Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony


Prince Maximilian of Saxony was a German prince and a member of the House of Wettin. He was the sixth but third and youngest surviving son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony, and the composer Duchess Maria Antonia Walpurgis of Bavaria.

Life

Since he was the youngest son of the family, Maximilian initially had little chance to inherit the Electorate of Saxony. However, by 1800, Maximilian was the third in line to the Electorate, because all the children of his two older brothers, Frederick Augustus and Anthony, died in infancy, except Maria Augusta, Frederick Augustus's only surviving offspring. After the creation of the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806, Maximilian became a Prince of Saxony.
After the death of Frederick Augustus in 1827, Anthony succeeded him as King. Maximilian became first in line to the Saxon throne as Hereditary Prince. However, three years later, on 1 September 1830, during the Autumn Disturbances, he renounced his rights of succession in favour of his eldest son, Frederick Augustus. He died eight years later, aged seventy-eight.

Marriages and issue

In Parma on 22 April 1792 and again in Dresden on 9 May 1792, Maximilian married firstly, the Princess Caroline of Bourbon, eldest child of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, a sister-in-law of his uncle Albert, Prince of Saxony and Duke of Teschen. Maxilimian and Caroline had seven children:
In Lucca on 15 October 1825 and again in Dresden on 7 November 1825, Maximilian married Princess Luise of Bourbon, daughter of the King Louis of Etruria and niece of his first wife, Caroline. She was forty-three years younger than her husband. They had no children.

Honours