Augustus II.

Augustus II. (more accurately, FREDERICK-AUGUSTUS I.), Elector of Saxony and king of Poland, second son of the Elector, John George III., was born at Dresden, May 12, 1670. His extraordinary strength gained him the nickname of 'the Strong.' From 1687 to 1689 he travelled over the greater part of Europe, and in 1694 succeeded his brother George as Elector, and undertook the command of the imperial army against the Turks in Hungary. After the battle of Olasch, in 1696, he returned to Vienna as a candidate for the throne of Poland, vacated by John Sobieski. Bidding higher than Prince Conti for the crown, and adopting the Catholic faith, he was elected king by the venal nobles, and was crowned in 1697. On ascending the throne, he promised to regain, for his new kingdom, the provinces that had been ceded to Sweden; but his efforts to do this only led to the defeat of himself and his allies, his own deposition as king of Poland, the election of Stanislaus Leszczynski, and the ignominious peace of Altranstädt in 1706. So complete was his humiliation, that Augustus was compelled to send a letter of congratulation to the new Polish king, together with all the crown-jewels and archives. However, on the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa, in 1709, he declared the treaty of Altranstädt annulled, marched with a powerful army into Poland, formed a fresh alliance with the czar, and recommenced a war with Sweden, which continued raging with redoubled fury, till the death of Charles XII., in 1718, led to a peace with Sweden. Meanwhile, the jealousy of the Poles caused the withdrawal of the Saxon troops in 1717. The remainder of the reign is marked by no important event, till the king's death, 1st February 1733. The Saxon court gradually became known as the most dissolute in Europe, and the resources of both kingdoms were shamefully squandered to supply its extravagances. Augustus supported the fine arts as ministering to luxury, but did little for the cause of science. Reckless, selfish, ambitious, luxurious, licentious, and despotic, he is powerfully depicted in Carlyle's Frederick the Great. By his wife he left an only son, who succeeded him. The most celebrated of his numerous illegitimate offspring—amounting, it is affirmed, to somewhere about 300—was Count Maurice of Saxony.