House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a German dynasty, the line of the Saxon House of Wettin
that ruled the Ernestine duchies including the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Founded by Ernest Anton, the sixth duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, it is the royal house
of several European monarchies, and branches currently reign in Belgium through the descendants
of Leopold I, and in the Commonwealth realms through the descendants of Prince Albert.
Due to anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom during World War I, George V of the
United Kingdom changed the name of his branch from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in 1917.
The same happened in Belgium where it was changed to "van België" or "de Belgique".
History The first duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was
Ernest I, who reigned from 1826 until his death in 1844.
He had previously been Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1806 until the duchy was reorganized
in 1826.
Ernst's younger brother Leopold became King of the Belgians in 1831, and his descendants
continue to serve as Belgian head of state.
Léopold's only daughter, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, was the consort of Maximilian
I of Mexico, known as the Empress Carlota of Mexico, in the 1860s.
Ernst's nephew Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal, and his descendants continued
to rule Portugal until that country became a republic in 1910.
Ernst I's second son, Prince Albert, married Queen Victoria in 1840, and thus is the progenitor
of the United Kingdom's current royal family, called Windsor since 1917.
In 1826, a cadet branch of the house inherited the Hungarian princely estate of Koháry,
and converted to Roman Catholicism.
Its members managed to marry an imperial princess of Brazil, an archduchess of Austria, a royal
princess of "the French", a royal princess of Belgium and a royal princess of Saxony.
A scion of this branch, also named Ferdinand, became Prince, and then Tsar, of Bulgaria,
and his descendants continued to rule there until 1946.
The current head of the House of Bulgaria, the former Tsar Simeon II who was deposed
and exiled during World War II, goes by the name Simeon Sakskoburggotski and served as
Bulgaria's prime minister from 2001 to 2005.
The ducal house consisted of all male-line descendents of John Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
legitimately born of an equal marriage, males and females, their wives in equal and authorised
marriages, and their widows until remarriage.
According to the House law of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha the full title of the
Duke was: Wir, Ernst, Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha,
Jülich, Cleve und Berg, auch Engern und Westphalen, Landgraf in Thüringen, Markgraf zu Meißen,
gefürsteter Graf zu Henneberg, Graf zu der Mark und Ravensberg, Herr zu Ravenstein und
Tonna usw.
We, Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Jülich, Cleves and Berg, also Angria and
Westphalia, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count
of the Mark and Ravensberg, Lord of Ravenstein and Tonna, et cetera.
There were two official residences, in Gotha and Coburg.
Therefore the whole ducal court, including the Court Theater, had to move twice a year:
from Gotha to Coburg for the summer and from Coburg to Gotha for the winter.
For the Court Theater, two almost identical buildings had to built in 1840 in Gotha and
Coburg and thereafter maintained at the same time.
In addition to the residential castles, Friedenstein in Gotha and Ehrenburg in Coburg, the Ducal
family also used the Schloss Reinhardsbrunn in Gotha as well as the Rosenau and Callenberg
Castles in Coburg and the hunting lodges Greinburg Castle, Grein, Austria and Walterskirchen
Castle in Lower Austria.
Branches Ducal branch
Dukes, 1826–1918 Ernest I 1826–1844
Ernest II 1844–1893 Alfred 1893–1900
Charles Edward 1900–1918 Heads of the house since 1918
Charles Edward 1918–1954 Friedrich Josias 1954–1998
Andreas 1998–present Although the ducal branch is eponymous with
the dynasty, its head is not the genealogically or agnatically senior member of the family.
In 1893, the reigning duke died childless, whereupon the throne would have devolved,
by male primogeniture, upon the British branch descended from Prince Albert.
However, as heirs to the British throne, Albert's descendants consented and the law of the duchy
ratified that the ducal throne would not be inherited by the British monarch or heir apparent.
Therefore, the German duchy became a secundogeniture, hereditary among the younger princes of the
British royal family who belonged to the House of Wettin, and their male-line descendants.
Instead of the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom inheriting the duchy, it was diverted
to his next brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and, upon the latter's death without
surviving sons, to the youngest grandson of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, Prince Charles
Edward, Duke of Albany.
The current head of the ducal branch is Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Kings of the Belgians Leopold I
Leopold II Albert I
Leopold III Baudouin
Albert II Philippe
Belgian royal house Because of the First World War, the family
name was changed in 1921 to van België, de Belgique or von Belgien in the country's three
official languages – this family name is used on the identity cards and in all official
documents.
The armorial bearings of Saxony were removed from the Belgian royal coat of arms.
Other Coburgers from the many-branched Saxe-Coburg family have also changed their name.
For example, Britain's King George V adopted the family name of Windsor, after the Royal
Family's place of residence.
Kingdom of Portugal
In Portugal the former royal house is usually not distinguished from the House of Braganza.
Pedro V Luís I
Carlos I Manuel II
Manuel II died childless in 1932.
He recognised as his successor his distant cousin Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, who
is not a descendant of Ferdinand II, or the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Duarte Nuno and his successors are members of the House of Braganza.
Kingdom of Bulgaria Ferdinand I
Boris III Simeon II In 2001, elected Prime Minister
of Bulgaria as Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha—also known as Simeon "Sakskoburggotski".
United Kingdom Edward VII
George V. Edward VIII
George VI Elizabeth II
From King Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, until 1917 when King George V replaced
the German-sounding title with the name of Windsor during the First World War, British
monarchs belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.
The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha survived the Belgian royal family until 1920 and in the Bulgarian
royal family.
Genealogy Patrilineality, descent as reckoned from father
to son, has historically been the principle determining membership in reigning families,
thus the dynasty to which the monarchs of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha belonged genealogically
through the 20th century is the House of Wettin, despite the official use of varying names
by different branches of the patriline.
References
External links Official Website