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ERNEST I

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 751 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ERNEST I . [See also:

ERNST ANTON KARL See also:LUDWIG], See also:duke of See also:Saxe-See also:Coburg-See also:Gotha (1784–1844), was the son of See also:Francis, duke of Saxe-Coburg-See also:Saalfeld, and was See also:born on the 2nd of See also:January 1784. At the See also:time of his See also:father's See also:death (9th of See also:December 18o6) the duchy of Coburg was occupied by See also:Napoleon as conquered territory, and Ernest did not come into his See also:inheritance till after the See also:peace of See also:Tilsit (See also:July 1807). Owing to the See also:part he had played in assisting the Prussians at the See also:battle of Auerstadt he continued out of favour with Napoleon, and he threw himself with vigour into the See also:war of liberation against the See also:French. After the battle of See also:Leipzig he was given the command of the V. See also:army See also:corps and reduced See also:Mainz by See also:blockade; he also commanded the Saxon troops during the See also:campaign of 1815. By the See also:congress of See also:Vienna he was rewarded with the principality of See also:Lichtenberg on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine, which received a slight See also:augmentation after the second peace of See also:Paris. These territories he sold to See also:Prussia in 1834 In 1826, in the See also:division of the territories of the duchy of Saxe-Gotha which followed the death of its last duke (See also:February 1825), he received the duchy of Gotha, ceding that of Saalfeld to the duke of See also:Meiningen; and he now exchanged his See also:style of Ernest III. of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld for that of Ernest I. of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 1821 he had given a constitution to Coburg, but he did not interfere with the traditional See also:system of estates at Gotha. He died on the 29th of January 1844. Duke Ernest, who was not only a See also:good soldier and keen sportsman, but an enlightened See also:patron of the arts and sciences, did much for the economic, educational and constitutional development of his territories; and his See also:advice always carried See also:great See also:weight in the See also:councils of the other See also:German sovereigns. It was, however, for the splendid See also:international position attained by the See also:house of Coburg under him that his reign is chiefly distinguished. His younger See also:brother See also:Leopold (q.v.) became See also:king of the Belgians; his brother See also:Ferdinand (b.

1785) married the wealthy princess Antoinette von Kohary (1816) and was the father of the duchess of See also:

Nemours and of the future King Ferdinand of See also:Portugal. Of his sisters, Antoinette (1779–1824) married Duke See also:Alexander of See also:Wurttemberg; Juliane [Alexandra Feodorovna] (1781–186o) married the See also:Russian See also:cesarevich See also:Constantine, from whom she was, however, divorced in 182o; and See also:Victoria (1786-1861), wife of See also:Edward See also:Augustus, duke of See also:Kent, became the See also:mother of See also:Queen Victoria, Duke Ernest was twice married: (I) in 1817 to See also:Louise, daughter of Duke Augustus of Saxe-Gotha, whom he finally divorced in 1826; (2) in 1831 to Maria, daughter of Duke Alexander of Wurttemberg. Of his sons, by his first wife, Ernest succeeded him in the duchy, and See also:Albert married Queen Victoria.

End of Article: ERNEST I

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