nimh wrote:The Polish monarch was elected?
Well, you made me question that, too. Apparently, Nimh, that is how historians refer to the succession. Odd, isn't it? I read it has something to do with the change from being the Duchy of Saxony to the Electoral Saxony when "The Golden Bull of 1356 raised the duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of elector, with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor."
Here are some other references:
Quote: from infoplease.com (subject: Electoral Saxony) The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election (1697) of Augustus II (who was Frederick Augustus I as elector of Saxony) as king of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony...
Bio of Stanislaw August Poniatowski (1732 - 1798) -- last king of Poland
A History of Poland