Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony

Clemens Wenceslaus
Archbishop-Elector of Trier
Reign	1768 - 1803
Born	28 September 1739 Hubertusburg castle, Wermsdorf
Died	27 July 1812 (aged 72) Marktoberdorf, Allgäu
Full name Clemens Wenzeslaus August Hubertus Franz Xaver
House	House of Wettin
Father	Augustus III of Poland
Mother	Maria Josepha of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony (German: Clemens Wenzeslaus August Hubertus Franz Xaver von Sachsen) (28 September 1739 – 27 July 1812) was a German prince from the House of Wettin and the Archbishop-Elector of Trier from 1768 until 1803, the Prince-Bishop of Freising from 1763 until 1768, the Prince-Bishop of Regensburg from 1763 until 1769, and the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg from 1768 until 1812.

Biography

Clemens Wenceslaus was the ninth child of the Prince-Elector Augustus III of Saxony, who was also the King of Poland. In 1760 he went to Vienna and entered the Austrian army as a field marshal. He was present at the Battle of Torgau (3 November 1760), but he decided that warfare was not for him and instead entered the church. On 18 and 27 April 1763 he was elected the Bishops of Freising and Regensburg, respectively, but he abandoned these dioceses for the Archbishopric-Electorate of Trier and the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg in February and August 1768, respectively, where he already functioned as coadjutor since 1764.

As Archbishop-Elector, Clemens Wenceslaus greatly improved public education, established several not-for-proft organisations for general education and prosperity, and in 1783 raised an edict of tolerance. He took a mixed view in spiritual affairs. He allowed the Jesuits to remain in Trier after abolishing their order, protested the radical reforms of his cousin, the Emperor Joseph II, and banned several processions and holidays. Although a modest person who lived simply, he rebuilt Ehrenbreitstein into a magnificent palace and dwelt there. He established the theatre in Coblenz and encouraged music in the archdiocese. Clemens Wenceslaus enjoyed hunting and established a hunting lodge at Kärlich, though he was opposed to several inhumane ways of hunting.

With the outbreak of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th Century, Clemens Wenceslaus became worried. He ceased all reforms and began to rule strictly. He offered refuge to members of the French royal family (King Louis XVI was his nephew), and allowed Coblenz to become a centre of French monarchism. He and the archbishopric-electorate were greatly affected by the success of the French revolutionary forces, and at the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801 he lost all lands of the electorate west of the River Rhine, retaining only a few small territories pertaining to Trier itself. In 1803 he lost those as well, along with the Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg and the Prince-Provostry of Ellwangen Abbey, which were secularized and annexed by the princes of Nassau-Weilburg, the Elector of Bavaria, and the Duke of Württemberg, respectively. Clemens Wenceslaus received a pension of 100,000 guldens and retired to Augsburg, dying in the episcopal summer residence in Marktoberdorf in Allgäu in 1812. He was buried there.

His grandniece Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria was named after him. Archduchess Maria Clementina was a daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. Maria Luisa was his niece by his sister Maria Amalia of Saxony.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony

16. John George II, Elector of Saxony               8. John George III, Elector of Saxony                       17. Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth               4. Augustus II of Poland                             18. Frederick III of Denmark               9. Anne Sophie of Denmark                       19. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg               2. Augustus III of Poland                                   20. Erdmann August of Brandenburg-Bayreuth               10. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       21. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach               5. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                             22. Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg               11. Sofie Luise of Württemberg                       23. Anna Katharina of Salm-Kyrburg               1. Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony                                         24. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor               12. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor                       25. Maria Anna of Spain               6. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor                             26. Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine               13. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg                       27. Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt               3. Maria Josepha of Austria                                   28. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               14. John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       29. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt               7. Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick                             30. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern               15. Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern                       31. Anna Gonzaga

See also