Prince Maximilian of Saxony (Maximilian Maria Joseph Anton Johann Baptist Johann Evangelista Ignaz Augustin Xavier Aloys Johann Nepomuk Januar Hermenegild Agnellis Paschalis; 13 April 1759 – 3 January 1838) was a German prince and a member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

. He was the sixth child; however, the third child to survive childhood, and youngest surviving son of

Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony Frederick Christian (; 5 September 1722 – 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 su ...

, and the German composer Duchess

Maria Antonia Walpurgis of Bavaria Maria Antonia, Princess of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (18 July 1724 – 23 April 1780) was a German princess, composer, singer, harpsichordist and patron of the arts, known particularly for her operas: ''Il trionfo della fedeltà'' (“The tr ...

Life

Since he was the youngest son of the family, Maximilian initially had little chance to inherit the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

. However, by 1800, Maximilian was the third in line to the Electorate due to the children of his two eldest brothers, Frederick Augustus and

Anthony Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descenda ...

, dying in infancy, except Maria Augusta, Frederick Augustus's only surviving offspring. After the creation of the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

in 1806, Maximilian became a Prince of Saxony. After the death of Frederick Augustus in 1827, Anthony succeeded him as King. Maximilian became first in line to the Saxon throne as Hereditary Prince. However, three years later, on 1 September 1830, during the Autumn Disturbances, he renounced his rights of succession in favour of his eldest son, Frederick Augustus. He died eight years later, aged seventy-eight.

Marriages and issue

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

on 22 April 1792, Maximilian and Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma wed, Maria Carolina being the eldest child of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria, by proxy, and in person in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

on 9 May 1792. Maximilian and Carolina bore eight children: * Maria Amalia (10 August 1794 – 18 September 1870) * Maria Ferdinanda (27 April 1796 – 3 January 1865); married on 6 May 1821 to

Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III(; ; English: ''Ferdinand Joseph John Baptist''. (6 May 1769 – 18 June 1824) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1790 to 1801 and, after a period of disenfranchisement, again from 1814 to 1824. He was also the Prince-elector and Grand D ...

. * Frederick Augustus II (18 May 1797 – 9 August 1854); King of Saxony, 1836. Married on 7 October 1819 to Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria. Married, secondly, on 24 April 1833 to Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. * Clemens Maria Joseph (1 May 1798 – 4 January 1822) * Maria Anna (15 November 1799 – 24 March 1832); married on 16 November 1817 to

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, , English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1824 to 1859. He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Mari ...

. * Johann I (12 December 1801 – 29 October 1873); King of Saxony, 1854. Married on 10 November 1822 to Princess Amalie of Bavaria. * Maria Josepha Amalia (6 December 1803 – 17 May 1829); married on 20 October 1819 to King

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

. In

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

on 15 October 1825 Maximilian married Maria Luisa Carlotta of Parma, daughter of King

Louis of Etruria Louis I (; 5 July 1773 – 27 May 1803) was the first of the two kings of Etruria. Louis was the son of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, and Maria Amalia of Austria. He was born in 1773, when his great-grandfather, King Louis XV of France, was still ...

and niece of his first wife Carolina, by proxy, and the two wed in person in

on 7 November 1825. She was forty-three years younger than her husband; they had no children.

Honours

* : Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, ''1762'' * : ** Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

, ''16 March 1792'' ** Grand Cross of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

, ''10 December 1824'' * French Empire: Grand Eagle of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, ''1807/08'' * : ** Knight of the

Order of the Rue Crown The Order of the Rue Crown () or Order of the Crown of Saxony was a dynastic order of knighthood of the Kingdom of Saxony. The order takes its name from the green floral crown of rue ('' crancelin'') found in the coat of arms of Saxony. It occup ...

, ''1807'' ** Grand Cross of the Civil Merit Order, ''1815'' * : Knight of the Order of St. Hubert, ''1808'' *

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

: Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders (

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

and St. James), ''1825'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit *

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Joseph

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximilian Of Saxony, Hereditary Prince 1759 births 1838 deaths House of Wettin Saxon princes Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain 2 2 Burials at Dresden Cathedral Nobility from Dresden German Roman Catholics Albertine branch Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Sons of prince-electors Heirs presumptive