Prince William of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg | |
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Born | William Charles Christian of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 12 March 1701 Gotha |
Died | 31 May 1771 (aged 70) Tonna, Germany |
House | Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |
Father | Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |
Mother | Magdalena Augusta |
Prince William Charles Christian of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (German: Wilhelm Carl Christian von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg; 12 March 1701, Gotha – 31 May 1771, Tonna) was a German prince of the Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg house, a junior line of the Ernestine Wettins. He served as a Generalfeldzeugmeister in the armies of the Holy Roman Empire.
He was the second surviving son of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and his wife Magdalena Augusta (1679–1740), daughter of Charles, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. On 17 May 1750 he was one of three godparents to Prince Frederick of Great Britain, youngest son of William's younger sister Augusta and Frederick, Prince of Wales – the other two godparents were the child's elder siblings Augusta and George.
In 1734 he became Generalwachtmeister in the forces of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, commanding the same two regiments that his elder brother Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg had led against the French. In 1738 he became a Generalfeldmarschallleutnant and in 1750 a Generalfeldzeugmeister. He made two failed petitions to rise to Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall in 1753 and 1760 and soon afterwards resigned as a Generalfeldzeugmeister to take up residence in Tonna.
In Hamburg on 8 November 1742 he married Anna (1709–1758), daughter of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin and aunt of Catherine II of Russia. They had no children.
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father in 1751. Augusta's eldest son succeeded her father-in-law as George III in 1760. After her spouse died, Augusta was the presumptive regent of Great Britain in the event of a regency, until her son reached majority in 1756.
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to 1918. In November 1918, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was forced to abdicate. In 1920, the northern part of the duchy was merged with six other Thuringian free states to form the Free State of Thuringia: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe-Meiningen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, as well as the People's State of Reuss. The southern part of the duchy, as southernmost of the Thuringian states, was the only one which, after a referendum, became part of the Free State of Bavaria.
The House of Wettin was a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.
Saxe-Coburg was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.
Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg, was the first Duke of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz, reigning from 1701 until his death. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Saxe-Hildburghausen was an Ernestine duchy and Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen.
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in 1825, in which the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld line received Gotha, but lost Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen.
Saxe-Eisenach was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The state intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all three duchies was Eisenach.
The Ernestine duchies, also known as the Saxon duchies, were a group of small states whose number varied, which were largely located in the present-day German state of Thuringia and governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.
Prince Frederick William of Great Britain was a grandchild of King George II and the youngest brother of King George III. He was the youngest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, was a reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, one of the ruling Thuringian dukes of the House of Wettin. As progenitor of a line of Coburg princes who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, ascended the thrones of several European realms, he is a patrilineal ancestor of the royal houses of Belgium and Bulgaria, as well as of several queens consort and the empress consort of Mexico in the 1860s.
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.
Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp-Eutin was a cadet of the reigning ducal House of Holstein-Gottorp who became prince of Eutin, prince-bishop of Lübeck and regent of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp.
Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was, by birth, a Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst and, by marriage, a Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. She was the maternal grandmother of George III of the United Kingdom.
Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin through her marriage to Grand Duke Frederick Francis I.
Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen was a member of the House of Saxe-Meiningen and a Princess of Saxe-Meiningen by birth and a member of the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Duchess consort of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg through her marriage to Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Prince August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was a German prince of the Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg line of the Ernestine Wettins and a patron of the arts during the Age of Enlightenment.
Johann Adolf of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and a Saxon lieutenant general.