Category:Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Ernest Anton Charles Louis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Ernst Anton Karl Ludwig Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) (b. Coburg, January 2, 1784 - d. Gotha (town), January 29, 1844) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and from 1826, the first sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1817, Ernst married Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. They had two children:

1. Ernest II Augustus Charles John Leopold Alexander Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b. Coburg, 21 June 1818 - d. Reinhardsbrunn, 22 August 1893).
2. Francis Augustus Charles Albert Emmanuel (b. Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, 26 August 1819 - d. Windsor Castle, 14 December 1861), Prince Consort of the United Kingdom.

His marriage was unhappy due to his own acts of infidelity. Ernst and Luise were separated in 1824 and were officially divorced on 31 March 1826.

In 1832, Ernst married secondly with his niece en:Marie of Württemberg (Antoinette Friederike Auguste Marie Anna Herzogin von Württemberg) (b. 17 September 1799, d. 24 September 1860), the daughter of his sister en:Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. They had no children. This marriage made Marie both Prince Albert's cousin and his stepmother.

He had three illegitimate children:

—With en:Sophie Fermepin de Marteaux:

1. Berta Ernestine von Schauenstein (b. 26 January 1817 - d. Coburg, 15 August 1896), married her cousin Eduard Edgar Schmidt-Löwe, the illegitimate son of his father's sister, Juliane.

—With en:Margaretha Braun:

1. Ernst Albert Bruno von Bruneck (d. 1838).
2. Robert Ferdinand von Bruneck (d. 1856), created in 1856 Freiherr von Bruneck.

[edit] Ancestors

Ernst I's ancestors in three generations

Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Father: en:Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld	Paternal Grandfather: en:Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld	Paternal Great-grandfather: en:Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
			Paternal Great-grandmother: en:Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
		Paternal Grandmother: en:Duchess Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel	Paternal Great-grandfather: en:Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Antoinette Amalie
	Mother: en:Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf	Maternal Grandfather: en:Heinrich XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf	Maternal Great-grandfather: en:Heinrich XXIII, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf
			Maternal Great-grandmother: en:Sophie Theodora of Castell-Remlingen
		Maternal Grandmother: en:Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg	Maternal Great-grandfather: Georg August of Erbach-Schönberg
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Ferdinande Henriette of Stolberg-Wernigerode