August III the Saxon

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August III Sas
Image:AugustIII.jpg
Reign	1734 – October 5, 1763.
Elected	1734 at Wola, now a district of Warsaw, Poland.
Coronation	January 17, 1734, Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland.
Royal House	Wettin.
Parents	August II the Strong, ?
Consorts	Maria Josepha of Austria.
Children	Frederick Christian.
Date of Birth	October 7 1696.
Place of Birth	Dresden, Saxony (now Germany).
Date of Death	October 5, 1763.
Place of Death	Dresden, Saxony (now Germany).
Place of Burial	Dresden, family vault in the Hofkirche.

August III the Saxon or the Corpulent (Polish: August III Sas, August III Gruby; 1696-1763) was King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1734-1763) and Elector of Saxony (1733-1763, as Friedrich August II).

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 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. As King, August III was uninterested in the affairs of his Polish-Lithuanian dominion, which he viewed chiefly as a source of revenues to be used in strengthening his power in Saxony. During his 30-year reign, he spent less than a total of three years in Poland. He 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 fostered internal political anarchy and further weakened the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while neighboring Prussia, Austria and Russia refined their plans to partition the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth among them.

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 (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, dauphin de 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 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 Wenzeslaus (1739-1812), Elector and Archbishop of Trier; and
14. Maria Kunigunde Dorothe (1740-1826), Reigning Abbess of Thorn and Essen.

Titles

Image:August III (Poland).jpg

• In the 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 God's grace King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia (i.e. Ukraine and Belarus), Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia, Chernihiv, and hereditary Duke Prince-Elector of Saxony, etc.

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See also

• History of Poland (1569-1795)

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Template:Monarchs of Polandda:August 3. af Polen de:August III. (Polen) fr:Auguste III de Pologne it:Augusto III di Polonia nl:August III van Polen no:August III av Polen pl:August III Sas ru:Фридрих Август II fi:Friedrich August II sv:Fredrik August II uk:Август ІІІ Фрідерік