Thread by @akoz33

# OTD in 1741 Maurice de Saxe
gains European fame by capturing Prague during the War of the Austrian succession by a spectacular coup de main, of the kind other generals can only dream about.

Maurice was an illegitimate son of AugustusII "The Strong" , King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and a famous Swedish beauty and wit, countess Maria Amore of Königsmark. His great grandfather was the Swedish general Königsmark, who in 1648 commanded a bloody siege of Prague,

which was cut off by the Peace of Westphalia. Maurie was to accomplish what his great-grandfather's nearly did, but more successfully and with much less spilling of blood.

Maurice's father, King Augustus, is believed to have fathered a remarkably large number of illegitimate children, but recognised only seen. Maurice was one of them. His father gave him the title of count and a small stipend. Maurice also inherited from Augustus his enormous

physical strength and vigour but he also possessed for superior intellectual powers. in fact, he is widely recognised as one of the most brilliant military minds in history (he had also plenty of other talents: from early days he displayed annual aptitude

for mathematics and music, both of which he studied in Paris in his early teens). Maurice was also a very kind and humane man (also, like his father, could not resist any pretty woman). He almost certainly would have made an excellent ruler but his
illegitimacy prevented this.

Had he rather than his completely incapable and indolent brother succeeded to the crown of Poland, he could have changed history, but that was not to be. As a king's son' he was accepted in Europe’s royal circles but never seen as an equal. Frederick II of Prussia was a personal

friend and admirer. Two future Russian Empresses, Anna
loannovna and Elisabeth Petrovna both wanted to marry him (but they were not empresses at that time). He rejected the first one because she was too ugly, the second one was very beautiful but the marriage was impossible

for political reason. By the time it was possible, Elisabeth was Empress but Maurie was no longer young or handsome and their meeting was a disappointment.
Maurice always wanted to be the ruler of something. The closest he came was by becoming elected Duke of Courland,

which was at that time a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but in practice dependent on Russia. Russia opposed Maurice who maintained himself in power for one year by means of a private army recruited with the money he borrowed

from the great actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, who was in love with him and gave him all her savings. But when the money ran out so did Maurice's ability to stay in power. He made many attempts to recover his Dukedom, the last time by visiting Empress Elisabeth, who

gave him a friendly welcome but also told him she had already promised the Duchy to another German dim out. Maurice was far more successful in his military endeavours. In spite of the hostility of many French aristocrats who resented this foreigner who never lost his German

accent, Maurice won the trust of the king Louis Xv) who made him Marshal General of France. He also was a friend of Voltaire, who was his rival for the affections of Adrienne, which, however, did not damage their relations.

From about the age of 50 Maurice was suffering from dropsy. The disease was incurable and fatal in the 18th century and it killed Maurice after a few years. Yet although it was painful
and debilitating, to the very end his life was as active as possible

(in some of his greatest battles he had to ride in a coach as he wasunable to sit on a horse).
He died six years before the start of the seven Years' War. Had he lived he would have lead French armies against his friend Frederick II.

Whether he would have been successful is, of course, impossible to say. He had a superior grasp of strategy than Frederick but, in spite of his attempts at reforms, the French army remained far interior in quality to the Prussian one.

One last thing: among the curious ideas Maurice proposed to Louis XV, one was especially remarkable: it was to create a Jewish state in the New World (out of French possessions) with Maurice as its ruler. Apparently it was seriously considered

at the time of Maurice's sudden death.