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 t ...

. 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 * Frede ...

and Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels. 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 ...

, 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 V ...

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 (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 n ...

, 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.

Issue

At Friedenstein Castle in Gotha on 7 June 1696, he married his first cousin, Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.
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-Zerb ...

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

. # 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 fat ...

. 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 (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