Johann Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (21 February 1594 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 ...

– 6 December 1626 in Sankt Martin,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

), was a duke of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-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 branch of the House of W ...

Biography

Born as the eldest son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and

Dorothea Maria of Anhalt Dorothea Maria of Anhalt (Dessau, 2 July 1574 – Weimar, 18 July 1617), was by birth a member of the House of Ascania and princess of Anhalt. After her marriage, she became Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Dorothea Maria was the sixth daughter of Joachim ...

, during his first years, Johann Ernst had a tutor and arms master, Matt of Johan. His father died on 18 July 1605, leaving the duchy under the governance of a regent. In 1608 he began his studies at the age of 14 at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

accompanied by his younger brothers, Wilhelm and Frederick. While at the university, his guardian appointed a companion and supervisor over the three princes, who later became

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Kaspar of Teutleben and the Preceptor Frederick Hortleder. In 1613–1614, Johann and his brothers, with his guardians, took a tour of France, Great Britain and the Netherlands as part of their studies. In 1615 Johann Ernst reached adulthood and took control of his duchy and the guardianship of his under-age younger brothers. On 24 August 1617 in the

Schloss Hornstein ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

(now Wilhelmsburg Castle), during his mother's funeral, Johann Ernst created The

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 ...

(''Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft''), a German literary society. The young duke participated as an initial member. During his government, Johann Ernst promoted the reforms of Wolfgang Ratke in Köthen. He also supported the similar school reforms of Johannes Kromayer and Johann Weidner in Weimar, starting on 1618 in Jena and Weimar with the annulment of tax decrees. In 1620 Johann Ernst served under

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

, the famous ''Winter King''. After his defeat in the

Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...

on 8 November 1620, the duke refused to submit to the Emperor without conditions. As a punishment, he lost his estates and the guardianship of his brothers. Now fully against the Habsburgs, he fought in the Netherlands and performed duties as a ride master. Later, he took a commission as a Danish lieutenant general of the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

and fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

and

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. As such he participated in the conquest of the Schlesiens. Afterwards he went to fight for Count

Ernst von Mansfeld Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (; 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander; despite being a Catholic, he fought for the Protestants during the early years of the Thirty Years' War. He was one of the l ...

for one of his estates in

. There Johann Ernst died, at the age of 32 years, in the Hungarian location of Sankt Martin, as a result of war wounds.

References

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 G ...

: '' Johann Ernst (dänischer General)''. 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 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, S. 352–360.

External links

, - 1594 births 1626 deaths House of Wettin German military personnel of the Thirty Years' War People from Altenburg Dukes of Saxe-Weimar {{Germany-duke-stub