Maria Augusta Nepomucena Antonia Francisca Xaveria Aloysia (german: Maria Augusta Nepomucena Antonia Franziska Xaveria Aloysia; pl, Maria Augusta Nepomucena Antonia Franciszka Ksaweria Alojzia) of Saxony (born

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, 21 June 1782; died Dresden, 14 March 1863) was Princess of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. Between 1791 and 1795, she played a political role as the potential successor to the Polish throne. She was considered a potential heir to the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

in 1807-1813.

Life

Maria Augusta was a member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

as the daughter of

Frederick Augustus I of Saxony pl, Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery , image = Frederick Augustus I of Saxony by Marcello Bacciarelli (ca 1808-1809).png , caption = Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1809) , succession = King of Saxony , coron ...

and

Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (Maria Amalie Auguste; 10 May 1752 – 15 November 1828) was the last Electress and first Queen of Saxony and Duchess of Warsaw. Biography Amalie was born in Mannheim, the daughter of Count Pa ...

Potential heir to the Polish throne

Her father, Frederick Augustus, was the

King of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...

. She was his only child to reach adulthood. Her family had a claim to the throne of Poland (

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

) and the

Constitution of 3 May The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...

1791 named her as a potential successor to the Polish throne if the male line of the Wettin family were to end. In Poland, she was called the "

infanta ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

of Poland" and a marriage for her considered with Prince Stanisław Poniatowski, a nephew of the Polish king. Her father's hesitation in accepting this proposal and the subsequent

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

in 1793-1795 prevented this from occurring. After the formation of the

, her father was named ruling duke of the

, and she was widely regarded as her father's successor there, despite the fact that the Duchy was bound by

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old Du ...

.Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw, Title II, Article 5 Plans to marry her to a family that would be able to strengthen its claim on Poland failed, as none of the contemporary powers wanted to strengthen Saxony or restore the Polish kingdom. One of her potential suitors was Prince Józef Poniatowski, the cousin of her earlier suggested spouse Stanisław.

References

External links

picture
1782 births 1863 deaths House of Wettin Saxon princesses Nobility from Dresden German Roman Catholics Burials at Dresden Cathedral Albertine branch Daughters of kings {{Poland-noble-stub