Johann Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (21 February 1594 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 ...

– 6 December 1626 in Sankt Martin,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

), was a duke of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...

Biography

Born as the eldest son of

Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Johann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (''Johann Maria Wilhelm''; 22 May 1570 – 18 July 1605) was a Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Jena. Biography He was the second son of Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Dorothea Susanne of Simmern. His father died ...

and

Dorothea Maria of Anhalt Dorothea Maria of Anhalt (Dessau, 2 July 1574 – Weimar, 18 July 1617), was by birth a member of the House of Ascania and princess of Anhalt. After her marriage, she became Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Dorothea Maria was the sixth daughter of Joachi ...

, during his first years, Johann Ernst had a tutor and arms master, Matt of Johan. His father died on 18 July 1605, leaving the duchy under the governance of a regent. In 1608 he began his studies at the age of 14 at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

accompanied by his younger brothers, Wilhelm and Frederick. While at the university, his guardian appointed a companion and supervisor over the three princes, who later became

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Kaspar of Teutleben and the Preceptor Frederick Hortleder. In 1613-1614, Johann and his brothers, with his guardians, took a tour of France, Great Britain and the Netherlands as part of their studies. In 1615 Johann Ernst reached adulthood and took control of his duchy and the guardianship of his under-age younger brothers. On 24 August 1617 in the

Schloss Hornstein ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

(now Wilhelmsburg Castle), during his mother's funeral, Johann Ernst created The

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

(''Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft''), a German literary society. The young duke participated as an initial member. During his government, Johann Ernst promoted the reforms of

Wolfgang Ratke Wolfgang Ratke (also Wolfgangus Ratichius or Wolfgang Ratich) (18 October 157127 April 1635) was a German educational reformer. Biography Early life He was born at Wilster, Holstein,Leichpredigt: Meyfart, Johann Matthäus: Programma Publicum In ...

in Köthen. He also supported the similar school reforms of Johannes Kromayer and Johann Weidner in Weimar, starting on 1618 in Jena and Weimar with the annulment of tax decrees. In 1620 Johann Ernst served under

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both r ...

, the famous ''Winter King''. After his defeat in the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

on 8 November 1620, the duke refused to submit to the Emperor without conditions. As a punishment, he lost his estates and the guardianship of his brothers. Now fully against the Habsburgs, he fought in the Netherlands and performed duties as a ride master. Later, he took a commission as a Danish lieutenant general of the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

and fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

and

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. As such he participated in the conquest of the Schlesiens. Afterwards he went to fight for Count

Ernst von Mansfeld Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (german: Peter Ernst Graf von Mansfeld; c. 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander who, despite being a Catholic, fought for the Protestants during the early years of the ...

for one of his estates in

. There Johann Ernst died, at the age of 32 years, in the Hungarian location of Sankt Martin, as a result of war wounds.

References

Ernst Wülcker Ernst Wülcker (24 August 1843, in Frankfurt am Main – 16 September 1895, in Weimar) was a German archivist and lexicographer. He was an older brother of philologist Richard Paul Wülker (1845–1910). He studied classical philology and Ger ...

: '' Johann Ernst (dänischer General)''. 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 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, S. 352–360.

External links

, - 1594 births 1626 deaths House of Wettin German people of the Thirty Years' War People from Altenburg Dukes of Saxe-Weimar {{Germany-duke-stub