Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

natal chart (Placidus)
natal chart English style (Equal houses)
natal chart with Whole Sign houses
Name |
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Birthname | Ernst Anton Carl Ludwig | ||||
born on | 2 January 1784 at 01:00 (= 01:00 AM ) | ||||
Place | Coburg, Germany, 50n15, 10e58 | ||||
Timezone | LMT m10e58 (is local mean time) | ||||
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Biography
German nobility, as Ernst III the last sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and from 1826, the first sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
He was the eldest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf. His younger brother, Leopold Georg Christian Frederick, was later elected the first King of the Belgians.
When his father died in 1806, he succeeded in the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld as "Ernst III", but could not take over the formal government of his lands, because the duchy was occupied by Napoleonic troops and was under French administration.
Ernst was a Prussian general and participated in military actions against Napoleon. He fought in the battles of Auerstedt (1806), Lützen and Leipzig (1813) and drew in 1814 into the French fortress of Mainz. After the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna on 9 June 1815 gave him an area of 8.25 square miles (21.4 km2) with 25,000 inhabitants around the capital St. Wendel. In 1819 this land received the name of Principality of Lichtenberg. He sold it to Prussia in 1834.
In Gotha on 3 July 1817 Ernest married Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. They had two children: Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and "Albert", the husband of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort of the United Kingdom. His marriage was unhappy due to his own acts of infidelity. Ernst and Luise were separated in 1824 and were officially divorced on 31 March 1826.
The death in 1825 of the last duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Luise's uncle, resulted in a rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies. Ernst at the time was in the process of divorcing Luise, and because of this the other branches objected to him receiving Gotha. They reached a compromise on 12 November 1826: Ernst received Gotha and ceded Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen. He subsequently became "Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha".
In Coburg on 23 December 1832, Ernst married for a second time to his niece Duchess Marie of Württemberg, the daughter of his sister Antoinette. They had no children. This marriage made Marie both Prince Albert's cousin and his stepmother.
Ernst also had three illegitimate children. He is the patrilineal ancestor of, inter alios, both the Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent, as well as being the great-great-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. He died on 29 January 1844.
Relationships
- parent->child relationship with Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (born 26 August 1819)
- parent->child relationship with Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 21 June 1818)
- child->parent relationship with Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (born 15 July 1750)
- spouse relationship with Luise, Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born 21 December 1800)
- sibling relationship with Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg (born 28 March 1785)
- sibling relationship with Leopold I, King of Belgium (born 16 December 1790)
- sibling relationship with Sophie von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (born 19 August 1778)
- sibling relationship with Victoire von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (born 17 August 1786)
- other kin relationship with Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (born 24 May 1819). Notes: in-laws
Events
Source Notes
Sy Scholfield quotes "Jahrbücher der Herzoglich Sächsischen Residenzstadt Coburg: Von 741 - 1822, Volume 1" by Philipp Carl Gotthard Karche (Ahl, 1825), p. 377: "1784. den 2. Jan. früh 1 Uhr wurde die Frau Erbprinzessin von einem Prinzen entbunden, welcher noch an denselben Abend 5 Uhr die heilige Taufe und mit ihr die Namen Ernst Anton Carl Ludwig empfing." [Translation: 1784, 2 Jan. At 1 o'clock in the early hours the Hereditary Princess was delivered of a prince, who received the names Ernst Anton Carl Ludwig and on the same evening he was baptised at 5 o'clock.]
Categories
- Family : Relationship : Number of Marriages (Two)
- Family : Parenting : Kids 1-3 (Two sons)
- Notable : Famous : Royal family (House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)