Brandenburg Ansbach 1529 1575 4 Johann Georg II Elector of Saxony 1613 1680 36 Albrecht Duke of Prussia 1490 1568 18 Albrecht Friedrich Duke of Prussia 1553 1618 37 Anna Maria of Brunswick Calenberg 1532 1568 9 Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia 1586 1659 38 Wilhelm Duke of Julich Cleves Berg 1516 1592 19 Marie Eleonore of Cleves 1550 1608 39 Archduchess Maria of Austria 1531 1581 2 Johann Georg III Elector of Saxony 1647 1691 40 Joachim II Hector Elector of Brandenburg 1505 1571 20 Johann Georg Elector of Brandenburg 1525 1598 41 Magdalena of Saxony 1507 1534 10 Christian Margrave of Brandenburg Bayreuth 1581 1655 42 Joachim Ernest Prince of Anhalt 1536 1586 21 Elisabeth of Anhalt Zerbst 1563 1607 43 Agnes of Barby Muhlingen 1540 1569 5 Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg Bayreuth 1612 1687 same as 36same as 18same as 3711 Marie of Prussia 1579 1649 same as 38same as 19same as 391 Augustus II the Strong48 King Christian III of Denmark Norway 1503 1559 24 King Frederick II of Denmark Norway 1534 1588 49 Dorothea of Saxe Lauenburg 1511 1571 12 King Christian IV of Denmark Norway 1577 1648 50 Ulrich III Duke of Mecklenburg Gustrow 1527 1603 25 Sophie of Mecklenburg Gustrow 1557 1631 51 Elizabeth of Denmark Norway 1524 1586 paternal half sister of 48 6 King Frederik III of Denmark Norway 1609 1670 same as 2026 Joachim Friedrich Elector of Brandenburg 1546 1608 53 Sophie of Legnica 1525 1546 13 Anne Catherine of Brandenburg 1575 1612 54 Johann Margrave of Brandenburg Kustrin1513 1571 full brother of 40 27 Catherine of Brandenburg Kustrin 1549 1602 55 Katharina of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel 1518 1574 3 Anna Sophie of Denmark Norway 1647 1717 56 Ernst I Duke of Brunswick Luneburg 1497 1546 28 Wilhelm Duke of Brunswick Luneburg 1535 1592 57 Sophie of Mecklenburg Schwerin 1508 1541 14 Georg Duke of Brunswick Luneburg 1582 1641 same as 4829 Dorothea of Denmark Norway 1549 1617 same as 497 Sophie Amalie of Brunswick Luneburg 1628 1685 60 Georg I Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt 1547 1596 30 Ludwig V Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt 1577 1626 61 Magdalene of Lippe 1552 1587 15 Anne Eleonore of Hesse Darmstadt 1601 1659 same as 2031 Magdalene of Brandenburg 1582 1616 same as 21Portraits by editRosalba Carriera Louis de SilvestreSee also editHistory of Saxony History of Poland 1569 1795 Rulers of Saxony List of Lithuanian rulers Dresden Castle Residence of Augustus II the StrongNotes edit Polish August II Mocny German August der Starke Lithuanian Augustas II enumerated after Sigismund Augustus In Saxony he was known as Frederick August I References edit a b Sacheverell Sitwell The Hunters and the Hunted p 60 Macmillan 1947 a b nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Augustus II Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 2 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 915 916 a b c d Flathe Heinrich Theodor 1878 Friedrich August I Kurfurst von Sachsen Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ADB in German 7 Leipzig Duncker amp Humblot 781 784 a b c Czok Karl 2006 August der Starke und seine Zeit Kurfurst von Sachsen und Konig von Polen in German Munich Piper ISBN 3 492 24636 2 Kalipke Andreas 2010 The Corpus Evangelicorum In Coy J P Marschke B Benjamin Sabean D W eds The Holy Roman Empire Reconsidered Berghahn pp 228 247 Jasienica Pawel 2007 Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow Dzieje Agonii Proszynski pp 25 27 ISBN 978 83 7469 583 1 Chisholm 1911 Wojtasik Janusz 1990 Podhajce 1698 in Polish Warsaw Poland Dom Wydawniczy Bellona pp 127 141 ISBN 83 11 07813 0 Jacek Staszewski Polacy w osiemnastowiecznym Dreznie Ossolineum Wroclaw 1986 p 133 in Polish Johann Adolph Hasse Museum KomponistenQuartier Archived from the original on 25 March 2019 Retrieved 28 November 2019 Howard L Blackmore Hunting Weapons From the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century p xxiii Courier Dover Publications 2000 ISBN 0 486 40961 9 Walcha Otto 1986 Meissner Porzellan Von den Anfangen bis zur Gegenwart in German 8th ed Dresden Verlag der Kunst ISBN 3 364 00012 3 History Barockgarten Grosssedlitz Retrieved 27 November 2019 Delau Reinhard 2005 August der Starke und seine Matressen in German Dresden Sachsische Zeitung ISBN 3 938325 06 2 Kuhnel Klaus 2005 August der Starke und das schwache Geschlecht Die Liebschaften des Kurfursten Friedrich August I von Sachsen in German Wittenberg Dreikastanienverlag ISBN 3 933028 92 2 External links edit nbsp Media related to August II the Strong at Wikimedia CommonsAugustus II of Poland Frederick Augustus I of Saxony House of WettinBorn 12 May 1670 Died 1 February 1733Regnal titlesVacantTitle last held byJohn III King of PolandGrand Duke of Lithuania1697 1706 Succeeded byStanislaw IPreceded byStanislaw I King of PolandGrand Duke of Lithuania1709 1733Preceded byJohn George IV Elector of Saxony1694 1733 Succeeded byFrederick Augustus II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Augustus II the Strong amp oldid 1218203096, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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