Official Latin version: Augustus Secundus, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russie, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Livoniae, Kijoviae, Volhyniae, Podoliae, Smolensciae, Severiae, Czerniechoviaeque, nec non haereditarius dux Saxoniae et princeps elector etc.
As a result of defeats in the war with Sweden and the pro-Swedish party in Poland, August had to abdicate in 1706 in favour of Stanisław Leszczyński. But after the Swedish defeat in the Battle of Poltava, he was reintroduced as King of Poland in 1709. One of his sons, Friedrich August II. followed him first as Elector of Saxony , then as August III of Poland, King of Poland.
August II was called August the Strong for his bearlike strength and also for his numerous offspring. It is sometimes written that he sired 365 children. Although this figure would be extremely difficult to verify, August II did father a very large number of illegitimate children, the most famous of whom was Maurice de Saxe (with Aurora von Königsmarck), the brilliant French military commander.
He successfully set out to discover the secret of the "White Gold", as the porcelain he produced in Dresden and Meissen was called. He also gathered many of the best architects and painters from all over Europe in Dresden, and his rule marks the beginning of Dresden's development as a leading centre of technology and art. August's body was buried in Poland --all but his heart, which is in Dresden castle.
August the Strong's lavish court and grand architectural projects helped Dresden rise to both political and artistic prominence, and his unwavering patronage of the arts helped the city become a European center of the Baroque.
Moreover, it was August the Strong's passion for porcelain that made Saxony the birthplace of European porcelain.
The former Royal Porcelain Collection of Dresden was established around 1715 by August the Strong, and is considered to be the most comprehensive and most important collection of its kind in the Western world.
Augustus II the Strong (German: August II der Starke; Polish: August II Mocny) (12 May1670 – 1 February1733) was as Frederick Augustus I (German: Kurfürst Friedrich August) the Elector of Saxony 1694-1733, and later also King of Poland 1697-1706 and again 1709-1733.
Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house, his eldest son, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, did succeed him to the Polish throne as Augustus III of Poland — although he had to be installed there by a Russian army in the War of the Polish Succession.
The number is extremely difficult to verify; August officially recognized only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards (the mothers of these "chosen ones," with the possible exception of Fatima, were all aristocratic ladies) and he had only one legitimate child.
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