August II the Strong

August's great physical strength earned him the nicknames "the Strong“, "Saxon Hercules“ and "iron hand.“ He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horse shoes with his bare hands. His ancestor Cymburgis of Masovia was also noted for her strength.

August is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He established the Saxon capital of Dresden as a major cultural center, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. He also amassed an impressive art collection and built fantastic baroque palaces there.

As a politician, he is not held in high esteem in Poland:

He embroiled the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the disastrous Great Northern War. His attempts at internal reforms and at bolstering the royal power came to naught, while his mistakes allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1 Royal titles
2 Biography
3 Augustus II and the Arts
4 See also

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Royal titles

In Latin: Augustus Secundus, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russie, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Livoniae, Kijoviae, Volhyniae, Podoliae, 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, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podolia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernihiv, and hereditary Duke Prince-Elector of Saxony, etc.

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Biography

Augustus was born in Dresden, Saxony, the son of John George III and of Princess Anne Sophie of Denmark. In 1694, upon the death of his elder brother John George IV, Augustus became Elector of Saxony as Frederick Augustus I.

In order to be eligible for the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Augustus had to convert to Roman-Catholicism. Given that the Saxon dukes traditionally had been called "champions of the Reformation" and that the duchy was a stronghold of German Protestantism, Augustus's conversion was most spectacular. Subsequently the now Roman-Catholic electors of Saxony lost the prestigious leading role of the Protestant estates in the Imperial Diet (see Reichstag) to the Prussian kings. Although the prince-elector guaranteed Saxony's religious status quo he somewhat alienated his Protestant subjects with his embracing the Papacy, and because of the huge amount of money necessary to bribe Polish noblemen and clergy at the expense of the Saxon treasury, Augustus's royal ambitions were referred to as his "Polish adventure" by some contemporaries.

It is, however, noteworthy that the directorate of the Corpus Evangelicorum, which was the official Imperial board of the Protestant estsates and the counterpart of the Corpus Catholicorum, remained with Saxony and thus, paradoxically, with the Roman-Catholic Augustus as its head. His church policy within the Holy Roman Empire was orthodoxly Lutheran on behalf of his Saxon subjects (and apparently against his newly found religious and also absolutistic convictions), whereas 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 give religious freedom to his fellow Catholics to the full extent, but it never happened. Saxony remained Lutheran altogether and the few Roman-Catholics were without any political or civil rights, and in 1717 it became clear how awkward the issue was: For his ambitious family-plans in Poland and Germany it was necessary that his heirs became Roman-Catholics, too. So, after five years as a convert in disguise, his son--the future Augustus III--publicly came out as a Roman-Catholic. The Saxon estates were outraged and revolting, because now it was certain that with Augustus II Roman-Catholicism wasn’t just an episode in Saxony.

Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, electress consort of Augustus, interestingly refused to follow her husband's example and remained a staunch Protestant. She didn't attend her husband's coronation in Poland and led a rather quiet life outside of Dresden. She gained some popularity for her stubbornness.

Following the death of Polish King Jan III Sobieski and having successfully converted to Catholicism Augustus was elected King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697 with the backing of Russia and Austria, which financed him through the Jewish banker, Berend Lehmann.

It is sometimes incorrectly stated that Augustus defeated the other leading candidates, Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, son of the previous king, and the French candidate, François Louis, Prince of Conti. Augustus actually received fewer votes than Conti (despite a massive bribery campaign), but he rushed to Poland and had himself crowned before the French candidate could set foot in the Commonwealth. Some Poles questioned the legality of Augustus's elevation.

He continued the war of the Holy League against Turkey: After a Moldavian campaign his Polish army defeated the Tatar expedition eventually in Battle of Podhajce in 1698. It compelled the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Podolia and Kamieniec Podolski returned to Poland. 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 Denmark's Frederick IV and Russia's Peter I to strip Sweden's young King Charles XII of his possessions. Poland's reward from this Great Northern War was to have been the Swedish territory of Livonia. Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at Narva, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus. Charles' decision ultimately proved as disastrous to Sweden as to Poland.

Charles defeated Augustus at Riga June 17, 1701, forcing the Polish-Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia, and followed this up with an invasion of Poland. He captured Warsaw May 14, 1702, defeated the Polish-Saxon army again at the Kliszów, and took Kraków. He defeated another of Augustus's armies at the 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 more pliable on the Polish throne. In 1704 the Swedes installed Stanisław Leszczyński on Polish throne, it compelled Augustus II to introduce Poland to war alongside with Russia (alliance was concluded in Narva summer 1704). September 1, 1706, Charles invaded Saxony, forcing Augustus to yield up the Polish throne to Leszczyński by the Treaty of Altranstadt.

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

The weakened Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth soon came to be regarded 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). Peter the Great seized on this 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).

Image:Mantelwappen Wettiner.png 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 throne. After the Silent Sejm, he gave up his ambitions and finally settled on attempts to strengthen the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Faced with both internal and foreign opposition, however, he achieved little.

Augustus died in 1733. Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house, his eldest son, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, did succeed him to the Polish throne as August III — although he had to be installed there by a Russian army in the War of the Polish Succession.

Augustus II was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring. He is alleged by some to have sired either 365 or 382 children. The number is extremely difficult to verify; August officially recognized only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards (the mothers of these "chosen ones," with the possible exception of Fatima, were all aristocratic ladies) and he had only one legitimate child. The most famous of the king’s bastards is Maurice de Saxe who was a brilliant strategist and reached the highest military ranks in Ancien Régime France. In the War of the Polish Succession he remained loyal to his employer Louis XV of France, who was married to the daughter of Augustus’s rival Stanisław Leszczyński and hence an opponent of Augustus III. In recognition of his service Maurice de Saxe was eventually made one of only six maréchaux généraux in French history. He was the great-grandfather of French novelist George Sand, the longtime companion of Polish composer Chopin.

In spite of his extraordinary physical strength, Augustus was of rather medium height and did not look very big. In his final years he became fat, at his death weighing some 110 kg. His son, Augustus III the Saxon, would apparently become the fattest man ever to sit on the Polish throne.

Augustus II's body was interred in Poland — all but his heart, which rests at Dresden's castle.

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Augustus II and the Arts

Augustus loved fine arts and architecture. During his reign, palaces were built, mainly in Dresden, known for centuries of extraordinary cultural and artistic splendor.

From 1687 to 1689 Augustus toured France and Italy. Especially the lavish and extravagant court in Versailles--which was perfectly tailored to fit the needs of an absolute monarch--impressed him deeply. In an absolute monarchy a flamboyantly splendid residence was symbolically most important as it publicly displayed and celebrated the princely power and thus legitimated the prince’s claim of governance: The court was an open arena to bind, entertain and eventually domesticate the aristocracy--which was vital for a monarch with absolutistic ambitions, as it turned independent nobles into fawning courtiers. Completely in accordance with the spirit of the baroque age Augustus--who was holding not just one but two highly prestigeous princely titles--invested heavily in the representative splendor of his residence to show off--as did most absolte monarchs of that time, depending on their resources. On the one hand he started to create an adequate architectural and cultural background for his reign: With strict edificial regualtions, major urban development plans and a certain feeling for art the king began to transform Dresden into a renowned baroque ensemble with one of Germany’s finest art collections, though most of the famous sights and landmarks of Dresden were completed during the reign of his son Augustus III. On the other hand Augustus II perfectly stage-managed his reign in Dresden. Being a man of pleasure the king used every excuse to throw a party: His lavish court balls, Venetian-style balli in maschera, gatherings, games and garden festivities were numerous, most luxurious and legendary. They are well documented by Saxon and Polish courtiers and they gave his court a fabulous reputation throughout Europe.

Augustus II successfully set out to discover the secret of "white gold," as the porcelain that he produced at Dresden and Meißen was described. Today the manufacture of fine porcelain continues at the Meißen Procelain Factory. He also gathered together in Dresden many of the best architects and painters from all over Europe, and his reign marked the beginning of Dresden's development as a leading center of technology and art.

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August II the Strong

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Augustus II and the Arts

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