 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Duchy of Saxe-Gotha Herzogtum Sachsen-Gotha (German) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1640–1680 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Thuringia, showing the combined territory of Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg from 1672, before it was again divided in 1680 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | State of theHoly Roman Empire | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Gotha | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Principality | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern Europe | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1640 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1644 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1672 | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Partitioned in seven | 1680 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Saxe-Gotha (German:Sachsen-Gotha) was one of the Saxon duchies held by theErnestine branch of theWettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate ofThuringia. The ducal residence was erected atGotha.
The duchy was established in 1640, when DukeWilhelm von Saxe-Weimar created a subdivision for his younger brotherErnest I the Pious. Duke Ernest took his residence atGotha, where he hadSchloss Friedenstein built between 1643 and 1654. At the same time, the Duchy ofSaxe-Eisenach was created for the third brotherAlbert IV.
Nevertheless, Albert died in 1644, and Ernest inherited large parts of his duchy, though not the core territory around the residence atEisenach and theWartburg, which fell to his elder brother Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar. Ernest could also incorporate several remaining estates of the extinctHouse of Henneberg in 1660, which had been vacant since 1583. Finally in 1672 he received the major part ofSaxe-Altenburg through his wifeElisabeth Sophie, after Altenburg's last dukeFrederick William III had died without heirs. Ernest would then be called Duke ofSaxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
When Ernest died in 1675, he left his seven sons a significantly enlarged territory. The eldest,Frederick I at first ruled jointly with his brothers until in 1680 the duchy was divided. The area around Gotha and alsoAltenburg passed to Frederick I, who retained the title of a Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. For later history of the duchy, seeSaxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
When the house of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct in 1825, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was split. Saxe-Gotha passed to the Duke ofSaxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who in turn gaveSaalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen. The Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen receivedSaxe-Altenburg, and gave thedistrict of Hildburghausen to Saxe-Meiningen.
After the abolition of German monarchies at the end of theFirst World War it became a part of the newly createdstate of Thuringia in 1920.
Ernestine duchies after the Division of Erfurt (1572) | ||
|---|---|---|
|  | |
 Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire | ||
|---|---|---|
| Electorates |  | |
| Ecclesiastical | ||
| Secular | ||
| Prelates | ||
| Counts /Lords | ||
Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories See also:Ernestine duchies | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
