August Victor Louis of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: August Viktor Ludwig; 13 June 1818 – 26 July 1881), was a German prince of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry is the Roman Catholic, Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, founded after the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág, Princess ...

. He was a

General Major Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

Royal Saxon Army The Royal Saxon Army (german: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918). A regular Saxon army was first established in 1682 and it continued to exist until the ...

and the owner of Čábráď and

Štiavnica The Štiavnica is a river in southern central Slovakia. It flows through Banská Štiavnica, Krupina and Levice districts, and through the town of Banská Štiavnica. It enters the Ipeľ river west of Šahy Šahy ( hu, Ipolyság, rarely german: ...

, both in modern-day

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

Life

Born ''Prince August Viktor Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld'', he was the second son of

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1785 – 27 August 1851) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Despite ...

. He was born in Vienna on 13 June 1818 and baptised at St. Stephan Cathedral on the 16th of that month. His godparents were his paternal grandmother,

Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf Countess Augusta Caroline Sophie Reuss-Ebersdorf () (19 January 1757 – 16 November 1831), was by marriage the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was the maternal grandmother of Queen Victoria and the paternal grandmother of Albert, Prince ...

, his aunts,

Victoria, Duchess of Kent , house = , father = Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , mother = Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf , birth_date = , birth_place = Coburg, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_p ...

and Louise, Duchess of Saxe Coburg. Following the 1826 re-distribution in the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

of the

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 num ...

, his dynastic suffix became "of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha". His mother was

Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

, the daughter and heiress of Ferenc József, Prince Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya. When Antonia's father died in 1826, she inherited his estates in Slovakia and Hungary. Prince August was a younger brother of King-Consort

Ferdinand II of Portugal '' Dom'' Ferdinand II ( Portuguese: ''Fernando II'') (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and King of Portugal ''jure uxoris'' as the husband of Queen Maria II, from the birth ...

, a nephew of

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Lou ...

, and a first cousin of Britain's

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, and her husband, Prince Albert. In

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...

on 20 April 1843 August married

Princess Clémentine of Orléans Princess Clémentine of Orléans (french: Marie Clémentine Léopoldine Caroline Clotilde d'Orléans) (3 June 1817 – 16 February 1907), princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and duchess in Saxony, was the sixth child of ten and youngest daughter of ...

, daughter of

Louis Philippe, King of the French Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

, and of his wife, Princess

Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies french: link=no, Marie-Amélie Thérèse de Bourbon-Siciles , house = Bourbon-Two Sicilies , father = Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies , mother = Maria Carolina of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Caserta Palace, Naples , ...

. The couple lived in Palais Coburg in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He also owned ''Bürglaß'' Castle in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

. When his mother died in 1862, he inherited her extensive landholdings in Hungary and became one of the largest landowners in the country. He was an honorary member of the Hungarian Geological Society. Coburg-St

Prince August built a Catholic church in Coburg. It was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different gro ...

in 1860 and was named St. Augustin. He was later buried in the crypt below this church, as were his wife, his three sons, his daughter-in-law Leopoldina and her four sons. August was a recipient of the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order (german: link=yes, Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden)Hausorden
Herz ...

, the Portuguese royal

Order of the Tower and Sword The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...

, the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

and the Belgian royal Order of Leopold. Furthermore, he was a knight of honour and devotion in the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

Memorial

In 1885, the Austrian sculptor

Viktor Tilgner Viktor Oskar Tilgner (25 October 1844 in Pressburg – 16 April 1896 in Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor and medailleur. Life He was the son of Captain Carl Tilgner. The family moved to Vienna when he was a child. His talent was recogniz ...

was commissioned to create a memorial for the late Prince August. The sculpture still stands on private land in Ebenthal owned by the Saxe-Coburg ducal family. The base of the sculpture contains a Latin inscription and a text in French: ("August Louis Victor, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. To my beloved husband." — 1843 is not the year August was born (he was born in 1818), but rather the year he married Clémentine).

Marriage and issue

on 20 April 1843 August married

, daughter of

. They had five children: # Ferdinand Philipp Maria August Raphael (b. Paris, 28 March 1844 - d. Coburg, 3 July 1921). # Ludwig August Maria Eudes (b. Château d'Eu, 8 August 1845 - d. Karlsbad, 14 September 1907), married on 15 December 1864 to

Princess Leopoldina of Brazil Princess Leopoldina of Brazil (Leopoldina Teresa Francisca Carolina Miguela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga; 13 July 1847 – 7 February 1871) was the daughter of Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina. She shared the first name of her grandmothe ...

. # Marie Adelaide Amalie Clotilde (b. Neuilly, 8 July 1846 - d. Alcsút, Hungary, 3 June 1927), married on 12 May 1864 to

Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (german: (Erzherzog) Josef Karl (Ludwig) von Österreich, hu, Habsburg–Lotaringiai József Károly (Lajos) főherceg; 2 March 1833 – 13 June 1905) was a member of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. He was t ...

. # Marie Luise Franziska Amalie (b. Coburg, 23 October 1848 - d. Schloß Biederstein, 6 May 1894), married on 20 September 1875 to Maximilian Emanuel, Duke in Bavaria. # Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria (b. Vienna, 26 February 1861 - d. Coburg, 10 September 1948), installed as Prince of Bulgaria on 7 July 1887; raised to

Czar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...

of Bulgaria on . On 2 May 1881, Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...

bestowed upon August and his descendants the style of ''Hoheit'' ("

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adje ...

"), a higher style in Germany than ''Durchlaucht'' ("

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...

"), which Ernestine princes were usually entitled to. The reason for the grant was that eight days later

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium Princess Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Belgium (21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was a Belgian princess who became Crown Princess of Austria through marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hun ...

(younger sister of August's daughter-in-law Louise) was to marry Franz Joseph's son

Crown Prince Rudolf en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

; Franz Joseph considered it appropriate that his son's in-laws have a higher rank at the Austrian court.

Honours

He received the following awards:''Staatshandbuch für die Herzogthümer Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha'' (1865). "Genealogie des Herzogliche Hauses"
p. 11
Gotha: Thienemann. * :

Knight of the Golden Fleece This article contains a list of knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Knights of the Burgundian Golden Fleece 15th Century !Year of Induction!!Name!!Born!!Died!!Notes , - , rowspan=25, 1430, , Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, , 1396, , ...

, ''1862'' * : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, ''3 June 1844'' * : Grand Cross of the Southern Cross *

: Grand Cross of the

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order (german: link=yes, Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden)Hausorden
Herz ...

, ''February 1836'' *

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

: Grand Cross of the

, ''May 1840'' * : Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion * : Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, ''23 April 1836'' * : Knight of the Rue Crown, ''1848''''Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen (1867)'' (in German), "Königliche Ritter-Orden", p. 4

Ancestry

External links

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:August, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1818 births 1881 deaths Nobility from Vienna House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur