Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (25 September 1697, in

Saalfeld Saalfeld (german: Saalfeld/Saale) is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the ancestral seat of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the S ...

– 16 September 1764, in Rodach) was a duke of

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinct ...

Biography

He was the fourth living son of Johann Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the third born by his father's second wife

Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen (13 December 1664 in Arolsen – 1 February 1699 in Hildburghausen) was a daughter of Count Josias II of Waldeck-Wildungen and his wife, Wilhelmine Christine, a daughter of William of Nassau-Siegen. M ...

. During his youth, Francis Josias served in the Imperial Army. The death of his two older brothers Wilhelm Frederick (d. 28 July 1720) and Charles Ernest (d. 30 December 1720) made him the second in line in the succession of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, preceded only by his older half-brother, Christian Ernest. When Christian Ernest married unequally in 1724, Francis Josias claimed the sole inheritance of the duchy. His father's will (1729), however, compelled him to rule jointly with his brother. In 1735, the support of the line of Saxe-Meiningen allowed him to effectively rule over Coburg on his own right, and Christian Ernest's death in 1745 made him the sole Duke. Already in 1733 he proclaimed

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

in the duchy, which, however, was confirmed by the Emperor only in 1747. From 1750 to 1755, he was regent of the

duchy of Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the History of Saxony, Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin, Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weima ...

on behalf of Ernest Augustus II Konstantin.

Issue

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

on 2 January 1723 Franz Josias married

Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (9 September 1700 – 11 December 1780) was a Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. She was the daughter of Louis Frederick I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (15 October 1667 – 24 June 1718) and ...

. They had eight children: # Ernest Frederick (b. Saalfeld, 8 March 1724 – d. Coburg, 8 September 1800) #Johann Wilhelm (b. Coburg, 11 May 1726 – killed in battle, Hohenfriedberg, 4 June 1745) #Anna Sophie (b. Coburg, 3 September 1727 – d. Coburg, 10 November 1728) #Christian Franz (b. Coburg, 25 January 1730 – d. Coburg, 18 September 1797) # Charlotte Sophie (b. Coburg, 24 September 1731 – d. Schwerin, 2 August 1810), married on 13 May 1755 to Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin #Fredericka Magdalene (b. Coburg, 21 August 1733 – d. Coburg, 29 March 1734) # Frederica Caroline (b. Coburg, 24 June 1735 – d. Schloß Schwaningen, 18 February 1791), married on 22 November 1754 to Karl Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach # Frederick Josias (b.

Ehrenburg Palace Ehrenburg Palace (German: ''Schloss Ehrenburg'') is a palace in Coburg, Franconia, Germany. It served as the main Coburg residence for the ruling princes from the 1540s until 1918. The palace's exterior today mostly reflects Gothic Revival style. ...

, Coburg, 26 December 1737 – d. Coburg, 26 February 1815)

Ancestry

References

* August Beck: '' Franz Josias, Herzog von Sachsen-Koburg-Saalfeld''. En:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

(ADB). Band 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 296. * ''Das herzogliche Haus Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. Seine Geschichte und gegenwärtige Stellung in Europa''. C. Macklot, 1842, S. 234 ff.
Digitalisat

External links

*
WW-Person: A database of the higher nobility in Europe.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis Josias, Duke Of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 1697 births 1764 deaths