, consort = yes , succession = Duchess consort of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg , reign = 10 March 1772 – 20 April 1804 , image = Charlotte Amalie of Saxe-Meiningen.jpg , caption = Portrait by

Johann Ernst Heinsius Johann Ernst Heinsius (; 21 May 1731, Ilmenau - 18 October 1794, Erfurt) was a German portrait painter and miniaturist. Biography His father was Johann Christian Heintz (c.1706-1756), a gunsmith who had become an artist at the court of Rudol ...

, spouse =

Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Gotha, 30 January 1745 – Gotha, 20 April 1804) was the reigning Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg from 1772 to 1804. He was the third but second surviving son of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ...

, issue = Ernest, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

Frederick IV
Prince Ludwig , house =

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...

, father =

Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (Meiningen, 22 October 1687 – Frankfurt, 27 January 1763), was Duke of Saxe-Meiningen from 1746 to 1763. Life Anton Ulrich was born on 22 October 1687 at Meiningen. He was the second but first surviving son ...

, mother = Landgravine

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal (11 August 1730, Philippsthal – 7 September 1801, Meiningen), was Duchess and regent from 1763 to 1782 of Saxe-Meiningen. Life Charlotte Amalie was a daughter of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philip ...

, birth_date = , birth_place =

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Free Imperial City of Frankfurt,

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, death_date = , death_place =

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen (german: Marie Charlotte Amalie Ernestine Wilhelmine Philippine, Prinzessin von Sachsen-Meiningen) (11 September 1751,

, Free Imperial City of Frankfurt,

– 25 April 1827,

) was a member of the

House of Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...

and a Princess of Saxe-Meiningen by birth and a member of the

House 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 the l ...

and Duchess consort of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg through her marriage to

Early life and family

Princess Charlotte was born on 11 September 1751. She was the eldest child and daughter of

and his second wife, Landgravine

. Charlotte was an elder sister of

Charles William, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen August Friedrich Karl Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (Frankfurt, 19 November 1754 – Sonneberg, 21 July 1782), was a duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Family He was the first son of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse ...

and

George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

Marriage

Charlotte married Ernest, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (later Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg), son of

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-Zerbst ...

and his wife Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen, on 21 March 1769 in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

. Charlotte and Ernest had four children: # Ernest, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b.

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 ...

, 27 February 1770 – d. Gotha, 3 December 1779). #

Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (full name: ''Emil Leopold August'') (23 November 1772 — 17 May 1822), was a Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and the author of one of the first modern novels to treat of homoerotic love. He was the maternal ...

(b. Gotha, 23 November 1772 – d. Gotha, 27 May 1822) #

Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Gotha, 28 November 1774 – Gotha, 11 February 1825), was the last duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was the third but second surviving son of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Charlotte ...

(b. Gotha, 28 November 1774 – d. Gotha, 11 February 1825). # Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b. Gotha, 21 October 1777 – d. Gotha, 26 October 1777). Charlotte's husband, Ernest, was regarded as an enlightened

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

and a great patron of art and science, who led his country into a cultural flowering. He was assisted in his cultural undertakings by his wife, Charlotte. Like her husband, Charlotte was a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. She counted relief panels for the court

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

Franz Xaver von Zach Baron Franz Xaver von Zach (''Franz Xaver Freiherr von Zach''; 4 June 1754 – 2 September 1832) was a Hungarian astronomer born at Pest, Hungary (now Budapest in Hungary). Biography Zach studied physics at the Royal University of Pest, and s ...

and she also participated in observations. Charlotte also participated in the First European Astronomy Congress in 1798 at the Seeberg Observatory and independently corresponded with the leading astronomers of her time.

Later life

After her husband's death in 1804, there were difficulties with Charlotte's son, Augustus, upon his succession. Charlotte left Gotha with Zach and spent some time in Eisenberg. Later she traveled with Zach throughout southern Europe and lived several years in

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, and later in

, where she died in 1827.

Ancestry

References

* Bärbel Raschke: ''Charlotte Amalie Herzogin von Sachsen-Meiningen (1730–1801). Leben und Wirken im Kontext westeuropäischer und deutscher Aufklärung.'' In: ''Francia 2''. Bd. 25, 1999, , S. 69-103. * Ingeborg Titz-Matuszak und Peter Brosche (Hrsg.): ''Das Reisetagebuch 1807 der Herzogin Charlotte Amalie von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg''. Thüringisches Staatsarchiv Gotha, Gotha 2003 (=Reihe: ''Schriften des Thüringischen Staatsarchivs Gotha''. Bd.1. ).

External links

*
Katalog der Theaterbibliothek Herzogin Charlottes von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte Of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess 1751 births 1827 deaths House of Saxe-Meiningen House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg People from Frankfurt 18th-century German astronomers Women astronomers Amateur astronomers Princesses of Saxe-Meiningen Princesses of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Duchesses of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 18th-century women scientists