Duchy of Saxe-Gotha
Saxe-Gotha (German: Sachsen-Gotha) was a state in today's Thuringia, Germany.
Duchy of Saxe-Gotha Herzogtum Sachsen-Gotha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1553 – 1572 1640 – 1680 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Gotha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Government | Principality | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
• | 1553 1553 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Split into Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Eisenach | 1572 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
• Split from Saxe-Weimar | 1640 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
• | 1680 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It was created in 1640 for Duke Ernest I and ended in 1680 when his lands were divided after his death in 1675. The area around Gotha passed to Ernest's eldest surviving son, Frederick of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who also inherited Altenburg (which Ernest had inherited through his wife Elisabeth Sophie) and became Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Dukes of Saxe-Gotha
- Ernest I the Pious (1640 – 75, also Duke of Saxe-Altenburg from 1672)
- Divided into Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Römhild, Saxe-Eisenberg, Saxe-Hildburghausen and Saxe-Saalfeld in 1680
When the house of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct in 1825, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was split. Saxe-Gotha passed to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who in turn gave Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen. The Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen became Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and gave Saxe-Hildburghausen to Saxe-Meiningen.
After the abolition of German monarchies at the end of the First World War it became a part of the newly created state of Thuringia in 1920.
Duchy Of Saxe-Gotha Media
References
- Saxe-Gotha Archived 2006-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press (2001 – 05), accessed January 27 2007