Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg


Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Biography

He was born in Gotha, the eldest son of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalene Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.
After the death of his father, in 1732, Frederick III assumed the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
In 1734 he began a flourishing soldier trade with the Emperor, to the Prince of Waldeck and to the King of Prussia, which put him into the position to create a tax in his own duchy. The duchy had to suffer for Frederick with difficulty in the Seven Years' War and he forced the duchy into a war with his neighbour, duke Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen.

Issue

In Gotha on 17 September 1729, Frederick married Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen, his first cousin. They had nine children:
  1. Frederick Louis, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg died unmarried.
  2. Louis died young.
  3. stillborn son, twin of Louis.
  4. stillborn twin sons.
  5. Fredericka Louise died unmarried.
  6. Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
  7. Sophie died young.
  8. August.
From 1748 to 1755 he was regent of the duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on behalf of Ernst August II Konstantin. From 1750, he acted as regent alongside his kinsmen Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He died in Gotha, aged 72.

Ancestors