Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha : biography

21 June 1818 – 22 August 1893

Ernest II ( 21 June 1818 – 22 August 1893) was the second sovereign duke of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, reigning from 1844 to his death. Ernest was born in Coburg as the eldest child of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his duchess, Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Fourteen months later, his family would be joined by one brother, Prince Albert, later consort of Queen Victoria. Ernest’s father became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1826 through an exchange of territories.

In 1842, Ernest married Princess Alexandrine of Baden in what was to be a childless marriage. Soon after, he succeeded as duke upon the death of his father on 29 January 1844. As reigning Duke Ernest II, he supported the German Confederation in the Schleswig-Holstein Wars against Denmark, sending thousands of troops and becoming the commander of a German corps; as such, he was instrumental in the 1849 victory at the battle of Eckernförde against Danish forces. After King Otto of Greece was deposed in 1862, the British government put Ernest’s name forward as a possible successor. Negotiations fell through however for various reasons, not in the least of which was that he would not give up his beloved duchies in favor of the Greek throne.

A supporter of a unified Germany, Ernest watched the various political movements with great interest. While he initially was a great and outspoken proponent of the liberal movement, he surprised many by switching sides and supporting the more conservative (and eventually victorious) Prussians during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars and subsequent unification of Germany. His support of the conservatives came at a price however, and he was no longer viewed as the possible leader of a political movement. According to historian Charlotte Zeepvat, Ernest became "increasingly lost in a whirl of private amusements which earned only contempt from outside".

Ancestry

Marriage

A [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter painting of Ernest’s wife Princess Alexandrine of Baden in 1842, the year of their marriage. Alexandrine would remain fiercely devoted to Ernest during their marriage, believing that their childlessness was her fault.Zeepvat, p. 2.]] Various candidates were put forward as a possible wife for Ernest. His own father wanted him to look high-up for a wife, such as a Russian grand duchess.Feuchtwanger, p. 62; Gill, pp. 142-43. One possibility was Princess Clémentine of Orléans, a daughter of Louis Philippe I, whom he met while visiting the court at the Tuileries.Weintraub, p. 52. Such a marriage would have required his conversion from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism however, and consequently nothing came of it. She later married his cousin Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernest was also considered by Dowager Queen Maria Christina as a possible husband for her young daughter Isabella II of Spain,D’Auvergne, pp. 188-89. and by Queen Victoria for her cousin Princess Augusta of Cambridge.Gill, p. 143.

In Karlsruhe on 3 May 1842, Ernest married 21-year-old Princess Alexandrine of Baden.Zeepvat, p. 2 and Lundy. She was the eldest daughter of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sophie of Sweden, daughter of the deposed King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. Though he gave his consent, his father was disappointed that his second son did not do more to advance the concerns of Coburg. The marriage did not produce any issue, though Ernest apparently fathered at least three illegitimate children in later years.

Ernest had suffered from a venereal disease in his late teens and early twenties, most likely as the consequence of living a wild, promiscuous lifestyle.Zeepvat, p. 1. These qualities he had inherited under the tutelage of his father, who took his sons to "sample the pleasures" of Paris and Berlin, to Albert’s "horror and shame". Ernest had been so visibly deteriorating in appearance as a result that Sarah Lyttelton, a lady-in-waiting of Queen Victoria, observed at Windsor in 1839 that he was "very thin and hollow-cheeked and pale, and no likeness to his brother, nor much beauty. But he has fine dark eyes and black hair, and light figure, and a great look of spirit and eagerness". Later that year, Albert counseled his brother against finding a wife until his ‘condition’ was fully recovered. He further warned that continued promiscuity could leave Ernest incapable of fathering children. Some historians believe that while he himself was able to father other children, the disease rendered his young wife infertile.