Johann Ernst II (Saxe-Weimar)

Johann Ernst II.

Coffin of Johann Ernst III. (front right) and his wife Christiana Elisabetha (front left)

Johann Ernst II (born September 11, 1627 in Weimar ; † May 15, 1683 ibid) was Duke of Saxe-Weimar . He came from the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin .

Life

Johann Ernst II was a son of Duke Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar (1598–1662) from his marriage to Eleonore Dorothea (1602–1664), daughter of Prince Johann Georg I of Anhalt-Dessau . During the Thirty Years' War, Johann Ernst received little training. He later attended the University of Jena and undertook his cavalier tour to Italy and France.

On August 14, 1656, Johann Ernst married Christiana Elisabetha (1638–1679), born Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg , daughter of Duke Johann Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, in Weimar . In order to maintain his household, Johann Ernst was given the office of Oldisleben after several children were born in the marriage . Involved in government work by his father, he oversaw hunting and forestry in the duchy.

After the death of his father he became the ruling duke. Four weeks after his father's death, he shared his property with his brothers. Johann Ernst II kept Weimar, his brother Adolf Wilhelm received the offices of Wartburg and Clemda of Saxony-Eisenach , Johann Georg I received the offices of Creuzburg and Crayenburg of Saxony-Eisenach, his other brother Bernhard received Saxony-Jena . After the Saxon-Altenburg line had expired in 1672, there was a dispute with Saxe-Gotha over the inheritance, whereby he was able to acquire about a quarter of the land for Saxe-Weimar. Then he compared himself again with his remaining brothers Bernhard and Johann Georg.

While his father, Wilhelm IV., Also achieved significant achievements in the cultural field (see Fruit-Bringing Society ), Johann Ernst II only gave himself up to his passion for hunting and also left the government of his country largely to his chancellor. After falling from a horse in 1680, one of his legs was paralyzed and he died of dropsy three years later . He was buried in the Princely Crypt of the historical cemetery in Weimar .

progeny

From his marriage, Johann Ernst II had the following children:

• Anna Dorothea (1657–1704), Abbess of the Quedlinburg Imperial Monastery
• Wilhelmine Christiane (1658-1712)

⚭ 1684 Prince Christian Wilhelm von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1645–1721)

• Eleonore Sophie (1660–1687)

⚭ 1684 Duke Philip of Saxony-Merseburg (1657–1690)

• Wilhelm Ernst (1662–1728), Duke of Saxe-Weimar

⚭ 1683 (closed 1690) Princess Charlotte Marie of Saxony-Jena (1669–1703)

• Johann Ernst III. (1664–1707), Duke of Saxe-Weimar

⚭ 1. 1685 Princess Sophie Auguste von Anhalt – Zerbst (1663–1694)

⚭ 2. 1694 Princess Charlotte of Hessen-Homburg (1672–1738)

literature

• Ernst Wülcker :  Johann Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 360-362.
• Karl Helmrich: History of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , Weimar 1852, p. 102 ( digitized version )

predecessor	Office	successor
William IV	Duke of Saxe-Weimar 1662–1683	Johann Ernst III. Wilhelm Ernst