Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (28 July 1676 – 23 March 1732), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Frederick II
Frederick II, 18th century
Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Reign	2 August 1691 – 23 March 1732
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	Frederick III
Regent	Bernhard I and Heinrich
Born	(1676-07-28)28 July 1676 Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha, Holy Roman Empire
Died	23 March 1732(1732-03-23) (aged 55) Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Holy Roman Empire
Burial	Friedenstein Palace
Spouse	Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst ​ ​ (m. 1696)​
Issue among others...	Frederick III Prince William Prince John August Fredericka, Duchess of Saxe-Weisselfels Augusta, Princess of Wales Prince John Adolf
House	Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Father	Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Mother	Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels
Religion	Lutheran

He was born in Gotha, the fifth child and first son of Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels.

After the death of his father, in 1691, Frederick II assumed the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Because he was still under age, a guardianship and co-regency was formed between his uncles, the dukes Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen and Heinrich of Saxe-Römhild. In 1693, after he returned from a journey to Holland and England, he wrote to the emperor for a license of adult age and took independent control of the government of his duchy. Frederick was a splendor-loving baroque ruler; maintaining his court and standing army, which he had taken over from his father and even expanded, devoured a considerable amount of his income. As a solution, Frederick hired out his soldiers to foreign princes, which caused him great difficulties in 1702, when the King Louis XIV of France hired his troops and used them in his war against the Emperor.

Relating to domestic affairs, Frederick essentially continued the policy of his father. He created an orphanage in Altenburg (1715), a workhouse and a lunatic asylum in Kahla (1726), as well as the Magdalenenstift - in honor of his mother and wife (both with the same name) - (1705), an endowment for unmarried noble women. For 100,000 thaler from his private property, he bought the famous numismatic collection of Prince Anton Günther of Schwarzburg Arnstadt, which formed the basis of the current collection of coins (Münzkabinetts) at Schloss Friedenstein.

By accumulation of parts of Saxe-Coburg (dissolved in 1699), Saxe-Eisenberg (dissolved in 1707) and Saxe-Römhild (dissolved in 1710), he succeeded to all, however only at long hereditary disputes under the other Ernestine duchies, which went only to 1735 with an arbitral award of the Emperor finally to end reaching in each case area increases for his country. He died in Altenburg.

Issue

At Friedenstein Castle in Gotha on 7 June 1696, he married his first cousin, Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.
They had twenty children:

1. Sophie (b. Gotha, 30 May 1697 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 29 November 1703) died young.
2. Magdalena (b. Altenburg, 18 July 1698 – d. 13 November 1712). Died young, never married
3. Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b. Gotha, 14 April 1699 – d. Gotha, 10 March 1772).
4. Stillborn son (Gotha, 22 April 1700).
5. Wilhelm (b. Gotha, 12 March 1701 – d. Gräfentonna, 31 May 1771).
6. Karl Frederick (b. Gotha, 20 September 1702 – d. [of smallpox?] Gotha, 21 November 1703), died young.
7. Stillborn daughter (b. and d. Gotha, 8 May 1703).
8. Johann August (b. Gotha, 17 February 1704 – d. Stadtroda, 8 May 1767).
9. Christian (b. Gotha, 27 February 1705 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 5 March 1705), died young.
10. Christian Wilhelm (b. Gotha, 28 May 1706 – d. Stadtroda, 19 July 1748), married on 27 May 1743 to Luise Reuss of Schleiz. Their marriage was childless.
11. Ludwig Ernst (b. Gotha, 28 December 1707 – d. Gotha, 13 August 1763) died unmarried and without issue.
12. Emanuel (b. Gotha, 5 April 1709 – d. Gotha, 10 October 1710) died young
13. Moritz (b. Altenburg, 11 May 1711 – d. Altenburg, 3 September 1777) never married and died without issue.
14. Sophie (b. Altenburg, 23 August 1712 – d. Altenburg, 12 November 1712) died in infancy.
15. Karl (b. Gotha, 17 April 1714 – d. Gotha, 10 July 1715) died young.
16. Fredericka (b. Gotha, 17 July 1715 – d. Langensalza, 12 May 1775), married on 27 November 1734 to Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.
17. Stillborn son (Gotha, 30 November 1716).
18. Magdalena Sibylle (b. Gotha, 15 August 1718 – d. Gotha, 9 November 1718) died young.
19. Augusta (b. Gotha, 30 November 1719 – d. Carlton House, 8 February 1772), married on 8 May 1736 to Frederick, Prince of Wales. They had 9 children; their second child later became King George III of Great Britain.
20. Johann Adolf (b. Gotha, 18 May 1721 – d. Friedrichstanneck, 29 April 1799).

Ancestry

Ancestors of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

8. John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar 4. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha 9. Dorothea Maria of Anhalt 2. Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 10. Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg 5. Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg 11. Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 12. John George I, Elector of Saxony 6. August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels 13. Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia 3. Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels 14. Adolf Frederick I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 7. Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 15. Anna Maria of Ostfriesland

References

• August Beck: Friedrich II., Herzog von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, S. 3–5.
• Christian Ferdinand Schulze, Leben des Herzogs von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg Friedrich II., Digitalisat