August II

August II, der Starke, King of Poland and, as Friedrich August I, Kurfürst von Sachsen (Dresden, 1670-1733, Warsaw), was the second son of the Elector Johann Georg III, and became elector in 1694 and king of Poland in 1697. He had temporarily to cede the crown to Stanislas Leszczyński. In his residences in Dresden and Warsaw August sought to emulate Louis XIV. Meißen (Dresden) porcelain was invented in his reign by Tschirnhaus und Böttger. He left only one legitimate son (see August III), but had numerous illegitimate children, one of whom, Moritz von Sachsen (see Saxe, Maurice de, Maréchal), achieved military fame in French service. The adjective ‘strong’ referred, not to his character or policy, but to his immense physical prowess.