Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (12 June 1655 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 ...

– 17 October 1715 in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

) was a duke of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy and Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the Distri ...

. He was the ninth but sixth surviving son of

Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha Ernest I, called "Ernest the Pious" (25 December 1601 – 26 March 1675), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg. The duchies were later merged into Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was the ninth but sixth surviving son of Johann II, Duke of S ...

and

Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg (10 October 1619 – 20 December 1680), was a princess of Saxe-Altenburg and, by marriage, duchess of Saxe-Gotha. She was born in Halle, the only daughter of Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and his ...

. When his father died in 1675, Ernest and his six brothers jointly assumed the government of the duchy; five years later, in 1680, and under the treaty of division of the family lands, he received the towns of

Eisfeld Eisfeld is a town and a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the n ...

, Heldburg,

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. Ernest became thereby founder and first duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. After the death of his brothers Heinrich and Albrecht without male descendants, he took the towns of

Sonnefeld Sonnefeld () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Districts of Germany, district of Coburg (district), Coburg in States of Germany, Bavaria in Germany. Geographical Location Sonnefeld lies on Bundesstraße 303 between Coburg and Kr ...

and

Behringen Behringen is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and th ...

. Ernest settled his official residence in

and began the building of his castle. In 1710 he approved the building in his lands of a new city of French Huguenot families, who were driven out after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

from France. As Master of Cavalry he fought in 1683 in the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...

, and 1685 in the conquest of Gran and Neuhaeusel, after this he entered the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army () was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This army was brought to such a size ...

as a Colonel with the conquest of

Kaiserswerth Kaiserswerth is one of the oldest quarters of the City of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 5. It is in the north of the city and next to the river Rhine. It houses the where Florence Nightingale worked. Kaiserswerth has an area of , and 7,923 in ...

. In the building of his new residence, Ernest acquired a serious indebtedness of the principality to his brothers, which could not be reduced even by ever larger taxations.

Issue

He was married in

Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck (state), Waldeck-Pyr ...

on the 30 November 1680 to Sophie of Waldeck. They had five children: # Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (b. Gotha, 21 August 1681 – d. Hildburghausen, 9 March 1724). # Sophie Charlotte (b. Arolsen, 23 December 1682 – d. Eisfeld, 20 April 1684) died young. # Sophie Charlotte (b. Hildburghausen, 23 March 1685 – d. Hildburghausen, 4 June 1710) died unmarried. # Karl Wilhelm (b. Arolsen, 25 July 1686 – d. Arolsen, 2 April 1687) died young. # Joseph Maria Frederick Wilhelm (b. Erbach, 5 October 1702 – d. Hildburghausen, 4 January 1787).

Ancestry

References

*Rudolf Armin Human, ''Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen'', Hildburghausen, 1886 *Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl, ''Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg'', Bozen, 1917, Neudruck Altenburg, 1992. *Johann Samuel Ersch, ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'', p. 300.
Digitalisat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen 1655 births 1715 deaths House of Saxe-Hildburghausen Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen People from Gotha (town)