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| Ernest I | |
|---|---|
 Anonymous portrait (17th century) | |
| Duke of Saxe-Gotha andAltenburg | |
| Reign | 14 April 1672 – 26 March 1675 |
| Successors | |
| Duke of Saxe-Gotha | |
| Reign | 26 February 1640 – 26 March 1675 |
| Predecessor | New creation |
| Duke of Saxe-Altenburg | |
| Reign | 14 April 1672 – 26 March 1675 |
| Predecessor | Friedrich Wilhelm III |
| Born | (1601-12-25)25 December 1601 Altenburg,Duchy of Saxe-Weimar,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 26 March 1675(1675-03-26) (aged 73) Schloss Friedenstein,Gotha,Saxe-Gotha, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | St. Margarethenkirche, Gotha,Neumarkt |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail |
|
| House |
|
| Father | Johann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar |
| Mother | Dorothea Maria of Anhalt |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Signature |  |
Ernest I, calledErnest the Pious (German:Ernst I., der Fromme; 25 December 1601 – 26 March 1675), was duke ofSaxe-Gotha andSaxe-Altenburg, later united asSaxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was a surviving son ofJohann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar andDorothea Maria of Anhalt. He is remembered for rebuilding and reforming his lands after theThirty Years' War. A devoutLutheran, he allied with Sweden in 1631 and fought at Lech,Nördlingen,Lützen, and thesiege of Nuremberg; after thePeace of Prague (1635) he withdrew from warfare to focus on administration and recovery.
WithVeit Ludwig von Seckendorf andAndreas Reyher, he led major educational reforms through theSchulmethodus (1642), promoting compulsory and graded schooling with a broader curriculum. He also founded the ducal library atGotha and patronized early currents of theGerman Enlightenment.
In 1675 he was interred as the first member of theHouse of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in the crypt beneath the chancel of St. Margarethenkirche on theNeumarkt. More than half a century later, during the church's remodeling in 1728, an epitaph for him and his wife was installed, and it still survives on the north wall.
Left an orphan early in life (his father died in 1605 and his mother in 1617), he was brought up in a strict manner and was gifted and precocious but not physically strong. He soon showed traits of thepiety of the time. As ruler, by his character and governmental ability as well as by personal attention to matters of state, he introduced agolden age for his subjects after the ravages of theThirty Years' War. By wise economy, which did not exclude fitting generosity or display on proper occasions, he freed his land from debt, left at his death a considerable sum in the treasury, and reduced taxation. Public security and an incorruptible and efficient judiciary received much of his attention, and his regulations served as models for other states.
He was an opponent of torture, banning it and also supported trials of witchcraft, though he was not inclined to superstition and was a foe ofalchemy. He prohibiteddueling and imposed the death penalty for a mortal result.
In 1640, according to the partition treaty with his brothers, Ernst received Gotha.
His laws were not conceived in the spirit of modern ideas about individual liberty; they forbade secret betrothals, tried to regulate dress, and extended even to the stable, kitchen, and cellar. Nevertheless, his regulations promoted agriculture, commerce, learning, and art. Hispalace of Friedenstein inGotha was rebuilt, and its collections owe their origin to Ernest; the library became one of the largest in Germany. Churches were built and by hisSchulmethodus of 1642, Ernest became the father of the present grammar school. It was a popular saying that his peasants were better instructed than the townsmen and nobles elsewhere, and at his death, it was said, that no one in his land was unable to read and write. He made the gymnasium in Gotha a model school which attracted pupils not only from all German lands, but from Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Hungary. In like manner, he fostered theUniversity of Jena, increasing its funds and regulating its studies, with too much emphasis on the religious side. His promotion of Jesus Christ church affairs won him the nickname of "Praying Ernest", but an excuse is found in the fearful demoralization caused by the war. TheBible was his own everyday book and he strove unceasingly to make his people religious after a strictLutheran pattern. Religious instruction, consisting in catechetical exercises without Bible history, was kept up even to advanced years and not unnaturally the rigid compulsion in some cases defeated its purpose. Ernest's system has maintained itself surprisingly; it still exists legally though somewhat modified or disregarded.
His efforts forProtestantism were not confined to his own land. He interceded with theHoly Roman emperor for his Austrian co-religionists and wanted to establish them in Gotha. He became a benefactor to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Germans inMoscow and entered into friendly relations with theRussian tsar. He even sent an embassy to introduce Lutheranism intoAbyssinia, but this failed to accomplish its purpose. His rule of his family is a miniature of his government of his land; the strictest discipline prevailed at court. Its life was simple and industrious, regulated on all sides by religious exercises. Rules were added to rules. No detail was overlooked which could promote the spiritual and physical development of his children, and their religious education was carried to excess. Nevertheless, his children all turned out well and Ernest died with the name of "father and savior of his people."Oliver Cromwell counted him among the most sagacious of princes; in him was embodied "the idea of the Protestant patriarchal prince and of a Christian governor of State and Church truly caring for both."
InAltenburg on 24 October 1636, Ernst married his much younger cousinElisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg, an adolescent girl half his age. As a result of this marriage, Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg were unified when the last duke of the line (Elisabeth's cousin) died childless in 1672. Ernst and Elisabeth Sophie had 18 children of which only nine survived into mature adulthood:
Their eldest son Frederick was the first to inherit this title. His granddaughter from this son,Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a directmatrilineal ancestor ofNicholas II of Russia. His younger son Johann Ernest was the father ofFranz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
SeeList of members of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
He is portrayed positively as a figure in the fictional1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, an alternate history book series, created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by historianEric Flint.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "The Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of Saxe-Altenburg 1672–1675 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by new creation | Duke of Saxe-Gotha 1640–1675 | |
