Augustus III of Poland

Augustus III
Portrait by Louis de Silvestre
King of Poland Grand Duke of Lithuania
Reign	5 October 1733 – 5 October 1763
Coronation	17 January 1734 Wawel Cathedral, Kraków
Predecessor	Stanisław I
Successor	Stanisław II Augustus
Elector of Saxony
Reign	1 February 1733 – 5 October 1763
Predecessor	Frederick Augustus I
Successor	Frederick Christian
Born	17 October 1696 Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Died	5 October 1763(1763-10-05) (aged 66) Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	Dresden Cathedral, Dresden
Spouse	Maria Josepha of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1719; died 1757)​
Issue More	Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony Maria Amalia, Queen of Spain Maria Anna, Electress of Bavaria Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony Maria Josepha, Dauphine of France Charles, Duke of Courland Maria Christina, Abbess of Remiremont Princess Maria Elisabeth Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen Clemens Wenceslaus, Archbishop-Elector of Trier Maria Kunigunde, Abbess of Essen
House	Wettin
Father	Augustus II of Poland
Mother	Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Religion	Catholic (from 1712) Lutheran (until 1712)
Signature

Augustus III (Polish: August III Sas, Lithuanian: Augustas III; 17 October 1696 – 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (German: Friedrich August II).

He was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, and converted to Catholicism in 1712 to secure his candidacy for the Polish throne. In 1719 he married Maria Josepha, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, and became elector of Saxony following his father's death in 1733. Augustus was able to gain the support of Charles VI by agreeing to the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and also gained recognition from Russian Empress Anna by supporting Russia's claim to the region of Courland. He was elected king of Poland by a small minority on 5 October 1733 and subsequently banished the former Polish king Stanisław I. He was crowned in Kraków on 17 January 1734.^[1]

Augustus was supportive of Austria against Prussia in the War of Austrian Succession and again in the Seven Years' War (1756), both of which resulted in Saxony being defeated and occupied by Prussia. In Poland, his rule was marked by the increasing influence of the Czartoryski and Poniatowski families, and by the intervention of Catherine the Great in Polish affairs. His rule deepened the social anarchy in Poland and increased the country's dependence on its neighbours, notably Prussia, Austria, and Russia. The Russian Empire prevented him from installing his family on the Polish throne, supporting instead the aristocrat Stanisław August Poniatowski, the lover of Catherine the Great. Throughout his reign, Augustus was known to be more interested in ease and pleasure than in the affairs of state; this notable patron of the arts left the administration of Saxony and Poland to his chief adviser, Heinrich von Brühl, who in turn left Polish administration chiefly to the powerful Czartoryski family.