Editing Frederick Augustus II of Saxony

{{Short description|King of Saxony from 1836 to 1854}}
{{About||Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|Augustus III of Poland}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name           = Frederick Augustus II
| full name      = {{Langx|de|Friedrich August Albrecht Maria Clemens Joseph Vincenz Aloys Nepomuk Johann Baptista Nikolaus Raphael Peter Xaver Franz de Paula Venantius Felix}}<br />{{langx|en|Frederick Augustus Albert Maria Clement Joseph Vincent Aloysius Nepomuk John Baptista Nicholas Raphael Peter Xaver Francis de Paula Venantius Felix}}
| image          = Friedrich August II of Saxony.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein]]
| image_size     = 220px
| reign          = 6 June 1836 &ndash; 9 August 1854
| coronation     =
| predecessor    = [[Anthony of Saxony|Anthony]]
| successor      = [[John I of Saxony|John]]
| succession     = [[King of Saxony]]
| spouses        = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria|Marie Caroline of Austria]]|1819|1832|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1805-1877)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]|1833}}
}}
| issue          = [[Theodor Uhlig]] (illegitimate)
| house          = [[House of Wettin|Wettin]]
| royal anthem   =
| father         = [[Prince Maximilian of Saxony]]
| mother         = [[Princess Caroline of Parma]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date|1797|5|18|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Pillnitz]], Dresden, [[Electorate of Saxony]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date     = {{Death date and age|1854|8|9|1797|5|18|df=y}}
| death_place    = [[Karrösten]], [[Austrian Empire]]
| place of burial= [[Katholische Hofkirche]]
| religion       = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| signature      = Signature of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony.svg
}}

'''Frederick Augustus II''' ({{Langx|de|Friedrich August II.}}; 18 May 1797 &ndash; 9 August 1854) was [[King of Saxony]] and a member of the [[House of Wettin]].

He was the eldest son of [[Maximilian, Prince of Saxony]] – younger son of the Elector [[Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony|Frederick Christian]] of Saxony – by his first wife, [[Princess Carolina of Parma|Caroline of Bourbon, Princess of Parma]].

==Life==

===Early years===
From his birth, it was clear that one day Frederick Augustus would become the ruler of Saxony. His father was the only son of the Elector Frederick Christian of Saxony who left surviving male issue. When King [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus I]] died (1827) and [[Anthony of Saxony|Anton]] succeeded him as King, Frederick Augustus became second in line to the throne, preceded only by his father Maximilian. However, he took no part in the administration of the country.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Frederick Augustus II.|volume=11|page=61|first=Justus|last=Hashagen}}</ref>

He was an officer in the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]]. However, he had little interest in military affairs.

===Co-Regent to the Kingdom===
The [[July Revolution]] of 1830 in [[France]] marked the beginning of disturbances in Saxony that autumn. The people claimed a change in the constitution and demanded a young regent of the kingdom to share the government with the King Anton. On 1 September the Prince Maximilian renounced his rights of succession in favor of his son Frederick Augustus, who was proclaimed Prince Co-Regent (de: ''Prinz-Mitregenten'') of Saxony. On 2 February 1832 Frederick Augustus brought Free Autonomy to the cities. Also, by an edict of 17 March of that year, the farmers were freed from the [[corvée]] and hereditary submission. His popularity and liberal reforms quickly ended the discontent.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===King of Saxony===
On 6 June 1836, King Anton died and Frederick Augustus succeeded him. As an intelligent man, he was quickly popular with the people as he had been since the time of his regency. The new king solved political questions only from a pure sense of duty. Mostly he preferred to leave these things on the hands of his ministers.

A standardized jurisdiction for Saxony created the [[Criminal Code]] of 1836. During the [[German revolutions of 1848–49|Revolutionary disturbances of 1848]] (March Revolution), he appointed liberal ministers in the government, lifted censorship, and remitted a liberal electoral law. Later his attitude changed. On 28 April Frederick August II dissolved the Parliament, and in 1849 he was forced to flee to the [[Königstein Fortress]]. The [[May Uprising in Dresden|May Uprising]] was crushed by Saxon and [[Prussian Army|Prussian troops]] and Frederick was able to return after only a few days.

From that time onward his reign was tranquil and prosperous. Later [[Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust|Count Beust]], leader of the Austrian and feudal party in Saxony, became his principal minister and guided his policy on most occasions.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Journey through England and Scotland===
In 1844 Frederick Augustus, accompanied by his personal physician [[Carl Gustav Carus]], made an informal (''incognito'') visit to England and Scotland. Among places they visited were [[Lyme Regis]] where he purchased from the local fossil collector and dealer, [[Mary Anning]], an ichthyosaur skeleton for his own extensive natural history collection. It was not a state visit, but the King was the guest of [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] at [[Windsor Castle]], visited many of the sights in [[London]] and in the university cities of [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]], and toured widely in England, Wales and Scotland.<ref>C.G.Carus, ''The King of Saxony's Journey through England and Scotland, 1844'', english edition, London, Chapman and Hall, 1846 [https://archive.org/stream/kingofsaxonysjou00caru/kingofsaxonysjou00caru_djvu.txt]</ref>

In addition to his interest in fossils, Frederick Augustus devoted his leisure hours chiefly to the study of [[botany]]. He made botanical excursions into different countries, and his ''Flora Marienbadensis, oder Pflanzen und Gebirgsarten, gesammelt und beschrieben'' was published in Prague in 1837.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Accidental death==
During a journey in [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]], he had an accident in Brennbüchel in which he fell in front of a horse that stepped on his head. On 8 August 1854, he died in the Gasthof Neuner. He was buried on 16 August in the [[Katholische Hofkirche]] of [[Dresden]]. In his memory, the Dowager Queen Maria arranged to establish the Königskapelle (King's Chapel) at the accident place, which was consecrated one year later, some of the last members of the Saxon royal family, including [[Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen]], are buried beside the chapel.

==Marriages==
In [[Vienna]] on 26 September 1819 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 7 October 1819 (in person), Frederick Augustus married firstly with the Archduchess [[Marie Caroline, Crown Princess of Saxony|Maria Caroline of Austria]] (Maria Karoline Ferdinande Theresia Josephine Demetria), daughter of Emperor [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I]] of [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]. They had no children.

In Dresden on 24 April 1833 Frederick Augustus married secondly with the Princess [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1805-1877)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]] (Maria Anna Leopoldine Elisabeth Wilhelmine), daughter of the King [[Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria]]. Like his first marriage, this was childless.

The musician [[Theodor Uhlig]] (1822–1853) was an illegitimate son of Frederick Augustus.<ref>John Warrack, ''Uhlig, Theodor'', [[Oxford Music Online]],consulted 23.6.2010</ref>

Without legitimate issue, after his death Frederick Augustus was succeeded by his younger brother, [[John, King of Saxony|Johann]].

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Frederick Augustus II of Saxony'''
|2= 2. [[Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony]]
|3= 3. [[Princess Carolina of Parma|Carolina of Parma]]
|4= 4. [[Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony]]
|5= 5. [[Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria|Maria Antonia of Bavaria]]
|6= 6. [[Ferdinand, Duke of Parma]]
|7= 7. [[Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma|Maria Amalia of Austria]]
|8= 8. [[Augustus III of Poland]]
|9= 9. [[Maria Josepha of Austria]]
|10= 10. [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|11= 11. [[Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress|Maria Amalia of Austria]]
|12= 12. [[Philip, Duke of Parma]]
|13= 13. [[Louise Élisabeth of France]]
|14= 14. [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|15= 15. [[Maria Theresa|Maria Theresa of Austria]]
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Wettin]]|18 May|1797|9 August|1854}}
{{S-reg|}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Anthony of Saxony|Anthony]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Rulers of Saxony#Kings of Saxony|King of Saxony]]
|years=1836–1854}}
{{S-aft|after=[[John, King of Saxony|John]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Augustus 02 of Saxony}}
[[Category:1797 births]]
[[Category:1854 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from Dresden]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Crown princes of Saxony]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Kings of Saxony]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Extra Knights Companion of the Garter]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria]]
[[Category:People of the Revolutions of 1848]]
[[Category:Burials at Dresden Cathedral]]
[[Category:German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident in Austria]]