Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony

Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony (German: "Clemens Wenzeslaus von Sachsen", 28 September 1739 - 27 July 1812) was the Archbishop of Trier from 1768 until 1803, the Bishop of Freising from 1763 until 1768, the Bishop of Regensburg from 1763 until 1769, and the Bishop of Augsburg from 1768 until 1812.

Biography

Clemens Wenceslaus was the ninth child of the Saxon Elector Duke Frederick Augustus III, who was also the King of Poland. In 1760 he went to Vienna and entered the Austrian army as a field marshall. 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. In 1763 he was elected the Bishops of Freising and Regensburg, but he abandoned these dioceses for the Archbishopric of Trier and the Bishopric of Augsburg in 1768.

As Archbishop, 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 spimply, 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 archdiocese 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 archdiocese west of the River Rhine, retaining only a few small territories. In 1803 he lost those as well, and the Bishopric of Augsburg and the Provostry of Ellwangen, which were mediatised between the ruling houses of Germany. He received a pension of 100,000 guldens and retired to Augsburg, dying there in 1812. He was buried in Marktoberdorf im Allgäu.

Ancestry

ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony
2= 2. Augustus III of Poland
3= 3. Maria Josepha of Austria
4= 4. Augustus II of Poland
5= 5. Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
6= 6. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
7= 7. Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick
8= 8. John George III, Elector of Saxony
9= 9. Anne Sophie of Denmark
10= 10. Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
11= 11. Sofie Luise of Württemberg
12= 12. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
13= 13. Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg
14= 14. John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
15= 15. Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern
16= 16. John George II, Elector of Saxony
17= 17. Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
18= 18. Frederick III of Denmark
19= 19. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
20= 20. Erdmann August of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
21= 21. Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach
22= 22. Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg
23= 23. Anna Katharina of Salm-Kyrburg
24= 24. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor
25= 25. Maria Anna of Spain
26= 26. Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
27= 27. Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
28= 28. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
29= 29. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
30= 30. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
31= 31. Anna Gonzaga

References