Franz Xavier of Saxony

Franz Xavier of Saxony (b. Dresden, 25 August 1730 - d. Dresden, 21 June 1806), was a german prince member of the House of Wettin.

He was the fourth but second surviving son of Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and Maria Josepha of Austria.

Life

Regent of Saxony

After the death of his older brother, the Elector Frederick Christian who had governed only 74 days (17 December 1763), Franz Xavier took over the regency of the Electorate together with his sister-in-law, the Dowager Electres Maria Antonia of Bavaria on behalf of his infant nephew and new Elector Frederick Augustus III and continued the rationalistic reforms of his brother.

Franz Xavier performed in October 1765 --against the wishes of the Dowager Electress Maria Antonia and in consequence of the treaty signed between Prussia and Russia on 11 April 1764-- the formal renunciation of the Polish Crown in name of the young Elector in favor of Stanislaus Poniatowski. Also, the introduction of Franz Xavier (according to the model of Prussia) of an army reform bumped with the estates of the country and caused a violent refusal particularly because of the high expenses of this reforms.

According of the regulations of the Golden Bull of 1356, the regency of an underage Elector ended with the reaching of his eighteen birthday. On 1768, the Elector Frederick Augustus III was formally proclaimed and adult and Franz Xavier ended his functions as Regent of the Electorate.

ecret Marriage, Exile and Return to Saxony

In Dresden on 9 March 1765 Franz Xavier married secretly and morganatically with a Lady-in-waiting of his sister-in-law, the Italian "Contessa" Maria Chiara Spinucci. The union was keep in secret and appears as a concubinage until was formally published and legitimized in 1777.

In 1769 Franz Xavier moved to France under the title of Count of Lusatia (fr: "Comte de Lusace", de: "Gräf von der Lausitz") and live there with his family for almost twenty years, when he left the country at the beginning of the French Revolution. They moved to Rome and, after the death of his wife in 1792, he remained there some years after his finally return to Saxony and settled his residence in the Schloss Zabeltitz, where Franz Xavier live until his death, aged seventy-five.

Issue

During their marriage, Franz Xavier and Maria Chiara had ten children —known as Count/Countess of Lusatia (de: "Gräf/Gräfin von der Lausitz") — but only six survived adulthood:

#Ludwig Ruprecht Joseph Xavier (b. Dresden, 27 March 1766 - d. Pont-sur-Seine, 22 August 1782).
#Clara Maria Augusta Beatrice (b. Dresden, 27 March 1766 - d. Dresden, 18 November 1766), twin with Ludwig.
#Joseph Xavier Karl Raphael Philipp Benno (b. Dresden, 23 August 1767 - killed in a duel at Teplitz, 26 June 1802), called "Le Chevalier de Saxe".
#Elisabeth Ursula Anna Cordula Xaveria (b. Dresden, 22 October 1768 - d. Dresden, 3 May 1844), called "Mademoiselle de Saxe"; married on 8 November 1787 to Henri de Preissac, Duc d'Esclignac.
#Maria Anna Violante Katharina Martha Xaveria (b. Siena, 20 October 1770 - d. Rome, 24 December 1845), married on 15 October 1793 to Principe Don Paluzzo Altieri, Principe di Oriolo.
#Beatrix Marie Françoise Brigitte (b. Chaumot, 1 February 1772 - d. Dresden, 6 February 1806), married on 18 February 1794 to Don Raffaele Riario-Sforza, Marchese di Corleto.
#Kunigunde Anna Helena Maria Josepha (b. Chaumot, 18 March 1774 - d. Rome, 18 October 1828), married on 1795 to Marchese Don Giovanni Patrizi Naro Montoro.
#Maria Christina Sabina (b. Pont-sur-Seine, 30 December 1775 - d. Rome, 20 August 1837), married on 24 March1796 to Don Camillo Massimiliano Massimo, Principe di Arsoli.
#Stillborn son (Pont-sur-Seine, 22 December 1777).
#Cecilie Marie Adelaide Augustine (b. Pont-sur-Seine, 17 December 1779 - d. Pont-sur-Seine, 24 June 1781).

Ancestry

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1= 1. Franz Xavier 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