Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
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The bought crown of Poland...
On June 27, 1697, the incredibly ambitious elctoral prince Friedrich August I of Saxony...
... under the name "August II." elected King of Poland - here is the election ceremony...:
The Saxon ruler, we know him better by his nickname "August the Strong" had - in order to obtain the royal crown - specially converted from the Protestant faith to Catholicism, since in Poland only a Catholic could obtain the royal dignity.
To be on the safe side, he even converted twice:
The first time on June 1, 1697 in the Catholic court chapel in Baden near Vienna and again on July 27, 1697 in public in Deutsch-Piekar in Poland.
Well - his private matter, in which litany he wants to worship his God!
The fact that he ruined the Saxon state treasury with his ambitions and then - in order to get at least part of the money back in through tax increases - the Saxon economy should not be called "private" at all!
The Polish nobility, who elected the king, used every trick in the book to fleece the ambitious Augustus after word got around that the Saxon was ready to do almost anything for the Polish crown.
The almost unbelievable sum of 39 million Reichstaler in bribes alone costs the election!
And in order to remain in favor with the Polish nobility (who could vote him out again at will!), the strong August squeezes millions out of his Saxon and greases the greedy hands of the Polish Pane with it.
In order to raise the money, he sells or leases a number of parts of the Saxon state: In 1689, for 733,333 talers and 6 pfennigs (equivalent to 1.1 million guilders), he waived his claim to Sachsen-Lauenburg after the local Ascanians had died out and in 1698 he sold the Hereditary bailiwick of the Quedlinburg Abbey for 300,000 talers to the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg, to whom he also left the offices of Lauterberg, Sevenberg, Gersdorff and Petersberg and, in 1707, the office of the Imperial Schulzen over Nordhausen. In 1699, the Counts of Schwarzburg were granted sovereign rights in exchange for money.
And what is all this for?
To become "By the Grace of God King in Poland, Grand Duke in Lithuania, Russia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kyovia, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Lieffland, Smolenscia, Severia and Tschernikovia, hereditary Duke of Saxony, Jülich, Cleve, Berg, Engern and Westphalia, Archmarshal and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen also Upper and Lower Lusatia, Burgrave of Magdeburg, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, Ravensberg and Barby, Lord of Ravenstein etc.” to be able to!
August is so proud of his new royal dignity that he has repeatedly presented himself with the Polish crown jewels...
...malen lässt - natürlich überlebensgroß!
As early as 1706, after the total defeat by Sweden during the "Great Northern War", August had to renounce his royal dignity in the peace treaty that was concluded at Altranstedt Castle...:
The expensive adventure only lasted nine years.
He does manage to regain the crown in 1709 (more bribes are needed!) but by then it's not worth much! Poland's neighbors Prussia, Russia and Austria will divide the country among themselves in the not too distant future.
August, who is not only strong but a heavy (downright gluttonous!) eater, weighs 250 pounds towards the end of his life and suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and various lipid disorders. He died on February 1, 1733 in Warsaw, the capital of his purchased kingdom, only 62 years old.
On June 27, 1697, the incredibly ambitious elctoral prince Friedrich August I of Saxony...
... under the name "August II." elected King of Poland - here is the election ceremony...:
The Saxon ruler, we know him better by his nickname "August the Strong" had - in order to obtain the royal crown - specially converted from the Protestant faith to Catholicism, since in Poland only a Catholic could obtain the royal dignity.
To be on the safe side, he even converted twice:
The first time on June 1, 1697 in the Catholic court chapel in Baden near Vienna and again on July 27, 1697 in public in Deutsch-Piekar in Poland.
Well - his private matter, in which litany he wants to worship his God!
The fact that he ruined the Saxon state treasury with his ambitions and then - in order to get at least part of the money back in through tax increases - the Saxon economy should not be called "private" at all!
The Polish nobility, who elected the king, used every trick in the book to fleece the ambitious Augustus after word got around that the Saxon was ready to do almost anything for the Polish crown.
The almost unbelievable sum of 39 million Reichstaler in bribes alone costs the election!
And in order to remain in favor with the Polish nobility (who could vote him out again at will!), the strong August squeezes millions out of his Saxon and greases the greedy hands of the Polish Pane with it.
In order to raise the money, he sells or leases a number of parts of the Saxon state: In 1689, for 733,333 talers and 6 pfennigs (equivalent to 1.1 million guilders), he waived his claim to Sachsen-Lauenburg after the local Ascanians had died out and in 1698 he sold the Hereditary bailiwick of the Quedlinburg Abbey for 300,000 talers to the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg, to whom he also left the offices of Lauterberg, Sevenberg, Gersdorff and Petersberg and, in 1707, the office of the Imperial Schulzen over Nordhausen. In 1699, the Counts of Schwarzburg were granted sovereign rights in exchange for money.
And what is all this for?
To become "By the Grace of God King in Poland, Grand Duke in Lithuania, Russia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Kyovia, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Lieffland, Smolenscia, Severia and Tschernikovia, hereditary Duke of Saxony, Jülich, Cleve, Berg, Engern and Westphalia, Archmarshal and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen also Upper and Lower Lusatia, Burgrave of Magdeburg, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark, Ravensberg and Barby, Lord of Ravenstein etc.” to be able to!
August is so proud of his new royal dignity that he has repeatedly presented himself with the Polish crown jewels...
...malen lässt - natürlich überlebensgroß!
As early as 1706, after the total defeat by Sweden during the "Great Northern War", August had to renounce his royal dignity in the peace treaty that was concluded at Altranstedt Castle...:
The expensive adventure only lasted nine years.
He does manage to regain the crown in 1709 (more bribes are needed!) but by then it's not worth much! Poland's neighbors Prussia, Russia and Austria will divide the country among themselves in the not too distant future.
August, who is not only strong but a heavy (downright gluttonous!) eater, weighs 250 pounds towards the end of his life and suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and various lipid disorders. He died on February 1, 1733 in Warsaw, the capital of his purchased kingdom, only 62 years old.
