Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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Ernest Anton Charles Louis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Ernst Anton Karl Ludwig Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) (b. Coburg, January 2, 1784 - d. Gotha, January 29, 1844) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and from 1826, duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
He was the eldest son of Francis Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf and Lobenstein.
On 10 May 1803 he was hurried proclaimed an adult, because his father got heavily sick in the spring of that year and he had to take part in the government of the duchy. When his father died in 1806, he succeded in the duchy as Ernst III, but he couldn't take the formal government of his lands, because the duchy was occupied by the napoleonic troops and take under French administration. Only by the Peace of Tilsit (1807) the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, which should be first dissolved, was reunited and returned to Ernst on Russian pressure -because his sister Juliane was married with the brother of the Russian Zar-.
Ernst was a Prussian general and participated in the fights 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 give him an area of 8,25 square miles with 25.000 habitants around the capital St. Wendel, which received in 1819 the name of Principality of Lichtenberg and which he sold to 1834to Prussia.
In Gotha on July 3, 1817 Ernst married firstly with Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. They were divorced in 1826. They had two children:
- Ernest II Augustus Charles John Leopold Alexander Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b. Coburg, 21 June 1818 - d. Reinhardsbrunn, 22 August 1893).
- Francis Augustus Charles Albert Emmanuel (b. Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, 26 August 1819 - d. Windsor Castle, 14 December 1861), Prince Consort of the United Kingdom.
His marriage was totally unhappy due to his own acts of infidelity. Ernst and Luise were separated in 1824 and, in 31 March 1826, they were officially divorced.
The last duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Luise's uncle) in 1825, resulted in a rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies. Ernst, at that time, was in the process of divorcing his wife.
Because of this, the other branches objected to Ernst receiving Gotha. Ernest reached a compromise (12 November 1826): he receiving Gotha and ceded Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen.
In Coburg on December 23, 1832 Ernst married secondly with his niece Marie of Württemberg, the daughter of his sister Antoinette. They had no children.
He had three illegitimate children:
—With Sophie Fermepin de Marteaux:
- Berta Ernestine von Schauenstein (b. 26 January 1817 - d. Coburg, 15 August 1896), married her cousin Eduard Edgar Schmidt-Löwe, the illegitimate son of his father's sister, Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
—With Margaretha Braun:
- Ernst Albert Bruno von Bruneck (d. 1838).
- Robert Ferdinand von Bruneck (d. 1856), created in 1856 Freiherr von Bruneck.
| Preceded by: Francis Frederick |
Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 1806–1826 |
Succeeded by: became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
| Preceded by: (none) |
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1826–1844 |
Succeeded by: Ernst II |
