territories in Italy ceded to Austria in 1714, which led to the 1733 Pacte de Famille between France and Spain. Death of Augustus II Augustus II died on February 1, 1733. Throughout the spring and summer of 1733, France began building up forces along its northern and eastern frontiers, while the emperor massed troops on Polish borders, reducing garrisons in the Duchy of Milan for the purpose. While the aging Prince Eugene of Savoy had recommended to the emperor a more warlike posture against potential actions by France in the Rhine valley and northern Italy, only minimal steps were taken to improve imperial defenses on the Rhine. The Marquis de Monti, France's ambassador in Warsaw, convinced the rival Potocki and Czartoryski families to unite behind Stanislaus. Teodor Potocki, Primate of Poland and interrex following the death of Augustus, called a convocation sejm in March 1733. Delegates to this sejm passed a resolution forbidding the candidacy of foreigners; this would explicitly exclude both Emmanuel of Portugal and Augustus II's son, Frederick August II, the Elector of Saxony. Frederick August negotiated agreements with Austria and Russia in July 1733. In exchange for Russian support, he agreed to give up any remaining Polish claims to Livonia, and promised to Anna of Russia her choice of successor to the Duchy of Courland, a Polish fief (of which she had been duchess prior to her ascension to the Russian throne) which would have otherwise come under direct Polish rule on the death of the current duke, Ferdinand Kettler, who had no heirs. To the Austrian emperor he promised recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, a document designed to guarantee inheritance of the Austrian throne to Maria Theresa, Charles' oldest child. In August, Polish nobles gathered for the election sejm. On August 11, 30,000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Peter Lacy entered Poland in a bid to influence the sejm's decision. On September 4, France openly declared its support for Leszczyński, who was elected king by a sejm of 12,000 delegates on September 12. A group of nobles, led by Lithuanian magnates including Duke Michael Wiśniowiecki (the former Lithuanian grand chancellor nominated by Augustus II), crossed the Vistula River to Praga and the protection of Russian troops. This group, numbering about 3,000, elected Frederick August II King of Poland as Augustus III on October 5. Despite the fact that this group was a minority, Russia