December 27, 2012 <Back to Index>
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Anthony (b. Dresden, 27 December 1755 – d. Dresden, 6 June 1836), also known by his German name Anton (full name: Anton Clemens Theodor Maria Joseph Johann Evangelista Johann Nepomuk Franz Xavier Aloys Januar), was a King of Saxony (1827 – 1836) from the House of Wettin. He became known as Anton der Gütige (en: "Anthony the Kind"). He was the fifth but third surviving son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony, and Maria Antonia of Bavaria. With
few chances to take part in the politics of the Electorate of Saxony or
receive any land from his older brother Frederick Augustus III, Anton
lived under the shadows. No Elector of Saxony after Johann Georg I gave
appananges to his younger sons. During
the first years of the reign of his older brother as Elector, Anton was
the third in line, preceded only by his older brother Karl. The death
of Karl (8 September 1781) made him the next in line to the Electorate
as Crown Prince (de: Kronprinz); this was because all the pregnancies of the Electress Amalie, except for one daughter, ended in a stillbirth. His aunt, the Dauphine of France, had wanted to engage her daughter Marie Zéphyrine of France to
Anthony; Marie Zéphyrine died in 1755 and the plans were
scrapped. Another French candidate was Marie Zéphyrine's sister Marie Clotide (later Queen of Sardinia) but again nothing happened. In Turin on 29 September 1781 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 24 October 1781 (in person), Anton married firstly with the Princess Caroline of Savoy (Maria Carolina Antonietta Adelaida), daughter of the King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain. Caroline died after only one year of marriage, on 28 December 1782 having succumbed to smallpox. They had no children. In Florence on 8 September 1787 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 18 October 1787 (in person), Anton married a second time with the Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria (Maria Theresia Josephe Charlotte Johanna), daughter of the Grand Duke Leopold I of Tuscany, later Emperor Leopold II. Mozart's opera Don Giovanni was originally intended to be performed in honor of Anton and his wife for a visit to Prague on 14 October 1787, as they traveled between Dresden and Vienna, and librettos were printed with dedication to them. The premiere could not be arranged on time, however, so the opera The Marriage of Figaro was substituted on the express orders of the bride's uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. The choice of The Marriage of Figaro was
considered improper for a new bride by many observers, and the couple
left the opera theater early without seeing the entire work performed.
Mozart complained bitterly of the intrigues surrounding this incident
in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin that
was written in stages between 15 October and 25 October 1787. The
couple had four children, but none survived to the age of two. The
Electress gave birth for the last time in 1797 to another stillborn
child.
After this Anton became, officially, the Heir to the Electorate and,
since 1806, the Kingdom of Saxony. Anton
succeeded his brother Frederick August I as King of Saxony when he
died, on 5 May 1827. The 71 years old new King was completely
inexperienced in government, thus he had no intention of initiating
profound changes in foreign or domestic policy. Prussian diplomats discussed granting the Prussian Rhineland (predominantly Catholic) to Anton (a Catholic) in exchange for Lutheran Saxony in 1827, but nothing came of these talks. After the July Revolution of
1830 in France, disturbances in Saxony began in autumn. These were
directed primarily against the old Constitution. Therefore, on 13
September the cabinet dismissed Count Detlev von Einsiedel, followed by Bernhard von Lindenau. Because the people wished a younger regent, Anton agreed to appoint his nephew Frederick Augustus Prince Co-Regent (de: Prinz - Mitregenten).
As another consequence of the disturbances, a new constitution was
accepted in 1831 which came into effect on 4 September of that year. With it Saxony became a Constitutional monarchy and obtained a bi-cameral legistature and a responsible ministry, which replaced the old feudal estates. The
constitution was more conservative than other constitutions existing at
this time in the German Union. Still the constitution served Saxony
until 1918. The
King kept his exclusive sovereignty but was bound by the Government
Business to cooperate with the Ministers and the decisions of both
Chambers of the States (de: Kammern der Ständeversammlung) meeting. The entry of Saxony into the Zollverein in 1833 let trade, industry and traffic blossom farther. Without surviving male issue, Anton was succeeded as King by his nephew, Frederick Augustus II. |