Editing Anthony, King of Saxony

{{Short description|King of Saxony from 1827 to 1836}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Anthony
| full name    = {{langx|de|Anton Clemens Theodor Maria Joseph Johann Evangelista Nepomuk Franz Xaver Aloys Januar}}<ref name="Holborn">Holborn, p. 24</ref><br />{{langx|en|Anthony Clement Theodore Mary Joseph John the Evangelist Nepomuk Francis Xavier Aloysius Januarius}}
| image        = Anton-sachsen.jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein]] (1827)
| reign        = 5 May 1827 – 6 June 1836
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus I]]
| successor    = [[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Frederick Augustus II]]
| succession   = [[King of Saxony]]
| spouses      = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy|Maria Carolina of Savoy]]|1781|1782|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Maria Theresa of Austria (1767–1827)|Maria Theresia of Austria]]|1787|1827|end=d}}
}}
| issue        = {{Plainlist|
* Princess Maria Ludovika
* Prince Frederick Augustus
* Princess Maria Johanna
* Princess Maria Theresia}}
| house        = [[House of Wettin|Wettin]]
| father       = [[Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony]]
| mother       = [[Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria]]
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1755|12|27|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Dresden]], [[Electorate of Saxony]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1836|6|6|1755|12|27|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Dresden]], [[Kingdom of Saxony]], [[German Confederation]]
| burial_place = [[Katholische Hofkirche]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
| signature    = Signature of Anthony, King of Saxony.svg
}}
'''Anthony of Saxony''' ({{langx|de|Anton}}; 27 December 1755 – 6 June 1836) was a [[Kingdom of Saxony|King of Saxony]] from the [[House of Wettin]]. He became known as ''Anton der Gütige''<ref name="Quinger">Quinger p. 35</ref> ("Anthony the Kind").<ref>"[http://www.die-sachsen-kommen.de/en/king.htm The Kings of Saxony] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514005547/http://www.die-sachsen-kommen.de/en/king.htm |date=14 May 2007 }}". Accessed 27 January 2007.</ref>

He was the fifth but third surviving son of [[Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony]] and his wife [[Maria Antonia of Bavaria|Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria]].

==Early life==
With few chances to take part in the politics of the Electorate of Saxony or receive any land from his older brother Frederick Augustus III, Anton lived under the shadows. No Elector of Saxony after Johann Georg I gave appanages to his younger sons.

During the first years of the reign of his older brother as Elector, Anthony was the third in line, preceded only by his older brother Charles. The death of Charles (8 September 1781) made him the next in line to the Electorate as Electoral Prince (de: ''Kurprinz''); this was because all the pregnancies of the Electress Amalie, except for one daughter, ended in a stillbirth.

His aunt, the [[Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731–1767)|Dauphine of France]], had wanted to engage her daughter [[Princess Marie Zéphyrine of France|Marie Zéphyrine of France]] to Anthony; Marie Zéphyrine died in 1755 abandoning plans. Another French candidate was Marie Zéphyrine's sister [[Clotilde de France|Marie Clothilde]] (later [[Queen of Sardinia]]) but again nothing happened.

In [[Turin]] on 29 September 1781 (by proxy) and again in [[Dresden]] on 24 October 1781 (in person), Anthony married firstly with the [[Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy]], daughter of the King [[Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia]] and [[Maria Antonietta of Spain]]. Caroline died after only one year of marriage, on 28 December 1782 having succumbed to [[smallpox]]. They had no children.

In [[Florence]] on 8 September 1787 (by proxy) and again in [[Dresden]] on 18 October 1787 (in person), Anthony entered his second marriage, to the Archduchess [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1767–1827)|Maria Theresia of Austria]] (Maria Theresia Josephe Charlotte Johanna), daughter of the Grand Duke Leopold I of Tuscany, later [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold II]]. [[Mozart]]'s opera ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' was originally intended to be performed in honor of his bride for a visit to [[Prague]] on 14 October 1787, as she traveled between [[Vienna]] and Dresden for the in-person ceremony, and [[libretto]]s were printed with mention of the names of both Anton and the archduchess. The [[premiere]] could not be arranged in time, however, so the opera ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' was substituted on the express orders of the bride's uncle, the Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]]. The choice of ''The Marriage of Figaro'' was considered improper for a new bride by many observers, and the archduchess left the opera theater early without seeing the entire work performed. Mozart complained bitterly of the intrigues surrounding this incident in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin that was written in stages between 15 October and 25 October 1787. Anthony was present in Prague in September 1791 for the first performance of Mozart's opera ''[[La clemenza di Tito]]'', which was written as part of the coronation ceremonies of his father-in-law, the Emperor [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]], as [[King of Bohemia]].<ref>Anthony's presence at performances of Mozart's music is detailed in [[Daniel E. Freeman]], ''Mozart in Prague'' (2021) {{ISBN|1950743500}}.</ref>

The couple had four children, but none survived to the age of two:
#Maria Ludovika Auguste Fredericka Therese Franziska Johanna Aloysia Nepomucena Ignatia Anna Josepha Xaveria Franziska de Paula Barbara (b. Dresden, 14 March 1795 – d. Dresden, 25 April 1796) died in infancy.
#Frederick Augustus (b. and d. Dresden, 5 April 1796) died at birth
#Maria Johanna Ludovica Anna Amalia Nepomucena Aloysia Ignatia Xaveria Josepha Franziska de Chantal Eva Apollonia Magdalena Crescentia Vincentia (b. Dresden, 5 April 1798 – d. Dresden, 30 October 1799) died in infancy.
#Maria Theresia (b. and d. Dresden, 15 October 1799) died at birth

Electress Amalie gave birth for last time in 1799 to another stillborn child. After this, it became apparent that Anthony would succeed to the Electorate of Saxony, which was raised to kingdom in 1806.

==King of Saxony==
[[File:Saxony 1831 Pewter Medal for the 1st Constitution, obverse.jpg|thumb|left|Medal of the introduction the Constitution of 1831. The obverse shows the conjoined heads of King Anthony and Co-Regent [[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Friedrich August]].]]
[[File:Saxony 1831 Pewter Medal for the 1st Constitution, reverse.jpg|thumb|Pewter Medal of the new constitution, reverse.]]
Anthony succeeded his brother Frederick August I as King of Saxony upon the latter's death, on 5 May 1827. The 71-year-old new king was completely inexperienced in government, and hence had no intention of initiating profound changes in foreign or domestic policy.

[[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] diplomats discussed granting the [[Rhine Province|Prussian Rhineland]] (predominantly [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]]) to Anthony (a Catholic) in exchange for [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] Saxony in 1827, but nothing came of these talks.<ref name="Freitag">Freitag, p. 216</ref>

After the [[July Revolution]] of 1830 in France, disturbances in Saxony began in autumn. These were directed primarily against the old Constitution. Therefore, on 13 September the cabinet dismissed Count [[Detlev von Einsiedel]], followed by [[Bernhard von Lindenau]]. Because the people wished to have a younger regent, Anthony agreed to appoint his nephew Frederick Augustus Prince Co-Regent (de: ''Prinz-Mitregenten''). As another consequence of the disturbances, a new constitution was adopted in 1831 and came into effect on 4 September of that year. With it Saxony became a [[Constitutional monarchy]] and obtained a bi-cameral legislature and a responsible ministry, which replaced the old feudal estates.  The constitution was more conservative than other constitutions existing at this time in the German Union. Nevertheless, it remained in force in Saxony until 1918.<ref>James K. Pollock & Homer Thomas, ''Germany in Power and Eclipse'' D. Van Nostrand Co.: New York, 1952, p. 510.</ref> The king kept his exclusive sovereignty but was bound by the Government Business to cooperate with the Ministers and the decisions of both Chambers of the Estates (de: ''Kammern der Ständeversammlung'') meeting. The entry of Saxony into the ''[[Zollverein]]'' in 1833 let trade, industry and traffic blossom farther.

Without surviving male issue, Anthony was succeeded as king by his nephew, [[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Frederick Augustus II]].

==Ancestors==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center |ref=<ref>{{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA99|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=99}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Anthony of Saxony'''
|2= 2. [[Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony]]
|3= 3. [[Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria|Maria Antonia of Bavaria]]
|4= 4. [[Augustus III of Poland]]
|5= 5. [[Maria Josepha of Austria]]
|6= 6. [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|7= 7. [[Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress]]
|8= 8. [[Augustus II the Strong|Augustus II of Poland]]
|9= 9. [[Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth|Christiane Eberhardine of Bayreuth]]
|10= 10. [[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|11= 11. [[Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick]]
|12= 12. [[Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria]]
|13= 13. [[Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska]]
|14= 14. [[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor]] (= 10)
|15= 15. [[Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg|Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick]] (= 11)
}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Anthony of Saxony}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Holborn
  | first = Hajo
  | title = A History of Modern Germany: 1840–1945
  | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderng00hajo
  | url-access = registration
  | publisher = [[Princeton University]]
  | year =1982
  | location = Princeton
  | page = 846
  | isbn = 0-691-05359-6 }}

*{{cite book
  | last = Quinger
  | first = Heinz
  | title = Dresden und Umgebung: Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der sächsischen Hauptstadt
  | publisher = Mair Dumont Dumont
  | year = 1999
  | page = 319
  | isbn = 3-7701-4028-1 }}

*{{cite book
  | last = Freitag
  | first = Sabine
  | author2 = Peter Wende
  | title = British Envoys to Germany 1816-1866: 1816–1829
  | publisher = Cambridge University Press
  | year = 2000
  | page = 614
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ho1DbUG5w_cC&q=%22Anthony+of+Saxony%22&pg=RA1-PA216
  | isbn = 0-521-79066-2 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Wettin]]|27 December|1755|6 June|1836}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Rulers of Saxony#Kings of Saxony|King of Saxony]]
|years=1827–1836}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Frederick Augustus II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Princes of Saxony}}
{{Kings of Saxony}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony Of Saxony}}
[[Category:Kings of Saxony]]
[[Category:Saxon princes]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria]]
[[Category:1755 births]]
[[Category:1836 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Dresden Cathedral]]
[[Category:Nobility from Dresden]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]]
[[Category:Sons of prince-electors]]