page_title: Augustus III of Poland
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Augustus III of Poland / Biography
context_page_description: Augustus III was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1734 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire from 1733 until 1763 where he was known as Frederick Augustus II.
  He was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, and converted to the Roman Catholicism in 1712 to secure his candidacy for the Polish throne. In 1719 he married Maria Josepha, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, and became Elector of Saxony following his father's death in 1733. Augustus was able to gain the support of Charles VI by agreeing to the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and also gained recognition from Russian Empress Anna by supporting Russia's claim to the region of Courland. He was elected king of Poland by a small minority on 5 October 1733 and subsequently banished the former Polish king Stanisław I. He was crowned in Kraków on 17 January 1734.
  Augustus was supportive of Austria against Prussia in the War of the Austrian Succession and again in the Seven Years' War, both of which resulted in Saxony being defeated and occupied by the Prussian Kingdom.
caption: Augustus, aged 19 years in 1715 by Nicolas de Largillière
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