Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Augustus
Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Reign 1804–1822
Predecessor Ernst II
Successor Frederick IV
Spouse Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Karoline Amalie of Hesse-Kassel
Issue
Louise, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Full name
Emil Leopold August
House House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Father Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Mother Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen
Born 23 November 1772(1772-11-23)
Gotha
Died 27 May 1822(1822-05-27) (aged 49)
Gotha

Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (full name: Emil Leopold August) (23 November 1772 – 27 May 1822), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and the author of one of the first modern novels to treat of same-sex love. He was the maternal grandfather of Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Contents

Early life

He was born on 23 November 1772 in Gotha, the second son of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1779 the death of his older brother Ernst made him the heir to the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. In his youth he was very well trained.

Reign

In 1804 Emil succeeded his father. He sided with Napoleon, and in 1806 joined the Rhine Confederation.

A man of great culture, Augustus was in correspondence with Jean Paul, Madame de Stäel and Bettina von Arnim. In 1805 he published anonymously the poetic novel Kyllenion Ein Jahr in Arkadien (i.e. Cyllenion A year in Arcadia). This is a pastoral idyll, set in ancient Greece, in which several couples fall in love, overcome various obstacles and live happily ever after. It is unique in that one of the couples is homosexual and their love affair is treated no differently from that of any of the others. This is perhaps the first novel since antiquity in which same-sex love is so treated.

Augustus was also a collector of art, tanks and sonderling. He had an aversion for the hunt and riding, as well as a preference for dancing, wearing silk socks and feminine clothes. He called himself "Emilie" among his friends. Goethe called him "angenehm und widerwärtig zugleich": "agreeable and distasteful at the same time".

Marriages and issue

In Ludwigslust on 21 October 1797 Augustus married firstly Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had one child, a daughter:

  1. Luise Dorothea Pauline Charlotte Fredericka Auguste (b. Gotha, 21 December 1800 - d. Paris, 30 August 1831). She married firstly on 31 July 1817 Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, but they divorced in 1826; secondly, on 18 October 1826 Alexander von Hanstein, created count of Pölzig.

Secondly, Augustus married in Kassel on 24 April 1802 Karoline Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). They had no children.

He died on 27 May 1822 in Gotha.

Further reading

Ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Princess Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Dorothea Marie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Elisabeth Eleonore of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Christine of Saxe-Eisenach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Preceded by
Ernest II
Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
1804–1822
Succeeded by
Frederick IV