House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of "Gotha"

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⭐ Core Definition: House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (/ˌsæks ˈkbərɡ ...ˈɡɒθə, - ˈɡɒtə/ SAKS KOH-bərg ... GOT(H); German: Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), known until 1826 as the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Haus Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld), is a European royal house of German origin. It takes its name from its oldest domain, the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and its members later sat on the thrones of Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, and the United Kingdom and its dominions.

Founded in 1826 by Ernest Anton, the sixth duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, it is a cadet branch of the Saxon House of Wettin. One agnatic branch currently reigns in Belgium—the descendants of Leopold I—and another reigned in the United Kingdom until the death of Elizabeth II—the descendants of Albert, Prince Consort.

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👉 House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of Gotha

Gotha (German pronunciation: [ˈɡoːtaː] ) is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Erfurt and 25 km (16 miles) east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha originating here spawned many European rulers, including the royal houses of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal (until 1910) and Bulgaria (until 1946).

In the Middle Ages, Gotha was a rich trading town on the trade route Via Regia and between 1650 and 1850, Gotha saw a cultural heyday as a centre of sciences and arts, fostered by the dukes of Saxe-Gotha. The first duke, Ernest the Pious, was famous for his wise rule. In the 18th century, the Almanach de Gotha was first published in the city. The publisher Justus Perthes and the encyclopedist Joseph Meyer made Gotha a leading centre of German publishing around 1800. In the early 19th century, Gotha was a birthplace of the German insurance business. The SPD was founded in Gotha in 1875 by merging two predecessors. In that period Gotha became an industrial centre, with companies such as the Gothaer Waggonfabrik, a producer of trams and later aeroplanes.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of Second Mexican Empire

The Second Mexican Empire (Spanish: Segundo Imperio mexicano; French: Second Empire mexicain), officially known as the Mexican Empire (Spanish: Imperio Mexicano), was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists with the support of the Second French Empire. This period is often referred to as the Second French intervention in Mexico. French Emperor Napoleon III, with backing from Mexican conservatives, the clergy, and nobility, aimed to establish a monarchist ally in the Americas as a counterbalance to the growing power of the United States.

The throne of Mexico was offered by Mexican monarchists, who had lost a civil war against Mexican liberals, to Austrian Archduke Maximilian of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, who had ancestral ties to the rulers of colonial Mexico. Maximilian's ascension was ratified through a controversial referendum. His wife, Belgian princess Charlotte of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, became the empress consort of Mexico, known locally as "Carlota."

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of House of Windsor

The House of Windsor is the current royal house of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. The house's name was inspired by the historic Windsor Castle estate. The house was founded on 17 July 1917, when King George V changed the name of the royal house from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor due to anti-German sentiment during the First World War. There have been five British monarchs of the House of Windsor: George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Elizabeth II, and Charles III. The children and male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, also genealogically belong to the House of Oldenburg since Philip was by birth a member of the Glücksburg branch of that house.

The monarch is head of state of fifteen sovereign states. These are the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. As well as these separate monarchies, there are also three Crown Dependencies, fourteen British Overseas Territories, two associated states of New Zealand, and one territory.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of House of Hanover

The House of Hanover (German: Haus Hannover German pronunciation: [haʊ̯s haˈnoːfɐ]) is a German royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. Originating as a cadet branch of the House of Welf (also "Guelf" or "Guelph") in 1635, also known then as the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Hanoverians ascended to prominence with Hanover's elevation to an Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. In 1714 George I, prince-elector of Hanover and a descendant of King James VI and I, assumed the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, marking the beginning of Hanoverian rule over the British Empire. At the end of this line, Queen Victoria's death in 1901, the throne of the United Kingdom passed to her eldest son Edward VII, a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, through his father Albert, Prince Consort. The last reigning members of the House of Hanover lost the Duchy of Brunswick in 1918 when Germany became a republic and abolished royalty and nobility.

The formal name of the house was the "House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hanover line". The senior line of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, became extinct in 1884. The House of Hanover is now the only surviving branch of the House of Welf, which is the senior branch of the House of Este. The current head of the House of Hanover is Ernst August, Prince of Hanover.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of Charlotte of Belgium

Charlotte of Mexico (French: Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine; Spanish: María Carlota Amelia Augusta Victoria Clementina Leopoldina; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (as such, she was also styled Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony). As the wife of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia and later Emperor of Mexico, she became Archduchess of Austria (in 1857) and Empress of Mexico (in 1864). She was the daughter, granddaughter, sister, sister in-law, cousin and wife of reigning or deposed sovereigns throughout Europe and Mexico.

From the beginning of her marriage, she feuded with Empress Elisabeth in Vienna, and was glad when her husband was posted to Italy as Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia. At this time, he was selected by the Emperor Napoleon III as a figurehead for his proposed French empire in Mexico, and Charlotte overcame her husband's doubts about the plan. Maximilian and Charlotte duly arrived in Mexico City in 1864, but their reign lasted little more than three years. She assisted her husband, who let her rule as regent during his absences from Mexico City, for which reason she is considered the first woman to rule in the Americas. When Napoleon III ordered the withdrawal of French military aid intended to support Maximilian, the situation of the Mexican imperial couple became untenable.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of Bulgarian royal family

The last Bulgarian royal family (Bulgarian: Българско царско семейство, romanizedBalgarsko tsarsko semeystvo) is a line of the Koháry branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which ruled Bulgaria from 1887 to 1946. The last tsar, Simeon II, became Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 2001 and remained in office until 2005. Members of the royal family claim the titles of Prince (Princess) of Bulgaria and Duke (Duchess) in Saxony, with the style of Royal Highness.

Coburg Peak on Trinity Peninsula in Antarctica is named after the Bulgarian royal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of House of Wettin

The House of Wettin (German: Haus Wettin) is a dynasty which included Saxon kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and Saxony in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.

The family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 by the Treaty of Leipzig: the Ernestine and Albertine branches. The older Ernestine branch played a key role during the Protestant Reformation. Many ruling monarchs outside Germany were later tied to its cadet branch, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Albertine branch, while less prominent, ruled most of Saxony and played a part in Polish history.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (German: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha [ˈzaksn̩ ˈkoːbʊʁk ˈɡoːta]), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to 1918. In November 1918, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was forced to abdicate. In 1920, the northern part of the duchy (since 1918 the Free State of Gotha; culturally and linguistically Thuringian) was merged with six other Thuringian free states to form the Free State of Thuringia: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (until 1918 a grand duchy), Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe-Meiningen (until 1918 duchies), Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (until 1918 principalities), as well as the People's State of Reuss (until 1918 the principalities of Reuss-Gera and Reuss-Greiz). The southern part of the duchy (since 1918 the Free State of Coburg; culturally and linguistically Franconian), as southernmost of the Thuringian states, was the only one which, after a referendum, became part of the Free State of Bavaria.

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also refers to the family of the ruling House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which played many varied roles in the dynastic and political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the early part of the 20th century, before the First World War, it was the family of the sovereigns of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 1910, the Portuguese king was deposed, and the same thing occurred in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1918 and in Bulgaria in 1946 (although effective control had already ceased two years prior due to a coup). As of 2025, a branch of the family still reigns in Belgium, and while the British line still technically exists up to the present day, it now uses the name Windsor due to a proclamation issued by King George V in 1917. The former Tsar of Bulgaria, Simeon II (reigned 1943–46), kept his surname while serving as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005.

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the context of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry is the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, founded after the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Among its descendants were the last four kings of Portugal (Pedro V, Luís, Carlos, Manuel II) and the last three Tsars of Bulgaria (Ferdinand, Boris III, Simeon II). After the change of the “House laws” by Simeon II, the present head of the house is his sister Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria, Princess of Koháry. and her heiress apparent is her daughter Princess Alexandra-Nadejda Kohary

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