Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (28 July 1676 – 23 March 1732), was a duke of
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
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 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,
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 provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, 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
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
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
Kahla () is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, 14 km south of Jena.
Mayors
*1990–2012: Bernd Leube
*2012–2018: Claudia Nissen
*2018–incumbent: Jan Schönfeld
People wh ...
(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 numb ...
, 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
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 ...
.
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) died young.
# Magdalena (b. Altenburg, 18 July 1698 – d. 13 November 1712). Died young, never married
#
Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (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), died young.
# 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), died young.
# 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) died unmarried and without issue.
# Emanuel (b. Gotha, 5 April 1709 – d. Gotha, 10 October 1710) died young
# Moritz (b. Altenburg, 11 May 1711 – d. Altenburg, 3 September 1777) never married and died without issue.
# Sophie (b. Altenburg, 23 August 1712 – d. Altenburg, 12 November 1712) died in infancy.
# Karl (b. Gotha, 17 April 1714 – d. Gotha, 10 July 1715) died young.
#
Fredericka (b. Gotha, 17 July 1715 – d. Langensalza, 12 May 1775), married on 27 November 1734 to
Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.
# Stillborn son (Gotha, 30 November 1716).
# Magdalena Sibylle (b. Gotha, 15 August 1718 – d. Gotha, 9 November 1718) died young.
#
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, German: ''Friedrich Ludwig''; 31 January 1707 – 31 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 C ...
. 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 King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
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; ) 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 Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...
(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
Dukes of the Holy Roman Empire