The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was formerly the Royal House of several
European monarchies, and branches currently reign in Belgium through the
descendants of Leopold I, and in the United Kingdom and its associated
Commonwealth realms through the descendants of Prince Albert. In the United
Kingdom, King George V changed the name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the
House of Windsor in 1917. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a line of
the Saxon House of Wettin.

Other members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha came to rule in various
other European countries. Ernst's younger brother Léopold became King of the
Belgians in 1831, and his descendants continue to serve as Belgian Head of
State. Léopold's only daughter, Charlotte of Belgium, ruled as Empress Carlota
of Mexico, consort to Maximilian I of Mexico in the 1860's. The short lived
monarchy in Mexico would have had its roots in the House of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha. Ernst's nephew Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal, and his
descendants continued to rule Portugal until that country became a republic
on the 4th of October, 1910.

Another scion of the family, 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 King Simeon II, goes by the name Simeon
Sakskoburggotski and on 24 July 2001 became Bulgaria's Prime Minister. This marked
the first occasion in history where a former monarch returned to a position of
power via democratic election.

The prominence of the Wettin family in the Slavic marches caused Emperor
Henry IV to invest them with the March of Meissen as a fief in 1089.
The family advanced over the course of the Middle Ages: in 1263 they
inherited the landgraviate of Thuringia (though without Hesse), and in
1423 they were invested with the Duchy of Saxony, centred at Wittenberg,
thus becoming one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. The
family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 when the sons of Frederick
II, Elector of Saxony divided the territories hitherto ruled jointly. The
elder son Ernest, who had succeeded his father as Prince-elector, received
the territories assigned to the Elector (Electoral Saxony) and Thuringia,
while his younger brother Albert obtained the March of Meissen, which he
ruled from Dresden. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony",
his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony.

The older, Ernestine branch remained predominant until 1547 and played an
important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Their
predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War, which pitted the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League against Emperor Charles V. Although itself Protestant,
the Albertine branch rallied to the Empire's cause; Charles V rewarded them
by forcing the Ernestines to sign away their rights to the Electoral title
and lands to the Albertines. The Ernestine line was thereafter restricted
to Thuringia, and its dynastic unity swiftly crumbled. The Albertine Wettin
maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony, preserving it as a
significant power in the region, and using small appanage fiefs for their
cadet branches, few of which survived for significant lengths of time. The
Ernestine Wettin, on the other hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory,
creating an intricate patchwork of small duchies and counties in Thuringia.

The junior Albertine branch ruled as Electors (1547-1806) and Kings of Saxony
(1806-1918) and also played a role in Polish history: two Wettin were Kings of
Poland (between 1697-1763) and a third ruled the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1814)
as a satellite of Napoleon. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Albertine branch
lost about 40% of its lands, including the old Electoral Saxony, to Prussia,
restricting it to a territory coextensive with the modern Saxony.

Rulers of the Duchy of Saxe Coburg und Gotha

The Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
1826-1918

The Titles of The Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha

According to the House law of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha the full Title and Style of the Duke was as follows:

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.

Translation: 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.