Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

from 1694 as well as

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

and

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the

Albertine branch The Albertine branch is a German princely family of the House of Wettin. The name derives from the progenitor of the line, Albert III, Duke of Saxony. The Albertine branch ruled from 1485 to 1918 as dukes, electors and kings in Saxony. History o ...

of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

. 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

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

s 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.Sacheverell Sitwell. ''The Hunters and the Hunted'', p. 60. Macmillan, 1947. He is also notable for fathering a very large number of children, with contemporary sources claiming a total of between 360 and 380. In order to be elected king of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, Augustus converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. As a Catholic, he received the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest distinction. As elector of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, he is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He transformed the Saxon capital of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

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 An imperial vicar () was a prince charged with administering all or part of the Holy Roman Empire on behalf of the emperor. Later, an imperial vicar was invariably one of two princes charged by the Golden Bull with administering the Holy Roman E ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. His reigns brought Poland some troubled times. He led the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, which allowed the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

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 Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanisław Bogusław; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duk ...

as king, who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus' death in 1733 which sparked the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

. Augustus' body was buried in Poland's royal

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral. His only legitimate son,

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...

, became king in 1733.

Early life

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. Augustus married Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

on 20 January 1693. They had a son, Frederick Augustus II (1696–1763), who succeeded his father as

and

as Augustus III.. While in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

during the

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

season, his older brother, the Elector John George IV, contracted

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz. On 27 April 1694, Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became

elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

, as Friedrich Augustus I..

Conversion to Catholicism

To be eligible for election to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697, Augustus had to convert to

. The

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

electors had traditionally been called "champions of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

". Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz baptized him and announced his conversion. Saxony had been a stronghold of German

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and Augustus' conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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". His church policy within the

followed orthodox

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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 Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

) were anxious to keep Saxony well-integrated in their camp. According to the

Peace of Augsburg The Peace of Augsburg (), also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Schmalkaldic League, signed on 25 September 1555 in the German city of Augsburg. It officially ended the religious struggl ...

, Augustus theoretically had the right to re-introduce Roman Catholicism (see ''

Cuius regio, eius religio () is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, his religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual) ...

''), 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. Since the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

, 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 Saxe-Weissenfels () was a Duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony upon the extinction of the line ...

. 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. 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.

King of Poland for the first time

Following the death of Polish King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

and having converted to Catholicism, Augustus won election as King of the

in 1697 with the backing of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, 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 Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Michał Stefan Radziejowski Augustyn Michał Stefan Radziejowski (3 December 1645 – 13 October 1705) was an archbishop of Gniezno, bishop of Warmia, and cardinal primate of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. He was the son of Hieronim Radziejowski. After the death of t ...

proclaimed Conti and the bishop of Kujawy, Stanisław Dąmbski proclaimed Augustus, with

Jacob Heinrich von Flemming Jakob Heinrich von Flemming (3 March 1667 – 30 April 1728) was a Saxon count, Saxon and Polish military officer and politician. He served as the Polish General of the artillery, Polish-Saxon field marshal, Grand Koniuszy of Lithuania, and Poli ...

swearing to the ''

pacta conventa ''Pacta conventa'' (Latin for "articles of agreement") was a contractual agreement entered into between the "Polish nation" (i.e., the szlachta (nobility) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and a newly elected king upon his "free electi ...

'' as Augustus's proxy). However, Augustus hurried to the Commonwealth with a Saxon army, while Conti stayed in France for two months. Although he had led the imperial troops against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1695 and 1696 without very much success, Augustus continued the war of the Holy League against Turkey, and during a campaign against the Ottomans, his

Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

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 Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

and

Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

in 1699. An ambitious ruler, Augustus hoped to make the Polish throne hereditary within his family, and to use his resources as elector of

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 Frederick IV (Danish language, Danish: ''Frederik''; 11 October 1671 – 12 October 1730) was List of Danish monarchs, King of Denmark and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of Christian V of Denma ...

and

Peter I of Russia Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, ...

to strip the young King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

(Augustus' cousin) of his possessions. Poland's reward for participation in the

was to have been

Swedish Livonia Swedish Livonia () was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Brömsebro) and the northe ...

. Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

in 1700, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus. However, this war ultimately proved as disastrous for Sweden as for Poland. Silvestre August II the Strong

Charles defeated Augustus' army at

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

in July 1701, forcing the Polish-Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia, and followed this up with an invasion of Poland. He captured

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

on 14 May 1702, defeated the Polish-Saxon army again at the Battle of Kliszów (July 1702), and took

. He defeated another of Augustus' armies under the command of

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...

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

and tied the commonwealth to Sweden, which compelled Augustus to initiate military operations in Poland alongside Russia ( an alliance was concluded in

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

, 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 The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...

(1709). This spelled the end of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

and the rise of the

King of Poland for the second time

The weakened

soon came to be regarded as almost a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

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 The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'', 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. 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 Silent Sejm (), also known as the Mute Sejm, is the name given to the session of the Sejm parliament of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1 February 1717 held in Warsaw. A civil war in the Commonwealth was used by the Russian Tsar Peter the ...

(''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. In 1729 he established the Grand Musketeers Company in Dresden, one of the oldest Polish officers' schools, which in 1730 was relocated to Warsaw. 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

although he had to be installed by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during the

Legacy

Augustus II and the arts

00 294 Dresden - Reiterstandbild August der Starke

Augustus is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He had beautiful palaces built in

, 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 The (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch and F ...

. From 1687 to 1689, Augustus toured France and Italy. The extravagant court in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

—perfectly tailored to fit the needs of an absolute monarch—impressed him deeply. In accordance with the spirit of the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

age, Augustus invested heavily in the representative splendor of

Dresden Castle Dresden Castle or Royal Palace ( or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) of Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony from ...

, 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 Moritzburg Castle () or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical artificial island. It is name ...

and Hubertusburg Castle, his hunting lodges. He greatly expanded the Saxon Palace in

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 The Royal Castle in Warsaw ( ) is a state museum and a List of Historic Monuments (Poland), national historical monument, which formerly served as the official Castle, royal residence of several List of Polish rulers, Polish monarchs. The person ...

restored and enlarged. He also expanded the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1677 and 1696 for the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski according to a design by architect Augustyn ...

. He granted composer

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

the title of the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1731. 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

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

s, 34

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

s and 21

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

s were tossed and killed.Howard L. Blackmore. ''Hunting Weapons: From the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century'', p. xxiii. Courier Dover Publications, 2000. 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. From 1 to 26 June 1730 he held the Zeithain Encampment after reorganizing and reequipping his army. The Prussian king Frederick William I was present, as well as 48 invited European princes with their military officers and envoys of the European powers. It was not only the largest troop show in Europe but also one of the most gigantic baroque festivals of its time, showcasing the high level of Saxon art and culture.

Gallery

File:DD-Schloss-gp.jpg,

File:Dresden-Zwinger.courtyard.04.JPG, Zwinger, Dresden File:Moritzburg bei Dresden (tone-mapping).jpg,

File:Pillnitz-Wasseransicht.jpg, Pillnitz Castle File:Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf, Sachsen, Deutschland.JPG, Hubertusburg Castle

Meissen porcelain

Augustus II successfully sponsored efforts to discover the secret of manufacturing

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

. In 1701 he rescued the young

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

Johann Friedrich Böttger, who had fled from the court of King

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) List of margraves and electors of Brandenburg, Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg–Pr ...

, 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 Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

in 1709. The manufacture of fine porcelain continues at the

Meissen porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first Europe, European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's ...

factory.

Order of the White Eagle

In November 1705 in Tykocin, Augustus founded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's first and preeminent

order of chivalry An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is a society, fellowship and college of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and ...

. 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.

Other

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 Maurice, Count of Saxony (, ; 28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania ...

, a brilliant strategist who attained the highest military ranks in the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

. In the

he remained loyal to his employer

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

, who was married to the daughter of Augustus's rival Stanisław I Leszczyński. Augustus' granddaughter, Maria Josepha of Saxony, later became

Dauphine of France The dauphine of France (, also , ) was the wife of the dauphin of France (the heir apparent to the French throne). The position was analogous to a crown princess (the wife of a crown prince and heir apparent to a throne). List of dauphines of F ...

through her marriage to the Dauphin

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

, and the mother of three Kings of France (

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

and

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

). Augustus was 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 Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

mellitus and became

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

, at his death weighing some . Augustus II's body was interred in the

—all but his heart, which rests at the Dresden Cathedral.

Film

In 1936 Augustus was the subject of a Polish-German film ''

Augustus the Strong Augustus II the Strong (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 ...

'' directed by Paul Wegener. Augustus was portrayed by the actor Michael Bohnen.

Illegitimate issue

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 The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, where she died. Augustus, a voracious womanizer, never missed his wife, spending his time with a series of mistresses:.. *1694–1696 with Countess Maria Aurora von Königsmarck *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) The siege of Buda (1686) () was a military engagement during the Great Turkish War, in which forces of the Holy League, led by the Habsburg Monarchy, recaptured the fortified city of Buda (now part of modern-day Budapest) from the Ottoman Empir ...

and brought up in Sweden as the goddaughter of Maria Aurora von Königsmarck *1704–1713 with

Anna Constantia von Brockdorff Anna Constantia von Brockdorff (17 October 1680 – 31 March 1765), later the Countess of Cosel, was a German lady-in-waiting and noblewoman, and mistress of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, in 1706–1713. Eventua ...

, later Countess of Cosel *1706–1707 with Henriette Rénard *1708 with Angélique Debargues, French dancer and actress *1713–1719 with Maria Magdalena of Bielinski, by her first marriage Countess of Dönhoff 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 Stanisławski 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

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

With Ursula Katharina of Altenbockum

# Johann Georg (21 August 170425 February 1774), Chevalier de Saxe, later Governor of Dresden.

With Maria Aurora von Spiegel (originally Fatima)

# Frederick Augustus (Warsaw/Dresden 19 June 1702Pillnitz, 16 March 1764), Count Rutowsky # 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

# Augusta Anna Constantia (24 February 17083 February 1728), Countess of Cosel; married on 3 June 1725 to Heinrich Friedrich, Count of Friesen # Fredericka Alexandrine (27 October 170916 December 1784), Countess of Cosel; married on 18 February 1730 to Jan Kanty, Count Moszyński # Frederick Augustus (27 August 171215 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

# Anna Karolina (26 November 1707Avignon, 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

*In *English translation: ''Augustus II, by the grace of God, King of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Grand Duke of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

Podlachia Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Severia Severia (, ; ) or Siveria ( / , ''Siveria'' / ''Sivershchyna'') is a historical region in present-day southwest Russia, northern Ukraine, and eastern Belarus. The largest part lies in modern Russia, while the central part of the region is the c ...

and

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

, and Hereditary Duke and Elector of

, etc.''

Ancestry

Portraits by

Rosalba Carriera Rosalba Carriera (12 January 1673 – 15 April 1757) was an Italians, Italian Rococo painter. In her younger years, she specialized in portrait miniatures. Carriera would later become known for her pastel portraits, helping popularize the medium ...

Louis de Silvestre Louis de Silvestre (23 June 1675 – 11 April 1760), also known as Louis de Silvestre the Younger, was a French portrait and history painter. He was court painter to Augustus II the Strong, King Augustus II of Poland, and director of the Dres ...

Notes

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Augustus 02 of Poland 1670 births 1733 deaths 17th-century Polish monarchs 18th-century Polish monarchs Burials at Dresden Cathedral Prince-electors of Saxony Grand dukes of Lithuania House of Wettin Burials at Wawel Cathedral Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism German Lutherans German monarchs German Roman Catholics Kings of Poland Imperial vicars Knights of the Golden Fleece Nobility from Dresden People of the Great Turkish War Polish people of the Great Northern War Polish Roman Catholics Meissen porcelain Albertine branch German art collectors 18th-century art collectors 18th-century German philanthropists Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Art collectors from the Holy Roman Empire