John Ernest II (11 September 1627, in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

– 15 May 1683, in Weimar), 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 ...

. He was the second but eldest surviving son of

William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar ( Altenburg, 11 April 1598 – Weimar, 17 May 1662), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Wilhelm was the fifth (but third surviving) son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt. He was brother to Be ...

, and

Eleonore Dorothea of Anhalt-Dessau Eleonore Dorothea of Anhalt-Dessau (born 16 February 1602 in Dessau – died 26 December 1664 in Weimar), was a princess of Anhalt-Dessau by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Life Eleonore Dorothea was a daughter of the prince John ...

Life

After the death of his father on 1662, he became reigning duke. In 1672 John Ernest divided his possessions with his younger brothers. He retained

, his brother John George I received

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

, and his other brother,

Bernhard Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar *Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 1946 ...

, received

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

. Eventually, the partitioned lands, Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Eisenach (1741) and Saxe-Jena (1690) were re-combined. Like his father, John Ernest was particularly interested in the arts (see

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 ...

). He was also an avid hunter. Given his overriding interest in these pursuits, John Ernest entrusted the reigns of government to his chancellor. In

on 14 August 1656, John Ernest married Christine Elisabeth, (23 June 1638 – 7 June 1679), a daughter of

John Christian, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(26 April 1607 – 28 June 1653). They had five children:Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
/ref> # Anna Dorothea (b. Weimar, 12 November 1657 - d. Quedlinburg, 23 June 1704), Abbess of

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

(1685–1704). #Wilhelmine Christine (b. Weimar, 26 January 1658 - d. Sondershausen, 30 June 1712), married on 25 September 1684 to Christian William of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. # Eleonore Sophie (b. Weimar, 22 March 1660 - d. Lauchstädt, 4 February 1687), married on 9 July 1684 to Philipp of Saxe-Merseburg-Lauchstädt. #

William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (19 October 1662 – 26 August 1728) was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Life He was born in Weimar, the eldest son of Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Princess Christine Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Son ...

(b. Weimar, 19 October 1662 - d. Weimar, 26 August 1728). #

John Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Johann Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (Weimar, 22 June 1664 – Weimar, 10 May 1707), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Life He was the second son of Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Christine Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg ...

(b. Weimar, 22 June 1664 - d. Weimar, 10 May 1707).

Ancestors

References

Bibliography

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, Herzog von Sachsen-Weimar''. 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. 360–362. * Karl Helmrich: ''Geschichte des Grossherzogthums Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach'', Weimar 1852, S. 102
Digitalisat
, - 1627 births 1683 deaths House of Wettin Nobility from Weimar Dukes of Saxe-Weimar {{Germany-duke-stub