Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Who was the Last King of Saxony?
The Kingdom of Saxony was abolished in 1918 when King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony abdicated. The succession law until the abolition of the monarchy was semi-Salic primogeniture and required the successor to be born of an equal marriage, approved in advance by the head of the house. Accordingly, the last undisputed male member of the family was Prince Albert of Saxony, who assumed the headship of the royal house and the title "Margrave of Meissen" upon the death of his brother the Margrave Maria Emanuel in July 2012. This was challenged, however, by his nephew Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe who also claimed the headship based on a 1997 agreement, and who is said to have reached an agreement with Albert just prior to the funeral of Maria Emanuel which recognised Alexander as the dynasty's heir. With the death of Albert in October 2012 the dispute continued with Prince Rüdiger of Saxony, the only agnatic great grandson of the last King of Saxony, claiming the headship.
For the upcoming 800th anniversary of the House of Wettin in 1889, another stucco version of a large-scale mural was commissioned. It was painted by the artist Wilhelm Walther between 1871 and 1876. Since the picture rapidly deteriorated, it was replaced with about 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907. The mural depicts the 35 Saxon margraves, electors, dukes and kings from Conrad, Margrave of Meissen, who ruled in the 12th century, to George of Saxony who was king for only two years in the 20th century. The only ones missing are Heinrich I von Eilenburg (c. 1089) and the last king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus III, who ruled from 1904 to 1918. Also shown are 59 scientists, artisans, craftsmen, children and farmers.
The Black Death, which wrought havoc throughout Europe during the 14th century, had decimated the ruling families of Scandinavia. King Olav of Denmark and Norway was the last native ruler in Scandinavia. When he died in 1387, his wife Margareta took over the rule of those two countries and then Sweden as well. In 1397 in the town of Kalmar in Sweden, the Union of the three lands under a single crown was made official and Erik of Pomerania was chosen as king. Erik fatefully chose to govern the three kingdoms from Denmark using the Danish aristocracy.
This list of kings and queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (Heptarchy) which made up modern England. Alfred styled himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons" from about 886, and while he was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English, his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex. The last monarch of a distinct kingdom of England was Anne, who became Queen of Great Britain when England merged with Scotland to form a union in 1707. 
Arguments are made for a few different kings deemed to control enough of the Heptarchy to be deemed the first king of England. For example, Offa, king of Mercia, and Egbert, king of Wessex, are sometimes described as kings of England by popular writers, but it is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England, as highlighted by historian Simon Keynes stating, for example, that "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy." This refers to a period in the late 8th century when Offa achieved a dominance over many of the kingdoms of southern England, but this did not survive his death in 796. In 829 Egbert of Wessex conquered Mercia, but he soon lost control of it. It was not until the late 9th century that one kingdom, Wessex, had become the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Its king, Alfred the Great, was overlord of western Mercia and used the title "King of the Angles and Saxons", but he never ruled eastern and northern England, which was then known as the Danelaw, having earlier been conquered by the Danes from Scandinavia. His son Edward the Elder conquered the eastern Danelaw, but Edward's son Æthelstan became the first king to rule the whole of England when he conquered Northumbria in 927, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king of England. The title "King of the English" or "Rex Anglorum" in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928.
Gustaf V ("Oscar Gustaf Adolf"; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Reigning from the death of his father Oscar II in 1907 until his own death 43 years later, he holds the record of being the oldest monarch of Sweden and the third-longest reigning after Magnus IV and Carl XVI Gustaf. He was also the last Swedish monarch to exercise his royal prerogatives, which largely died with him, although formally abolished only with the remaking of the Swedish constitution in 1974. He was the first Swedish king since the High Middle Ages not to have a coronation and hence never wore a crown, a tradition continuing to date.
Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: "Erik Eriksson" or "Erik läspe och halte"; Old Norse: "Eiríkr Eiríksson" (1216 – 2 February 1250) was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stood in the shadow of a succession of powerful Jarls, especially his brother-in-law Birger Jarl, whose descendants ruled as kings after his death.
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), known as Louis the Great (') or the Sun King ('), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who reigned as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. Starting on 14 May 1643 when Louis was 4 years old, his reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV's France was a leader in the growing centralisation of power.
Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death, and the last Bernadotte King of Norway from 1872 until his dethronement in 1905.
The Great Saxon Revolt was a civil war between 1077 and 1088 early in the history of the Holy Roman Empire led by a group of opportunistic German princes who elected as their figurehead the duke of Swabia and anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfeld, a two-way brother-in-law of the young Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (Henry was crowned at the age of six and took on his offices when aged sixteen). It followed the Saxon Rebellion of 1073–75.
The forceful manner of Prussian minister Baron von Stein, not the government administered by Russian Prince Repnin until November 1814 or the subsequent Prussian occupying force that lasted to June 1815, were responsible for the low morale in Saxony at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In contrast to the representatives of France, Frederick Augustus was denied participation at the Congress of Vienna as punishment for his supposed role as the quasi- deputy of his former ally Napoleon. Certainly nothing other than the intention of Prussia and Russia to carry out the annexation plans agreed to in Kalisz was responsible for this treatment of the Saxon king. That Saxony was not completely abandoned can be attributed to the fear of Austria and France of an overly-strengthened Prussia. Because the Saxon question threatened to break up the Congress, the allies finally agreed to divide Saxony (7 January 1815) with the mediation of the Czar.
The split between the Albertinian and Leopoldinian lines of the Habsburg family and the Austrian lands enfeebled the dynasty's position. The Albertinian archduke Albert V of Austria was elected King of the Romans in 1438. Nevertheless, he died one year later and the line finally became extinct by the death of his son Ladislaus the Posthumous in 1457. The territories were inherited by the Leopoldian archduke Frederick V of Inner Austria, Albert's successor as King of the Romans and from 1452 also Holy Roman Emperor. Finally in 1490, all Habsburg territories were reunified, when Archduke Sigismund handed over the rulership of Tyrol and Further Austria ('Upper Austria') to Emperor Frederick's son King Maximilian I.
The name and coat of arms of the present state go back to the Germanic tribe of Saxons. During the Migration Period some of the Saxon peoples left their homeland in Holstein about the 3rd century and pushed southwards over the Elbe, where they expanded into the sparsely populated regions in the rest of the lowlands, in the present-day Northwest Germany and the northeastern part of what is now the Netherlands. From about the 7th century the Saxons had occupied a settlement area that roughly corresponds to the present state of Lower Saxony, of Westphalia and a number of areas to the east, for example, in what is now west and north Saxony-Anhalt. The land of the Saxons was divided into about 60 "Gaue". The Frisians had not moved into this region; for centuries they preserved their independence in the most northwesterly region of the present-day Lower Saxon territory. The original language of the folk in the area of Old Saxony was West Low German, one of the varieties of language in the Low German dialect group.
The victory at Fraustadt had a crippling effect in Denmark, Russia and Saxony, and caused shock waves around Europe. In France, the victory was celebrated, and Prussian policy immediately became friendlier to the Swedes. In June the same year, Rehnskiöld was made Count (in 1719, the count’s branch of the Rehnskiöld family was introduced at the House of Nobility under number 48). With the main Saxon army defeated, the Swedish Army had the opportunity to move into Saxony and force Augustus II out of the war. In August, Charles XII reunited with Rehnskiöld’s army. The joint army moved through Imperial Silesia, and by September, the Swedes had successfully occupied Saxony without resistance. The Treaty of Altranstädt (1706) was concluded between Sweden and Saxony on 14 September. Under Swedish terms, Augustus II was forced to break all ties with his allies, renounce his claims to the Polish crown, and accept Stanisław Leszczyński as the new King.
Charles I or Karl I (Karl Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), the last King of Bohemia (as Charles III), and the last monarch belonging to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. After his uncle Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914, Charles became heir presumptive of Emperor Franz Josef. Charles I reigned from 1916 until 1918, when he "renounced participation" in state affairs, but did not abdicate. He spent the remaining years of his life attempting to restore the monarchy until his death in 1922. Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004, he is known to the Catholic Church as Blessed Karl of Austria.
After the Kalmar Union period, just before his death in 1560, King Gustav I continued the tradition by making his sons John, Magnus and Carl powerful dukes, together ruling much more of the kingdom than their older half-brother Eric, who had held a duchy in the southeast. When Eric became King Eric XIV, the imbalance of power his father had created became destructive. John, with the aid of Carl, eventually revolted, dethroned Eric and became king; Magnus proved unimportant due to mental health issues, but Carl's duchy of Södermanland prospered as a separate territory for several decades and also made his eventual rise to the throne possible. His duchy was inherited by his younger son, Carl Philip, who died in 1622 having been the last holder of one of the semi-autonomous Swedish duchies, which his brother, King Gustav II Adolph, officially abolished in 1618.
There are large gaps in the knowledge of the earliest Swedish regents. However, the last king who followed the old Norse religion was Blot-Sweyn, who reigned 1084–87. According to legend, Blot-Sweyn became king when his predecessor Inge refused to sacrifice at Uppsala. His brother-in-law Sweyn stepped up and agreed to sacrifice, which gave him the nickname "Blot", which means "sacrifice". Inge took out his revenge three years later, when he entered Uppsala with a great force, set Blot-Sweyn's house ablaze, and killed him as he attempted to flee the burning wreckage.
Hailing from Saxony and Bavaria, where they had many lands and "honores", the Hattonids were appointed to prefectures and counties in East Franconia and the central Rhineland from an early date. One of their family, Banzleib, was both Count of Maine in Neustria and Margrave of Saxony under Louis the Pious. The Hattonids more or less controlled Saxony in the last years of Louis the Pious' reign. They were staunch supporters of Louis the Pious and his eldest son Lothair I in the years from 838 to 843. They had a hatred for Louis the German and opposed his rule in Saxony and the creation of a kingdom of East Francia, since they had lands on both sides of the Rhine. Louis the German, however, jealous of their influence and power in the Rhineland, made war on them; a war which culminated in the Battle of Wörnitz, whereat the Hattonid leader Adalbert, Count of Metz, died. Adalbert and Banzleib's older brother, Hatto, was displaced from his county of Nassau, too, but he maintained his ground in Alemannia until at least 857.
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (Franz Joseph Karl; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and monarch of many other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 2 December 1848 to his death. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, as well as the third-longest-reigning monarch of any country in European history, after Louis XIV of France and Johann II of Liechtenstein.
The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as Kingdom of Alba in Gaelic, which later became known in Scots and English as "Scotland"; the terms are retained in both languages to this day. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term "rex Scottorum", or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin. The Kingdom of Scotland was merged with the Kingdom of England to form a single Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Thus Queen Anne became the last monarch of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England and the first of Great Britain, although the kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603 (see Union of the Crowns). Her uncle Charles II was the last monarch to be crowned in Scotland, at Scone in 1651. He had a second coronation in England ten years later.
The Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, gave way to the Empire of Austria between 1804 and 1806. The last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II, was proclaimed Emperor Franz I of Austria. His daughter, the Archduchess Maria Louise, was Napoleon’s second wife and Empress Consort, and the mother of Napoleon’s only legitimate son and heir, Napoleon, Duke of Reichstadt. With the collapse of Napoleon’s empire, Imperial Austria regained its traditional control of Lombardy as the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.
The Treaty of Hubertusburg, between Austria, Prussia, and Saxony, was signed on 15 February 1763, at a hunting lodge between Dresden and Leipzig. Negotiations had started there on 31 December 1762. Frederick, who had considered ceding East Prussia to Russia if Peter III helped him secure Saxony, finally insisted on excluding Russia (in fact, no longer a belligerent) from the negotiations. At the same time, he refused to evacuate Saxony until its elector had renounced any claim to reparation. The Austrians wanted at least to retain Glatz, which they had in fact reconquered, but Frederick would not allow it. The treaty simply restored the status quo of 1748, with Silesia and Glatz reverting to Frederick and Saxony to its own elector. The only concession that Prussia made to Austria was to consent to the election of Archduke Joseph as Holy Roman emperor. Saxony emerged from the war weakened and bankrupt; despite losing no territory, Saxony had essentially been a battleground between Prussia and Austria throughout the conflict, with many of its' towns and cities (including the capital of Dresden) damaged by bombardment and looting.
The last twelve years of Frederick Augustus' government passed largely quietly. The conservative character of the king, which in foreign policy up to 1806 had manifested itself in unconditional loyalty to Saxon interests, hardened even more after the experience of Napoleonic hegemony. With respect to political reform the King achieved little. Until his death in 1827, which falls on the same date as Napoleon's death anniversary, little was altered in the constitutional regulation of the Saxon state. To be sure, the king failed to do so out of respect for the rights of the remaining Lusatian upper classes. Just as little came of the desire of many people to transform the existing political system to accommodate a genuine legislature. There was scarcely any lessening of admiration for the old king who had overseen the destiny of Saxony for more than half a century. During his lifetime he gained the name "The Just". Resentment over the delayed economic and social rebuilding of the country was to be felt by his brother, King Anton.
From July to November 1918, Heinze was Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Saxony and briefly the last "Ministerpräsident" of the King of Saxony.
Frederick Augustus served in the Royal Saxon Army before becoming king, and later was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall. Though well-loved by his subjects, he voluntarily abdicated as king on 13 November 1918, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. He died in Sibyllenort (now Szczodre) in Lower Silesia and was buried in Dresden.
Before 1806, Saxony was part of the Holy Roman Empire, a thousand-year-old entity that had become highly decentralised over the centuries. The rulers of the Electorate of Saxony of the House of Wettin had held the title of elector for several centuries. When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in August 1806 following the defeat of Emperor Francis II by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz, the electorate was raised to the status of an independent kingdom with the support of the First French Empire, then the dominant power in Central Europe. The last elector of Saxony became King Frederick Augustus I.