[1] On the name see Neumann, in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie f.
cl. alterth._, s.v. 2374.
AUGUSTUS I. (1526-1586), elector of Saxony, was the younger son of
Henry, duke of Saxony, and consequently belonged to the Albertine branch
of the Wettin family. Born at Freiberg on the 31st of July 1526, and
brought up as a Lutheran, he received a good education and studied at
the university of Leipzig. When Duke Henry died in 1541 he decreed that
his lands should be divided equally between his two sons, but as his
bequest was contrary to law, it was not carried out, and the dukedom
passed almost intact to his elder son, Maurice. Augustus, however,
remained on friendly terms with his brother, and to further his policy
spent some time at the court of the German king, Ferdinand I., in
Vienna. In 1544 Maurice secured the appointment of his brother as
administrator of the bishopric of Merseburg; but Augustus was very
extravagant and was soon compelled to return to the Saxon court at
Dresden. Augustus supported his brother during the war of the league of
Schmalkalden, and in the policy which culminated in the transfer of the
Saxon electorate from John Frederick I., the head of the Ernestine
branch of the Wettin family, to Maurice. On the 7th of October 1548
Augustus was married at Torgau to Anna, daughter of Christian III., king
of Denmark, and took up his residence at Weissenfels. But he soon
desired a more imposing establishment. The result was that Maurice made
more generous provision for his brother, who acted as regent of Saxony
in 1552 during the absence of the elector. Augustus was on a visit to
Denmark when by Maurice's death in July 1553 he became elector of
Saxony.
The first care of the new elector was to come to terms with John
Frederick, and to strengthen his own hold upon the electoral position.
This object was secured by a treaty made at Naumburg in February 1554,
when, in return for the grant of Altenburg and other lands, John
Frederick recognized Augustus as elector of Saxony. The elector,
however, was continually haunted by the fear that the Ernestines would
attempt to deprive him of the coveted dignity, and his policy both in
Saxony and in Germany was coloured by this fear. In imperial politics
Augustus acted upon two main principles: to cultivate the friendship of
the Habsburgs, and to maintain peace between the contending religious
parties. To this policy may be traced his share in bringing about the
religious peace of Augsburg in 1555, his tortuous conduct at the diet of
Augsburg eleven years later, and his reluctance to break entirely with
the Calvinists. On one occasion only did he waver in his allegiance to
the Habsburgs. In 1568 a marriage was arranged between John Casimir, son
of the elector palatine, Frederick III., and Elizabeth, a daughter of
Augustus, and for a time it seemed possible that the Saxon elector would
support his son-in-law in his attempts to aid the revolting inhabitants
of the Netherlands. Augustus also entered into communication with the
Huguenots; but his aversion to foreign complications prevailed, and the
incipient friendship with the elector palatine soon gave way to serious
dislike. Although a sturdy Lutheran the elector hoped at one time to
unite the Protestants, on whom he continually urged the necessity of
giving no cause of offence to their opponents, and he favoured the
movement to get rid of the clause in the peace of Augsburg concerning
ecclesiastical reservation, which was offensive to many Protestants. His
moderation, however, prevented him from joining those who were prepared
to take strong measures to attain this end, and he refused to jeopardize
the concessions already won.
The hostility between the Albertines and the Ernestines gave serious
trouble to Augustus. A preacher named Matthias Flacius held an
influential position in ducal Saxony, and taught a form of Lutheranism
different from that taught in electoral Saxony. This breach was widened
when Flacius began to make personal attacks on Augustus, to prophesy his
speedy downfall, and to incite Duke John Frederick to make an effort to
recover his rightful position. Associated with Flacius was a knight,
William of Grumbach, who, not satisfied with words only, made inroads
into electoral Saxony and sought the aid of foreign powers in his plan
to depose Augustus. After some delay Grumbach and his protector, John
Frederick, were placed under the imperial ban, and Augustus was
entrusted with its execution. His campaign in 1567 was short and
successful. John Frederick surrendered, and passed his time in prison
until his death in 1595; Grumbach was taken and executed; and the
position of the elector was made quite secure.
The form of Lutheranism taught in electoral Saxony was that of
Melanchthon, and many of its teachers and adherents, who were afterwards
called Crypto-Calvinists, were favoured by the elector. When Augustus,
freed from the fear of an attack by the Ernestines, became gradually
estranged from the elector palatine and the Calvinists, he seemed to
have looked with suspicion upon the Crypto-Calvinists, who did not
preach the pure doctrines of Luther. Spurred on by his wife the matter
reached a climax in 1574, when letters were discovered, which, while
revealing a hope to bring over Augustus to Calvinism, cast some
aspersions upon the elector and his wife. Augustus ordered the leaders
of the Crypto-Calvinists to be seized, and they were tortured and
imprisoned. A strict form of Lutheranism was declared binding upon all
the inhabitants of Saxony, and many persons were banished from the
country. In 1576 he made a serious but unsuccessful attempt to unite the
Protestants upon the basis of some articles drawn up at Tolgau, which
inculcated a strict form of Lutheranism. The change in Saxony, however,
made no difference to the attitude of Augustus on imperial questions. In
1576 he opposed the proposal of the Protestant princes to make a grant
for the Turkish War conditional upon the abolition of the clause
concerning ecclesiastical reservation, and he continued to support the
Habsburgs.
Much of the elector's time was devoted to extending his territories. In
1573 he became guardian to the two sons of John William, duke of
Saxe-Weimar, and in this capacity was able to add part of the county of
Henneberg to electoral Saxony. His command of money enabled him to take
advantage of the poverty of his neighbours, and in this way he secured
Vogtland and the county of Mansfeld. In 1555 he had appointed one of his
nominees to the bishopric of Meissen, in 1561 he had secured the
election of his son Alexander as bishop of Merseburg, and three years
later as bishop of Naumburg; and when this prince died in 1565 these
bishoprics came under the direct rule of Augustus.
As a ruler of Saxony Augustus was economical and enlightened. He
favoured trade by encouraging Flemish emigrants to settle in the
country, by improving the roads, regulating the coinage and establishing
the first posts. He was specially interested in benefiting agriculture,
and added several fine buildings to the city of Dresden. His laws were
numerous and comprehensive. The constitution of 1572 was his work, and
by these laws the church, the universities and the police were
regulated, the administration of justice was improved, and the raising
of taxes placed upon a better footing (see SAXONY).
In October 1585 the electress Anna died, and a few weeks later Augustus
married Agnes Hedwig, a daughter of Joachim Ernest, prince of Anhalt.
His own death took place at Dresden on the 21st of January 1586, and he
was buried at Freiberg. By his first wife he had fifteen children, but
only four of these survived him, among whom was his successor, the
elector Christian I. (1560-1591). Augustus was a covetous, cruel and
superstitious man, but these qualities were redeemed by his political
caution and his wise methods of government. He wrote a small work on
agriculture entitled _Kunstlich Obstund Gartenbuchlein_.
See C.W. Bottiger and T. Flathe, _Geschichte Sachsens_, Band ii.
(Gotha, 1870); M. Ritter, _Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der
Gegenreformation_, Band i. (Stuttgart, 1890); R. Calinich, _Kampf und
Untergang des Melanchthonismus in Kursachsen_ (Leipzig, 1866); J.
Falke, _Geschichte des Kurfursten August in volkswirtschaftlicher
Beziehung_ (Leipzig, 1868); J. Janssen, _Geschichte des Deutschen
Volks seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters_ (Freiburg, 1885-1894); W.
Wenck, _Kurfurst Moritz und Herzog August_ (Leipzig, 1874).
AUGUSTUS II., king of Poland, and, as FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I., elector of
Saxony (1670-1733), second son of John George III., elector of Saxony,
was born at Dresden on the 12th of May 1670. He was well educated, spent
some years in travel and in fighting against France, and on account of
his immense strength was known as "the Strong." On the death of his
brother, John George IV., in 1694, he became elector of Saxony, and in
1695 and 1696 led the imperial troops against the Turks, but without
very much success. When John Sobieski died in 1696, Augustus was a
candidate for the Polish throne, and in order to further his chances
became a Roman Catholic, a step which was strongly resented in Saxony.
By a lavish expenditure of money, and by his promptness in entering the
country, he secured his election and coronation in September 1697, and
his principal rival F.L. de Bourbon, prince of Conti, abandoned the
contest and returned to France. Augustus continued the war against the
Turks for a time, and being anxious to extend his influence and to find
a pretext for retaining the Saxon troops in Poland, made an alliance in
1699 with Russia and Denmark against Charles XII. of Sweden. The Poles
would not assist, and at the head of the Saxons Augustus invaded
Livonia, but for various causes the campaign was not a success, and in
July 1702 he was defeated by Charles at Klissow. Augustus was then
deposed in Poland, and after holding Warsaw for a short time he fled to
Saxony. The alliance with Russia was renewed and in reply Charles
invaded Saxony in 1706, and compelled the elector to sign the treaty of
Altranstadt in September of that year, to recognize Stanislaus
Leszczynski as his successor in Poland, and to abandon the Russian
alliance. During the War of the Spanish Succession, Augustus fought with
the imperialists in the Netherlands, but after the defeat of Charles
XII. at Poltawa in July 1709, he turned his attention to the recovery of
Poland. Declaring the treaty of Altranstadt void and renewing his
alliance with Russia and Denmark, he quickly recovered the Polish crown.
He then attacked Swedish Pomerania. He was handicapped by the mutual
jealousy of the Saxons and the Poles, and a struggle broke out in Poland
which was only ended when the king promised to limit the number of his
army in that country to 18,000 men. Peace was made with Sweden in
December 1719 at Stockholm after the death of Charles XII., and Augustus
was recognized as king of Poland. His remaining years were spent in
futile plans to make Poland a hereditary monarchy, to weaken the power
of the Saxon nobles, and to gain territory for his sons in various parts
of Europe. He was a man of extravagant and luxurious tastes, and,
although he greatly improved the city of Dresden, he cannot be called a
good ruler. He sought to govern Saxony in an absolute fashion, and, in
spite of his declaration that his conversion to Roman Catholicism was
personal only, assisted the spread of the teachings of Rome. His wife
was Christine Eberhardine, a member of the Hohenzollern family, who left
him when he became a Roman Catholic, and died in 1727. Augustus died at
Warsaw on the 1st of February 1733, leaving a son Frederick Augustus,
who succeeded him in Poland and Saxony, and many illegitimate children,
among whom was the famous general, Maurice of Saxony, known as Marshal
Saxe (q.v.).
See Otwikowski, _History of Poland under Augustus II._ (Cracow, 1849);
F. Forster, _Die Hofe und Kabinette Europas im achtzehnten
Jahrhtmdert_ (Potsdam, 1839); Jarochowski, _History of Augustus II._
(Posen, 1856-1874); C.W. Bottiger and T. Flathe, _Geschichte des
Kurstaates und Konigreichs Sachsen_ (Gotha, 1867-1873).
AUGUSTUS III., king of Poland, and, as FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II., elector
of Saxony (1696-1763), the only legitimate son of Augustus II. ("the
Strong"), was born at Dresden on the 17th of October 1696. Educated as a
Protestant, he followed his father's example by joining the Roman
Catholic Church in 1712, although his conversion was not made public
until 1717. In August 1719 he married Maria Josepha, daughter of the
emperor Joseph I., and seems to have taken very little part in public
affairs until he became elector of Saxony on his father's death in
February 1733. He was then a candidate for the Polish crown; and having
purchased the support of the emperor Charles VI. by assenting to the
Pragmatic Sanction, and that of the czarina Anne by recognizing the
claim of Russia to Courland, he was elected king of Poland in October
1733. Aided by the Russians, his troops drove Stanislaus Leszczynski
from Poland; Augustus was crowned at Cracow in January 1734, and was
generally recognized as king at Warsaw in June 1736. On the death of
Charles VI. in October 1740, Augustus was among the enemies of his
daughter Maria Theresa, and, as a son-in-law of the emperor Joseph I.,
claimed a portion of the Habsburg territories. In 1742, however, he was
induced to transfer his support to Maria Theresa, and his troops took
part in the struggle against Frederick the Great during the Silesian
wars, and again when the Seven Years' War began in 1756. Saxony was in
that year attacked by the Prussians, and with so much success that not
only was the Saxon army forced to capitulate at Pirna in October, but
the elector, who fled to Warsaw, made no attempt to recover Saxony,
which remained under the dominion of Frederick. When the treaty of
Hubertsburg was concluded in February 1763, he returned to Saxony, where
he died on the 5th of October 1763. He left five sons, the eldest of
whom was his successor in Saxony, Frederick Christian; and five
daughters, one of whom was the wife of Louis, the dauphin of France, and
mother of Louis XVI. Another daughter was the wife of Charles III., king
of Spain, but she predeceased her father. Augustus, who showed neither
talent nor inclination for government, was content to leave Poland under
the influence of Russia, and Saxony to the rule of his ministers. He
took great interest in music and painting, and added to the collection
of art treasures at Dresden.
See C.W. Bottiger and T. Flathe, _Geschichte des Kurstaates und
Konigreichs Sachsen_ (Gotha, 1867-1873); R. Ropell, _Polen um die
Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts_ (Gotha, 1876).
AUGUSTUSBAD, a watering-place of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, 10
m. E. from Dresden, close to Radeberg, in a pleasant valley. Pop. 900.
It has five saline chalybeate springs, used both for drinking and
bathing, and specific in feminine disorders, rheumatism, paralysis and
neuralgia. The spa is largely frequented in summer and has agreeable
public rooms and gardens.
AUK, a name commonly given to several species of sea-fowl. A special
interest attaches to the great auk (_Alca impennis_), owing to its
recent extinction and the value of its eggs to collectors. (See
GAREFOWL; also GUILLEMOT, PUFFIN, RAZORBILL.)
AULARD, FRANCOIS VICTOR ALPHONSE (1849- ), French historian, was born
at Montbron in Charente in 1849. Having obtained the degree of doctor of
letters in 1877 with a Latin thesis upon C. Asinius Pollion and a French
one upon Giacomo Leopardi (whose works he subsequently translated into
French), he made a study of parliamentary oratory during the French
Revolution, and published two volumes upon _Les Orateurs de la
constituante_ (1882) and upon _Les Orateurs de la legislative et de la
convention_ (1885). With these works, which were reprinted in 1905, he
entered a fresh field, where he soon became an acknowledged master.
Applying to the study of the French Revolution the rules of historical
criticism which had produced such rich results in the study of ancient
and medieval history, he devoted himself to profound research in the
archives, and to the publication of numerous most important
contributions to the political, administrative and moral history of that
marvellous period. Appointed professor of the history of the French
Revolution at the Sorbonne, he formed the minds of students who in their
turn have done valuable work. To him we owe the _Recueil des actes du
comite de salut public_ (vol. i., 1889; vol. xvi., 1904); _La Societe
des Jacobins; recueil de documents pour l'histoire du club des Jacobins
de Paris_ (6 vols., 1889-1897); and _Paris pendant la reaction
thermidorienne et sous le directoire, recueil de documents pour
l'histoire de l'esprit public a Paris_ (5 vols., 1898-1902), which was
followed by an analogous collection for Paris sous le consulat (2 vols.,
1903-1904). For the Societe de l'Histoire de la Revolution Francaise,
which brought out under his supervision an important periodical
publication called _La Revolution francaise_, he produced the _Registre
des deliberations du consulat provisoire_ (1894), and _L'Etat de la
France en l'an VIII et en l'an IX_, with the reports of the prefects
(1897), besides editing various works or memoirs written by men of the
Revolution, such as J.C. Bailleul, Chaumette, Fournier (called the
American), Herault de Sechelles, and Louvet de Couvrai. But these large
collections of documents are not his entire output. Besides a little
pamphlet upon Danton, he has written a _Histoire politique de la
Revolution francaise_ (1901), and a number of articles which have been
collected in volumes under the title _Etudes et lecons sur la Revolution
francaise_ (5 vols., 1893-1908). In a volume entitled _Taine, historien
de la Revolution francaise_ (1908), Aulard has submitted the method of
the eminent philosopher to a criticism, severe, perhaps even unjust, but
certainly well-informed. This is, as it were, the "manifesto" of the new
school of criticism applied to the political and social history of the
Revolution (see _Les Annales Revolutionnaires_, June 1908).
See A. Mathiez, "M. Aulard, historien et professeur," in the _Revue de
la Revolution francaise_ (July 1908). (C. B.*)
AULIC COUNCIL (_Reichshofrat_), an organ of the Holy Roman Empire,
originally intended for executive work, but acting chiefly as a
judicature, which worked from 1497 to 1806. In the early middle ages
the emperor had already his _consiliarii_; but his council was a
fluctuating body of personal advisers. In the 14th century there first
arose an official council, with permanent and paid members, many of whom
were legists. Its business was largely executive, and it formed
something of a ministry; but it had also to deal with petitions
addressed to the king, and accordingly it acted as a supreme court of
judicature. It was thus parallel to the king's council, or _concilium
continuum_, of medieval England; while by its side, during the 15th
century, stood the _Kammergericht_, composed of the legal members of the
council, in much the same way as the Star Chamber stood beside the
English council. But the real history of the Aulic Council, as that term
was understood in the later days of the Empire, begins with Maximilian
I. in 1497-1498. In these years Maximilian created three organs
(apparently following the precedent set by his Burgundian ancestors in
the Netherlands)--a _Hofrat_, a _Hofkammer_ for finance, and a
_Hofkanzlei._ Primarily intended for the hereditary dominions of
Maximilian, these bodies were also intended for the whole Empire; and
the _Hofrat_ was to deal with "all and every business which may flow in
from the Empire, Christendom at large, or the king's hereditary
principalities." It was thus to be the supreme executive and judicial
organ, discharging all business except that of finance and the drafting
of documents; and it was intended to serve Maximilian as a _point
d'appui_ for the monarchy against the system of oligarchical committees,
instituted by Berthold, archbishop of Mainz. But it was difficult to
work such a body both for the Empire and for the hereditary
principalities; and under Ferdinand I. it became an organ for the Empire
alone (_circ._ 1558), the hereditary principalities being removed from
its cognizance. As such an imperial organ, its composition and powers
were fixed by the treaty of Westphalia of 1648. (1) It consisted of
about 20 members--a president, a vice-president, the vice-chancellor of
the Empire, and some 18 other members. These came partly from the Empire
at large, partly (and in greater numbers) from the hereditary lands of
the emperor. There were two benches, one of the nobles, one of doctors
of civil law; six of the members must be Protestants. The council
followed the person of the emperor, and was therefore stationed at
Vienna; it was paid by the emperor, and he nominated its members, whose
office terminated with his life--an arrangement which made the council
more dependent than it should have been on the emperor's will. (2) Its
powers were nominally both executive and judicial. (a) Its executive
powers were small: it gradually lost everything except the formal
business of investiture with imperial fiefs and the confirmation of
charters, its other powers being taken over by the _Geheimrate._ These
_Geheimrate_, a narrow body of secret counsellors, had already become a
determinate _concilium_ by 1527; and though at first only concerned with
foreign affairs, they acquired, from the middle of the 16th century
onwards, the power of dealing with imperial affairs in lieu of the Aulic
Council. (b) In its judicial aspect, the Aulic Council, exercising the
emperor's judicial powers on his behalf, and thus succeeding, as it
were, to the old _Kammergericht_, had exclusive cognizance of matters
relating to imperial fiefs, criminal charges against immediate vassals
of the Empire, imperial charters, Italian affairs, and cases "reserved"
for the emperor. In all other matters, the Aulic Council was a
competitor for judicial work with the Imperial Chamber[1]
(_Reichskammergericht_, a tribunal dating from the great diet of Worms
of 1495: see under IMPERIAL CHAMBER). It was determined in 1648 that the
one of these two judicial authorities which first dealt with a case
should alone have competence to pursue it. An appeal lay from the
decision of the council to the emperor, and judgment on appeal was given
by those members of the council who had not joined in the original
decision, though in important cases they might be afforced by members of
the diet. Neither the council nor the chamber could deal with cases of
outlawry, except to prepare such cases for the decision of the diet.
To-day the archives of the Aulic Council are in Vienna, though parts of
its records have been given to the German states which they concern.
AUTHORITIES.--R. Schroder, _Lehrbuch der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_
(Leipzig, 1904), gives the main facts; S. Adler, _Die Organisation der
Centralverwaltung unter Maximilian I._ (Leipzig, 1886), deals with
Maximilian's reorganization of the Council; and J. St. Putter,
_Historische Entwickelung der heutigen Staatsverfassung des Teutschen
Reichs_ (Gottingen, 1798-1799), may be consulted for its development
and later form. (E. Br.)