German prince (1733-1796)
Prince Karl Christian Joseph of Saxony
- in English,
Charles of Saxony
- (13 July 1733 – 16 June 1796) was a German prince of the
House of Wettin
and
Duke of Courland and Semigallia
. Born in
Dresden
, he was the fifth son of
Augustus III
, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and
Maria Josepha of Austria
. He is an ancestor of the Italian
House of Savoy
.
Life
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Causes of his election as Duke of Courland
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The
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
had been created in 1561 by
Gotthard Kettler
, last master of the
Livonian Order
, and had been ruled by his descendants until the dynasty died out in 1737. Then,
Empress Anna of Russia
herself the widow of
Frederick William
the penultimate
Duke of Courland
, managed to place her lover,
Ernst Johann von Biron
, on the Ducal throne of Courland. Empress Anna died only three years later and was succeeded by her infant grand-nephew
Ivan VI
, at which time von Biron had become regent of Russia. His regency lasted only three weeks. Von Biron was hated by the Russian aristocracy because of his extravagances and autocratic behaviour and also for the arrogance he had shown during Empress Anna's lifetime, as her lover. The young Tsar's mother,
Anna Leopoldovna
and the influential minister
Burkhard Christoph von Munnich
conspired to remove von Biron from office, confiscated his estates and exiled him to
Siberia
in the winter of 1740-41. Only months later, in November 1741, Russia witnessed another coup which brought
Empress Elizabeth
, a cousin of the late
Empress Anna
, to the throne. The child-Tsar
Ivan VI
, his mother
Anna Leopoldovna
and all other members of their family were arrested. Now, certainly, the new Tsarina Elisabeth granted a pardon to
von Biron
, allowed him to return from
Siberia
and ordered him to live in
Yaroslavl
. However, because of her fear that he could again return to great power as he had done during Empress Anna's reign, she refused to restore his former privileges or the Duchy of Courland.
The matter of who would be Duke of Courland remained in stalemate for more than sixteen years. Finally, under pressure from Saxony and Poland, to sort out the selection of a new duke, the local nobility chose in 1758 their favoured candidate, the son of the Polish king, Prince Charles Christian. The young prince had previously travelled to
St. Petersburg
, from where came the agreement of Tsarina Elisabeth, confirming the plan.
Duke of Courland and Semigallia
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Most of the Protestant Courland aristocracy harboured doubts about Charles ? largely because they feared a Roman Catholic Duke would exert his influence in favour of the Polish Roman Catholic State ? and tried to limit Charles’s powers by formulating a contract of electoral surrender, in case he exceeded his remit. Before these negotiations could come to fruition, his father appointed him Duke on 10 November 1758 and formally invested him on 8 January 1759 along with the territory of
Semigallia
. Thereupon Charles, who had signed only a rather vague assurance about religious observance and aristocratic privileges, travelled to Courland and, on 29 March 1759, solemnly entered the capital of his Duchy,
Mitau
. After the Courland Diet (
Landtag
) and the States had met, they lost any hope of obtaining a stronger undertaking from Charles. Nevertheless, they still favoured him. Appropriately, many aristocrats refused to pay
homage
on the new Duke’s appointment on 3 November 1759 and instead took their protest to Warsaw and St. Petersburg.
The Duke was fond of the good life and lived in remarkable style in
Schloss Mitau
. He entertained the aristocracy with parties and hunts, whereby he was able to increase his popularity. Also, he joined a Freemason's lodge, very fashionable in Poland at that time, and thus protected himself from the aristocrats with whom the nobility were in agreement. He left domestic politics, however, in the hands of his Country administrator (
Landhofmeister
), Otto Christoph von der Howen (1699-1775).
Renunciation of the Duchy and later life
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In July 1762,
Catherine
? who had disapproved of Duke Charles because of his apparent lack of interest in the welfare of his subjects ? took the Russian throne in a coup d'etat. She allowed the now entirely rehabilitated von Biron to return from exile and put substantial diplomatic pressure on Saxony, with the aim of restoring him to his old position as Duke. Finally, an ailing Augustus III ? not only because of his declining health but also as a consequence of the
Seven Years' War
? accepted the fate of his son and denied him his support. Without it, Charles was forced to renounce the Duchy in 1763, and returned to Saxony.
His hopes of regaining the Duchy of Courland evaporated after the shortly ensuing death of his father and the Saxon Electors' loss of the Polish Crown. Thereafter, Charles lived in Dresden and dedicated himself to hunting on the Annaburger plain.
Charles died in Dresden aged sixty-two. He was buried at St. Marienstern Abbey (
Kloster Marienstern
) in
Panschwitz-Kuckau
.
Morganatic marriage and issue
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On 25 March 1760 in
Warsaw
, Charles had secretly married Countess
Franciszka Krasi?ska
, third daughter of Count Stanisław
Korwin Krasi?ski
(1717?1762) and his wife, Aniela
Humi?cka
(b. 1715). Because the beautiful Franciszka did not belong to a ruling
dynasty
or
immediate noble
family, the marriage was deemed
morganatic
in Saxony, though not in Poland. In response to his persistence and that of supporters in the Saxon
court
, in June 1775 his wife was granted by
Emperor Joseph II
the title of
Princess
. The couple had two daughters:
- Maria Theresia (born and died 1767).
- Maria Christina Albertina Carolina
(born Dresden, 7 December 1770 - died Paris, 24 November 1851), married firstly on 24 October 1797 to
Carlo Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Carignano
, and after his death she was married on 1 February 1816 to Jules Maximilien Thibaut, Prince de Montleart (1787-1865).
[1]
Through his surviving daughter's first marriage, Charles became an ancestor of the Italian Royal Family that reigned from 1861 to 1946.
Ancestry
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Ancestors of Charles, Duke of Courland
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