Editing Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony

{{Short description|Elector of Saxony in 1763}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Frederick Christian
| image        = Friedrich Christian by Pietro Rotari (altered and edited).jpg
| caption      = Portrait by [[Pietro Rotari]], {{circa|1755}}
| succession   = [[Elector of Saxony]]
| reign        = 5 October &ndash; 17 December 1763
| predecessor  = [[Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony|Frederick Augustus II]]
| successor    = [[Frederick Augustus III, Elector of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria]]|1747}}
| issue        = [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony]]<br>[[Anthony, King of Saxony]]<br />[[Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony|Maria Amalia, Duchess of Zweibrücken]]<br />[[Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony|Prince Maximilian]]
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[House of Wettin|Wettin]]
| father       = [[Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony]]
| mother       = [[Maria Josepha of Austria]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1722|9|5|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Dresden Castle]], [[Dresden]], [[Electorate of Saxony]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1763|12|17|1722|9|5|df=y}}
| death_place  = Dresden Castle, Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
| full name    = Friedrich Christian Leopold Johann Georg Franz Xaver
| place of burial = [[Katholische Hofkirche]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
}}

'''Frederick Christian''' ({{langx|de|Friedrich Christian}}; 5 September 1722 &ndash; 17 December 1763) was the [[Prince-elector|Prince-Elector]] of [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]] for 73 days in 1763. He was a member of the [[Wettin (dynasty)|House of Wettin]]. He was the third but eldest surviving son of [[Augustus III of Poland|Frederick Augustus II]], [[prince-elector|Prince-Elector]] of Saxony and King of [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]], by his wife, [[Maria Josepha of Austria]].

==Early life==
[[File:Friedrich Christian by Rosalba.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Frederick Christian c. 1735, by [[Rosalba Carriera]].]]
A weak child since his birth, he suffered paralysis in one foot and was dependent on wheelchairs early in life. In a well-known portrait, which shows his Wettin and Wittelsbach relatives around him, he appears in his wheelchair. Today, this painting is shown in the [[Nymphenburg Palace]]. His mother tried repeatedly to induce him to take monastic vows and renounce his succession rights in favour of his younger brothers, but he refused.<ref name="Flathe">{{Citation | first = Heinrich Theodor | last = Flathe | title = Friedrich Christian, Kurfürst von Sachsen | journal = Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie | volume = 7 | publisher = Duncker & Humblot | place = Leipzig | year = 1878 | pages = 789–90 | language = German}}.</ref>

The early deaths of his two older brothers, Frederick Augustus (1721), who was stillborn, and Joseph Augustus (1728), made him the heir to the throne. When his father died, on 5 October 1763, Frederick Christian succeeded him as elector.
[[File: Subleyras - Frederick Christian of Saxony - Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.jpg|thumb|right|A young Frederick Christian by [[Pierre Subleyras]], {{circa|1739}}]]
Even before, Frederick Christian had written in his diary: "''Princes exist for their subjects, not subjects for their princes. His subjects' wealth, public credit and a well-standing army make up the true happiness of a prince,''" thereby openly declaring himself open to the ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment]].<ref name ="Schlechte">{{Citation | first = Horst | last = Schlechte | title = Das geheime politische Tagebuch des Kurprinzen Friedrich Christian: 1751 bis 1757 | publisher = Böhlau-Verlag | place = Weimar | year = 1992 | isbn = 3-7400-0105-4 | language = German}}.</ref> He was also known for his considerable musical talent.

==Marriage==
In [[Munich]] on 13 June 1747 (by proxy) and again in [[Dresden]] on 20 June 1747 (in person), Frederick Christian married his cousin [[Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria|Maria Antonia of Bavaria]]. Like him, she was exceptionally talented in music and the couple had nine children.

==Reign as Elector==
[[File: Gottfried Boy 001.jpg|thumb|left|Frederick Christian by Gottfried Boy, 1751]]
One of his first acts as elector was the dismissal of the extremely unpopular prime minister, the Count [[Heinrich von Brühl]], who had plunged Saxony into crisis, first with his failed economic policy, but particularly by his catastrophic foreign policy, which caused the electorate to become involved in the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref name = "Flathe" />

He began to reconstruct the wrecked finances of his country through his "''Rétablissements''": reforms of the policies of the electorate states. Through [[economic reconstruction]], he gave new life to the devastated and plundered land which his predecessors had left him.  Also introduced were measures to pare down the expenses of the court, and to simplify administration in accordance with principles of economy.  Most members of his government, such as [[Thomas von Fritsch]] of [[Leipzig]], [[Friedrich Ludwig Wurmb]], and [[Christian Gotthelf Gutschmied]] had middle-class origins.

After a reign of only 74 days, Frederick Christian died of [[smallpox]].<ref name="Flathe"/> He was buried in the [[Katholische Hofkirche|Hofkirche]] of Dresden.<ref name="Flathe"/>

Because Frederick Christian's eldest son [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]] was a minor, his brother [[Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony|Francis Xavier]] and the Dowager Electress Maria Antonia took the joint regency of the electorate until the boy's majority.

==Issue==
#A son (9 June 1748)
#[[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony]] (23 December 1750 – 5 May 1827) married [[Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld]], had issue
#''Karl'' Maximilian Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Franz Xavier Januar (b. Dresden, 24 September 1752 – d. Dresden, 8 September 1781) died unmarried
#''Joseph'' Maria Ludwig Johann Nepomuck Aloys Gonzaga Franz Xavier Januar Anton de Padua Polycarp (26 January 1754 – 25 March 1763) died in childhood
#[[Anthony of Saxony|Anton of Saxony]] (27 December 1755 – 6 June 1836) married [[Maria Carolina of Savoy]], no issue; married [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1767–1827)|Maria Theresa of Austria]], no surviving issue
#[[Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony|Maria Amalia of Saxony]] (26 September 1757 – 20 April 1831) married [[Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken|Karl II August of Zweibrücken]] and had issue
#[[Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony|Maximilian of Saxony]] (13 April 1759 – 3 January 1838) married [[Princess Caroline of Parma]] and had issue; married secondly [[Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma]] without issue
#[[Maria Anna of Saxony (1761-1820)|Theresia ''Maria'']] Josepha Magdalena ''Anna'' Antonia Walburga Ignatia Xaveria Augustina Aloysia Fortunata (27 February 1761 – 26 November 1820) died unmarried, [[Order of Queen Maria Luisa]]
#Stillborn son (1762).

==Ancestry==
{{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=PA100|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=100}}</ref>
|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 Christian, Elector of Saxony''''
|2= 2. [[Augustus III of Poland]]
|3= 3. [[Maria Josepha of Austria]]
|4= 4. [[Augustus II of Poland]]
|5= 5. [[Christiane Eberhardine of Bayreuth]]
|6= 6. [[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|7= 7. [[Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick]]
|8= 8. [[John George III, Elector of Saxony]]
|9= 9. [[Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark]]
|10= 10. [[Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth]]
|11= 11. [[Sophie Louise of Württemberg]]
|12= 12. [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|13= 13. [[Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg]]
|14= 14. [[John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg]]
|15= 15. [[Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate]]
}}

==See also==
* [[History of Saxony]]
* [[Rulers of Saxony]]
* [[Dresden Castle]] – Residence of Frederick Christian

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Augustus III of Poland|Frederick Augustus II]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title= [[Rulers of Saxony|Elector of Saxony]]|years= 1763}} 
{{s-aft|after= [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Princes of Saxony}}
{{Electors of Saxony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Christian Of Saxony, Elector}}
[[Category:Polish Prince Royals]]
[[Category:Candidates for the Polish elective throne]]
[[Category:Prince-electors of Saxony]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Electoral princes of Saxony]]
[[Category:1722 births]]
[[Category:1763 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
[[Category:Burials at Dresden Cathedral]]
[[Category:Nobility from Dresden]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]