View source for Augustus II, King of Poland (1670-1733)

[[File:ME1_188.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Augustus II, King of Poland<br />
Source: [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia Commons]'']]
Augustus II: King of [[Poland|Poland]] from 1697 to 1706, and 1709 to 1733, and Elector of [[Saxony|Saxony]] from 1694 to 1733; born 12 May 1670 in Dresden, the second son of Elector Johann Georg III of Saxony (1647-1691) and Anne Sophie of [[Denmark|Denmark ]](1647-1717). He became elector of Saxony in 1694 after the death of his older brother, Johann Georg IV (1668-1694), and ruled as Friedrich August (Frederick Augustus) I. After the death of King [[John III Sobieski, King of Poland (1629-1696)|John III Sobieski]] of Poland, Friedrich converted to Catholicism and, with the backing of Russia and Austria, was elected King of Poland in 1697. In 1706, [[Karl XII, King of Sweden (1682-1718)|King Karl XII of Sweden]] invaded Poland and forced Augustus to give up the throne in favor of Stanisław Leszczyński (1677-1766). However, Russia defeated Sweden in 1709 and Augustus regained the throne, ruling until his death on 1 February 1733 in Warsaw. He was succeeded by his son Friedrich August II, who ruled as [[Augustus III, King of Poland (1696-1763)|Augustus III]].

On 20 September 1697 at Kraców, Augustus II confirmed all the privileges previously granted to the Mennonites. He valued the Mennonites as good taxpayers and protected them when a storm of fanatical hostility on the part of some Polish leaders arose in Parliament in 1699 and 1700, demanding that the severe laws against [[Arians|Arians ]]be applied against them. These laws would have confiscated their goods and banished them. King Augustus defended them and had a new charter prepared for them in Warsaw, stating that "Mennonites retain all the rights, privileges and freedom in secular as well as in spiritual matters" (12 October 1732).
= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 96.

Mannhardt, Wilhelm. <em>Die Wehrfreiheit der altpreussischen Mennoniten: eine geschichtliche Erörterung</em>. Marienburg: im Selbstverlage der Altpreussischen Mennonitengemeinden : in Commission bei B. Hermann Hemmpels Wwe., 1863: 98, 91.
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[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Rulers and Politicians]]