Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/777

 OF SAXONY.] FREDERICK II. (U11-H64), elector and duke of Saxony, surnamei the Meek, sou of the former and of Catherine of Brunswick, was born August 22, 1411, and succeeded his father in 1428. His reign is remarkable only for his long-continued dispute with his uncles and brothers regarding the partition of Saxony a dispute which, though finally settled in 1451 by the interposition of the emperor in Frederick s favour, led, in 1455, to the famous attempt by a knight named Kunz von Kaufungen to abduct the two sons of Frederick, Ernst and Albert. A graphic description of the plot and its accidental frustration will be found in a paper on the &quot; Prinzenraub &quot; in Mr Carlyle s Miscellaneous Works. Frederick died at Leipsic, 7th Sep tember 14G4. For the literature connected with the &quot;Prinzenraub,&quot; see W. Schafer, Der Montag vor Kiliani, 1855 ; and J. Gorsdorf, Einirjc Actcnstiickc zur Gcschichtc dcs SacJisiscJicn Prinzcnraubcs, 1855. FREDERICK TIL (1463-1525), elector and duke of Saxony, surnamed the Wise, grandson of the preceding and son of Duke Ernst, was born at Torgau, January 17, 14G3. On the death of his father in 148G, he succeeded him in the sole government of Saxony, but divided the other posses sions of the Ernestine line with his brother John the Con stant. Frederick founded the university of Wittenberg in 1502, and appointed Melancthon and Luther to two of ita chairs. Though he never formally adopted the principles of the Reformation, he granted to the Reformers his friendly countenance, and in 1521 he secured the safety of Luther during the diet of Worms, and afterwards sheltered him in the castle of Wartburg. In 1493 Frederick made a pilgrim age to the Holy Land, and was made in Jerusalem a knight of the Holy Sepulchre. He was three times imperial vicar, and on the death of Maximilian I. he was offered the imperial throne but declined it, and, in accordance with his recommendation, it was bestowed on Charles V. Frederick died at Lochau, 5th May 1525. See life published from Spalatin s manuscript by Neudecker and Preller, 1851, and another by Tutzsclimann, 1848. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I., elector of Saxony. See AUGUSTUS II., of Poland, vol. iii. p. 84. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II., elector of Saxony. See AUGUSTUS III., of Poland, vol. iii. p. 85. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I. (1750-1827), king of Saxony, son of Elector Frederick Christian, was born at Dresden, 23d December 1750, succeeded his father, under the guardianship of Prince Xavier, in 1763, and was declared of age in 1768. In the following year he married Princess Maria-Amelia of Daux-Ponts. On account of the claims of his mother on the inheritance of her brother, the elector of Bavaria, he sided with Frederick the Great in the short Bavarian succession war of 1778 against Austria; and he afterwards joined the league of German princes formed by that monarch. In 1791 he declined the crown of Poland. He refused to join the league against France in 1792, but when war was declared his duty to the German empire necessitated his taking part in it. He maintained his neutrality during the war between France and Austria in 1805, but in the following year he joined Prussia against France. After the disastrous battle of Jena he concluded a treaty of peace with Napoleon at Posen, llth November 1806, and, assuming the title of king, lie joined the Rhenish confederation. Having taken part in the subsequent wars of Napoleon, he fell into the hands of the allies after the entry into Leipsic, 19th October 1813; and although he regained his freedom after the congress of Vienna, he was compelled to give up the province of Wittenberg to Prussia. The remainder of his life was spent in developing the agri cultural, commercial, and industrial resources of his king dom, reforming the administration of justice, establishing hospitals and other charitable institutions, encouraging art FREDERIC K 741 and science, and promoting education. He had a special interest in botany, and originated the beautiful botanical garden at Pilluitz. His reign throughout was characterized by justice, probity, moderation, and prudence. He died May 5, 1827. See lives by Weisse, Leipsic, 1811; Herrmann, Dresden, 1827; and Politz, Leipsic, 1830. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II. (1797-1854), king of Saxony, eldest son of Prince Maximilian and of Caroline- Maria Theresa of Parma, was born May 18, 1797. The unsettled times in which his youth was passed necessitated his frequent change of residence, but care was nevertheless taken that his education should not be interrupted, and he also acquired through his journeys in foreign states and his intercourse with men of eminence, a special taste for art and for natural science. He was twice married in 1 81 9 to the Duchess Caroline, eldest daughter of the emperor Francis I. of Austria, and in 1833 to Maria, daughter of Maximilian I. of Bavaria. In 1830 a rising in Dresden led to his being named joint regent of the kingdom along with King Antony ; and in this position his popularity and his wise and liberal reforms speedily quelled all discontent. On June 1, 1836, he succeeded his uncle on the throne. Though he administered the affairs of his kingdom with enlightened liberality, Saxony did not escape the political storms which broke upon Germany in 1848; and an in surrection in Dresden in May 1849 compelled him to call in the help of Prussian troops. From that time, however, his reign was tranquil and prosperous. His death occurred accidentally through the upsetting of his carriage between Imst and Wenns, in Tyrol, 9th August 1854. Frederick devoted his leisure hours chiefly to the study of botany. He made botanical excursions into different countries, and Flora Marienhadensis, oder Pflanzen vnd Gebirysarten gesammelt und beschrieben, written by him in conjunction with Goethe, was published at Prague in 1837. FREDERICK I. (1425-1476), elector palatine, surnamed the Victorious, second son of Elector Louis III., was born in 1425. He inherited a part of the palatinate on the death of his father in 1439, but delivered it up to his brother Louis IV. On the death of Louis in 1449, he be came guardian of the infant heir Philip, and administrator of the kingdom. In 1452, on account of the threatening relation in which the neighbouring princes stood to the palatinate, he resolved to assume the office of elector for life, on the understanding that his children should not hold the rank of princes, and that his nephew should be his successor. This led to a combination against him headed by the em peror Frederick III., but he managed to defend himself against all attacks, and in 1462 defeated at Seckenheim a combined army sent against him under the command of elector Albert Achilles of Brandenburg, after which lie re mained in undisturbed possession of his kingdom till his death, 12th December 1476. Under him the palatinate received an addition of more than 60 fortresses and towns. Through his marriage with the daughter of a citizen of Augsburg he had two sons, the elder of whom, Frederick, adopted the ecclesiastical profession, and the younger, Louis, was the founder of the family of the princes and counts of Lowenstein. See lives by Kremcr, in 2 vols., Frankfort and Leipsic, 1765; and by Menzel, from 1454 to 1464, Munich, 1861. FREDERICK II. (1482-1556), elector palatine, sur named the Wise, fourth son of Philip the Noble-minded, was born in 1482, and succeeded his brother Louis as elector in 1544. During the siege of Vienna by Sultan Soliman II. in 1529, he held the command of the army of the empire. In 1535 he married Dorothea daughter of Christian II., ex-king of Denmark. Through the persuasion of Melanch- thon he embraced the principles of the Reformation and