Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (28 July 1676 – 23 March 1732), was a duke of

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg () was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany. The extinction of the line in 1825 led to a major re-organisation of the Thuringian states. History In 1640 the sons of the l ...

. He was born in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

, the fifth child and first son of

Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

and

Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels (2 September 1648 – 7 January 1681) was a German noblewoman. She was a daughter of August, duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, and his wife Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her paternal grandparents were Jo ...

. After the death of his father, in 1691, Frederick II assumed the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Because he was still under age, a guardianship and co-regency was formed between his uncles, the dukes Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen and Heinrich of Saxe-Römhild. In 1693, after he returned from a journey to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he wrote to the emperor for a license of adult age and took independent control of the government of his duchy. Frederick was a splendor-loving baroque ruler; maintaining his court and standing army, which he had taken over from his father and even expanded, devoured a considerable amount of his income. As a solution, Frederick hired out his soldiers to foreign princes, which caused him great difficulties in 1702, when the King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

hired his troops and used them in his war against the Emperor. Relating to domestic affairs, Frederick essentially continued the policy of his father. He created an orphanage in Altenburg (1715), a workhouse and a lunatic asylum in

Kahla Kahla () is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, 14 km south of Jena. Mayors *1990–2012: Bernd Leube *2012–2018: Claudia Nissen *2018–incumbent: Jan Schönfeld People wh ...

(1726), as well as the Magdalenenstift - in honor of his mother and wife (both with the same name) - (1705), an endowment for unmarried noble women. For 100,000 thaler from his private property, he bought the famous numismatic collection of Prince Anton Günther of Schwarzburg Arnstadt, which formed the basis of the current collection of coins (''Münzkabinetts'') at Schloss Friedenstein. By accumulation of parts of Saxe-Coburg (dissolved in 1699), Saxe-Eisenberg (dissolved in 1707) and Saxe-Römhild (dissolved in 1710), he succeeded to all, however only at long hereditary disputes under the other

Ernestine duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose numb ...

, which went only to 1735 with an arbitral award of the Emperor finally to end reaching in each case area increases for his country. He died in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

Issue

Friedenstein Castle Friedenstein Palace (german: Schloss Friedenstein) is an early Baroque palace built in the mid-17th century by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha at Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. In Germany, ''Friedenstein'' was one of the largest palaces of its time and o ...

in Gotha on 7 June 1696, he married his first cousin,

Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (13 October 1679 – 11 October 1740) was, by birth, a Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst and, by marriage, a Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. She was the maternal grandmother of George III of the United Kingdom ...

.
They had twenty children: # Sophie (b. Gotha, 30 May 1697 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 29 November 1703). # Magdalena (b. Altenburg, 18 July 1698 – d. 13 November 1712). #

Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (14 April 1699 – 10 March 1772), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Biography He was born in Gotha, the eldest son of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalene Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst ...

(b. Gotha, 14 April 1699 – d. Gotha, 10 March 1772). # Stillborn son (Gotha, 22 April 1700). #

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

(b. Gotha, 12 March 1701 – d. Gräfentonna, 31 May 1771). # Karl Frederick (b. Gotha, 20 September 1702 – d. f smallpox?Gotha, 21 November 1703). # Stillborn daughter (b. and d. Gotha, 8 May 1703). # Johann August (b. Gotha, 17 February 1704 – d. Stadtroda, 8 May 1767). # Christian (b. Gotha, 27 February 1705 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 5 March 1705). # Christian Wilhelm (b. Gotha, 28 May 1706 – d. Stadtroda, 19 July 1748), married on 27 May 1743 to Luise Reuss of Schleiz. Their marriage was childless. # Ludwig Ernst (b. Gotha, 28 December 1707 – d. Gotha, 13 August 1763) # Emanuel (b. Gotha, 5 April 1709 – d. Gotha, 10 October 1710). # Moritz (b. Altenburg, 11 May 1711 – d. Altenburg, 3 September 1777). # Sophie (b. Altenburg, 23 August 1712 – d. Altenburg, 12 November 1712). # Karl (b. Gotha, 17 April 1714 – d. Gotha, 10 July 1715). # Fredericka (b. Gotha, 17 July 1715 – d. Langensalza, 12 May 1775), married on 27 November 1734 to

Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels ( Weissenfels, 4 September 1685 – Leipzig, 16 May 1746), was the last duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and a member of the House of Wettin. He was also a commander in the Saxon army. Johann Adol ...

. # Stillborn son (Gotha, 30 November 1716). # Magdalena Sibylle (b. Gotha, 15 August 1718 – d. Gotha, 9 November 1718). # Augusta (b. Gotha, 30 November 1719 – d. Carlton House, 8 February 1772), married on 8 May 1736 to

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

. They had 9 children, their second child ''later became'' King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

of Great Britain. # Johann Adolf (b. Gotha, 18 May 1721 – d. Friedrichstanneck, 29 April 1799).

Ancestry

References

* August Beck: Friedrich II., Herzog von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg. In:

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 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, S. 3–5. * Christian Ferdinand Schulze, ''Leben des Herzogs von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg Friedrich II.''
Digitalisat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 02 of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 1676 births 1732 deaths House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg People from Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg People from Gotha (town) Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg