Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony

Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony (b. Dresden, 5 September, 1722 – d. Dresden, 17 December, 1763) was a Elector of Saxony and member of the House of Wettin.

He was the third but eldest surviving son of Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, by his wife, Maria Josepha of Austria.

Early life

A weak child since his birth, he suffered some paralysis in one foot and was dependent on wheelchairs early in life. In a well-known portrait, which shows his Wettin and Wittelsbach relatives around him, he appears in his wheelchair. Today, this painting is shown in the Schloss Nymphenburg. His mother tried repeatedly to induce him to take the monastic vows and renounce his succession rights in favour of Friedrich Christian's younger brother.

Already, as Elector, Frederick Christian had written in his diary: "The princes are for their subjects there and not the subjects for the princes. The wealth of the subjects, the public credit and a well standing Army make the true luck of the Prince"." and himself thereby openly for the ideas of Age of Enlightenment. He was also known for an expressive music talent.

The early deaths of his two older brothers, Frederick Augusus (1721), who died before his birth, and Joseph Augustus (1728), made him the heir of his father. When he died, on 5 October 1763, Frederick Christian succeeded him as Elector.

Reign as Elector

One of his first acts as Elector was the dismissal of the extremely unpopular Prime Minister, the Count Heinrich von Brühl, who had failed with his finance policy, but particularly by its catastrophic acting in the foreign policy, which caused the incorporation of the Electorate in the Seven Years' War and the subsequent crisis of Saxony.

He tried to arrange his devastated country with some economic reconstruction and made new impulses to the wrecked finances of the state, which his predecessors had left him, again in the course of the "Rétablissements". Reforms to the politics of the electorate states and the simplification of his administration according to the principle of the frugality were started. Most members of his government, like Thomas von Fritsch from Leipzig and Friedrich Ludwig Wurmb and Christian Gotthelf Gutschmied originated from the middle class (citizens).

After a reign of only 74 days, Frederick Christian died of smallpox. He was buried in the Hofkirche of Dresden.

Because his eldest son and new Elector was a minor, his wife, the Dowager Electress Maria Antonia and his brother Franz Xavier, took the joint regency of the Electorate.

Ancestors

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1= 1. Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony
2= 2. Augustus III of Poland
3= 3. Maria Josepha of Austria
4= 4. Augustus II of Poland
5= 5. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
6= 6. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
7= 7. Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick
8= 8. John George III, Elector of Saxony
9= 9. Anne Sophie of Denmark
10= 10. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
11= 11. Sofie Luise of Württemberg
12= 12. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
13= 13. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg
14= 14. John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
15= 15. Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern
16= 16. John George II, Elector of Saxony
17= 17. Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
18= 18. Frederick III of Denmark
19= 19. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
20= 20. Erdmann August of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
21= 21. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach
22= 22. Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg
23= 23. Anna Katharina of Salm-Kyrburg
24= 24. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
25= 25. Maria Anna of Spain
26= 26. Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
27= 27. Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
28= 28. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
29= 29. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
30= 30. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
31= 31. Anna Gonzaga

Family

In Munich on 13 June 1747 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 20 June 1747 (in person), Frederick Christian married with Maria Antonia Walpurgis of Bavaria. They had nine children:

#A son (b. and d. Dresden, 9 June 1748).
#Frederick Augustus III Joseph Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Xavier (b. Dresden, 23 December 1750 - d. Dresden, 5 May 1827), King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (since 11 December 1806).
#Karl Maximilian Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Franz Xavier Januar (b. Dresden, 24 September 1752 - d. Dresden, 8 September 1781), known as "Karl".
#Joseph Maria Ludwig Johann Nepomuck Aloys Gonzaga Franz Xavier Januar Anton de Padua Polycarp (b. Dresden, 26 January 1754 - d. Dresden, 25 March 1763), known as "Joseph".
#Anton Clemens Theodor Maria Joseph Johann Evangelista Johann Nepomuk Franz Xavier Aloys Januar (b. Dresden, 27 December 1755 - d. Pillnitz, 6 June 1836), succesor of his older brother as King of Saxony (1827).
#Maria Amalia Anna Josepha Antonia Justina Augustina Xaveria Aloysia Johanna Nepomucena Magdalena Walburga Katharina (b. Dresden, 26 September 1757 - d. Neuburg, 20 April 1831), known as "Maria Amalia"; married on 12 February 1774 to Duke Karl II August of Zweibrücken.
#Maximilian Maria Joseph Anton Johann Baptist Johann Evangelista Ignaz Augustin Xavier Aloys Johann Nepomuk Januar Hermenegild Agnellis Paschalis (b. Dresden, 13 April 1759 - d. Dresden, 3 January 1838), known as "Maximilian".
#Theresia Maria Josepha Magdalena Anna Antonia Walburga Ignatia Xaveria Augustina Aloysia Fortunata (b. Munich, 27 February 1761 - d. Dresden, 26 November 1820), known as "Maria Anna".
#Stillborn son (1762).