Royalty. Also known as Friedrich August I, elector of Saxony. Youngest son of elector Johann Georg III and his wife Anna Sofia of Denmark. He succeeded his brother Johann Georg IV in 1694 after he had been infected with smallpox. Friedrich August was married to Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1693. When the polish throne became vacant he applied and as one of the first steps he converted to Catholicism. The fact that his wife and Saxony remained in the protestant faith shows that it was completely a political decision, but it also meant that his wife was not crowned queen. In 1696 his wife bore their only child, which was named after the father, and retired deeply disappointed by her husband to the small town of Pretzsch. She did not attend his coronation in 1697. In 1706, during the Nordic war he was defeated by king Carl XII of Sweden and lost his crown to Stanislaus Leszynskis, whose election was supported by Sweden. After Carl had been defeated at Poltawa in 1709 Stanislaus fled to his son-in-law Louis XV and August became king again. After his wife had left for Pretzsch he was able to spend his time with various mistresses. His nickname "August the Strong" is a reference to his legendary muscle and sexual powers. The armory in Dresden still shows a horseshoe that he supposedly broke with his own hands. Of his legendary 365 illegitimate children only 7 are proven without a doubt. Maurice de Saxe, his son with Aurora von Königsmark was one of the most successful Marshalls of France ever and was grandfather of George Sand. His half brothers the Chevalier de Saxe and the Count Rutowski were military geniuses, too. Augusts extravagant lifestyle and the war for the polish crown left him with a constant lack of money. When the alchemist Böttger bragged that he could produce gold he was captured and imprisoned. After several years he hadn't discovered the formula for real gold but a way to produce porcelain, which is today also known as the "white gold". At the beginning August was disappointed, but soon saw the potential and founded the Meissen china factory in 1710. This factory developed into one of the biggest money makers in Saxony. During his reign the Frauenkirche and the Zwinger were built in Dresden. His body was buried at Cracow where he had died while he bequeathed his heart to the people of Saxony. During the flood of 2002 the heart capsule swam in the crypt but survived undamaged and is now firmly attached to the masonry.