Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz (9 October 1666 in Moritzburg – 23 August 1725 in Regensburg), was a German prince 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 ...

. Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz was a

Teutonic Knight The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, the Primas of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and finally a cardinal. On 22 May 1712 he crowned Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor as the

King of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

and on 18 October 1714 also his wife

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (28 August 1691 – 21 December 1750) was Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary; and Archduchess of Austria by her marriage to Empe ...

in St. Martin's Cathedral.

Life

He was the third (but second surviving) son of

Maurice, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz Maurice of Saxe-Zeitz (28 March 1619 – 4 December 1681) was a duke of Saxe-Zeitz and member of the House of Wettin. Born in Dresden, he was the youngest surviving son of John George I, Elector of Saxony, and his second wife Magdalene Sibylle of ...

, and his second wife, Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Weimar. A

, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1696 and became Provost of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

(1696–1725), then Bishop of Raab (1696–1725) and finally on 17 May 1706 was created a Cardinal by Pope Clement XI. He was chosen to convert his kinsman, the King-Elector August the Strong of Poland to the Catholic faith. Christian August instructed him secretly and on 1 June 1697 baptized him secretly in the Court Chapel (''Hofkapelle'') in Baden bei Wien, then publicly and solemnly in the German ''Piekar'' in Oppeln. When the conversion was finally formalized, Christian August issued a certificate to the king, which was authenticated by the Papal nunzio. In 1707 Christian August was elected Archbishop of Esztergom (Gran) and consequently, Primas of

. He used the office of a deputy of the Emperor as Principal Commissioner (''Prinzipalkommissar'') in the Perpetual Imperial Diet ('' Reichstag'') of Regensburg. On the occasion of the victory over the Turks in Belgrade in 1717 Christian August, as representative of the Emperor Charles VI, organized a magnificent celebration in the Imperial Diet realm. During the festivities, the Order of St. Emmeram was created in the knight's hall on 26 October. The death of his brother

Maurice Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Zeitz Moritz Wilhelm (English: Maurice William; 12 March 1664 – 15 November 1718), a member of the Saxon House of Wettin, was the second and last Duke of Saxe-Zeitz from 1681 until his death. Life He was born at Moritzburg Castle in the Wettin ...

, on 15 November 1718 without surviving male issue, made him heir to the duchy of Saxe-Zeitz, but because he took the monastic vows (and the next in line to the inheritance, Christian August's nephew Maurice Adolf, was also a priest), Zeitz was merged into the Electorate of Saxony in accordance with the will of Elector Johann Georg I.

Death

Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz died on 23 August 1725 in Regensburg. He is buried in the crypts of St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava the capital of present-day

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian August Of Saxe-Zeitz 17th-century German people 18th-century German people 17th-century Hungarian people 18th-century Hungarian people Bishops of Győr House of Wettin German Roman Catholics German expatriates in Hungary Archbishops of Esztergom People from Győr Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism People from Moritzburg 1666 births 1725 deaths Burials at St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava Albertine branch