Johann Ernst of Saxe-Eisenach

Johann Ernst was the son of Duke Johann Frederick II and the Palatine of Elizabeth . His grandfather Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous was Elector of Saxony, but after losing the battle of Mühlberg , he signed the Wittenberg capitulation in captivity, according to which the title was transferred to Moritz from the Albertine line of the Vettins.

During the Grumbach quarrel, Johann Frederick II took the side of Wilhelm Grumbachsky , who was subjected to imperial disgrace in 1563, therefore he was also subjected to imperial disgrace by Emperor Maximilian II in 1566. The wife of Johann Frederick II and his children were forced to flee Gotha, and found shelter in Weimar with his younger brother, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Johann Wilhelm . He became the guardian of his nephews, and in 1570 he turned out to be the sovereign owner of all Ernestian possessions.

In 1572, an imperial commission gathered in Erfurt, which, despite the protests of Johann Wilhelm, separated the southern and western lands in favor of the children of his brother. Thus, Johann Ernst and his older brother Johann Casimir became rulers of the new duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach ; their guardians (as well as the regents of the duchy) were the Palatinate Elector Frederick III the Pious , the Brandenburg Elector Johann Georg and the Saxon Elector Augustus . Johann Frederick II continued to be a captive of the emperor, Elizabeth was ordered to move to Austria, and two young brothers moved to Coburg ; Johann Ernst was only 6 years old at that time.

Since 1578, Johann Ernst began to study with his brother at the University of Leipzig . In 1586, his elder brother married, and the regency ended, they became full-fledged rulers of their duchy. For the next 10 years, they jointly ruled Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach, but Johann Casimir, being an older brother, bore the brunt of state concerns. In 1587, Johann Ernst built for himself a separate residence in Markzul . In 1590, Johann Ernst agreed with his brother that Johann Casimir would rule the duchy alone for five years; after this period in 1596 the brothers shared the inheritance: Johann Casimir was left with the duchy of Saxe-Coburg , and Johann Ernst received Saxe-Eisenach .

The first year of his administration of the independent duchy, Johann Ernst continued to live in Markzul, since the capital Eisenach was still uninhabited, people began to settle there only after the official announcement of its capital as a new duchy. In 1598, a government and a consistory were created in the duchy.

In 1633, Johann Casimir died with no children, and Johann Ernst inherited Saxe-Coburg, managing both duchies from Eisenach as part of a personal union.

On November 23, 1591, Johann Ernst married in Wiener Neustadt Elizabeth von Mansfeld-Hinterort. She died four days after the birth of their only son:

• Johann Friedrich (born and died on April 8, 1596 in Markzul)

On May 14, 1598, Johann Ernst married Christine of Hesse-Kassel in Rothenburg. The marriage was happy, but the couple did not have children.

With the death of Johann Ernst in 1638, the Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach line of the Vettins was cut short. In accordance with the rules adopted in the Ernestine line of the Vettins, his possessions were divided between the duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg .

• Beck August . Johann Ernst (Herzog von Sachsen-Eisenach) // Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). - Bd. 14. - Lpz. : Duncker & Humblot, 1881. - S. 364-365. (him)