Ernestine duchies
The Saxon duchy began fragmenting in the 15th century as a result of the old German succession law that divided inheritances among all sons.
Count Bernhard of Anhalt, youngest son of Albert "the Bear" (1106–1170), inherited parts of the old Saxon duchy, primarily around Lauenburg and Wittenberg, in 1180.
In 1485, by the Leipziger division, the brothers split the Wettin possessions, with Ernest receiving northern Meissen, southern Thuringia, and Wittenberg, and Albert receiving northern Thuringia and southern Meissen.
John was a leader in the Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire.
Charles eventually came to terms with France, and turned his attention to the Protestant lands of the Holy Roman Empire.
John Frederick hurried back to Saxony, expelled Maurice from the Ernestine lands, conquered Albertine Saxony and proceeded to invade Bohemia (held directly by Emperor Charles V's brother Ferdinand and that latter's wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary).
Charles' forces drove the Schmalkaldic League troops back and decisively defeated them in the Battle of Mühlberg (1547).
The Emperor condemned him to death as a rebel, but stayed the execution because he did not want to take the time to capture Wittenberg, defended by John Frederick's wife Sybille of Cleves.
When the newly minted Elector Maurice, having again changed sides, attacked the Emperor, Duke John Frederick was released from prison, and given back the Landgraviate of Thuringia.
He established his capital in Weimar, and started a university at Jena (to replace the one in Wittenberg lost to Maurice) before his death in 1554.
The contenders reached agreement in 1572 in the Division of Erfurt by which John William added the districts of Altenburg, Gotha and Meiningen to Saxe-Weimar.
Johann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (or John II), died young leaving eight surviving sons (including Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, the youngest, the famed general) and a will ordering them to rule jointly.
In c. 1640, the remaining brothers finally divided their patrimony, William remaining in Weimar, Albert (Albrecht) receiving seat as Duke of Eisenach and Ernest (by-named "the Pious") also got his share and became known as Duke of Gotha.
Duke Ernest of Gotha and Duchess Elisabeth Sophie's numerous sons divided the inheritance (five-eighths of all Ernestine lands) initially to seven parts: Gotha-Altenburg, Coburg, Meiningen, Römhild, Eisenberg, Hildburghausen and Saalfeld.
Of them, Coburg, Römhild and Eisenberg did not survive past that one generation and were apportioned between the four persevering lines.
However they were all autonomous and ultimately, with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire on 6 August 1806, that issue became irrelevant.
This reorganisation has remained to the present day, although it was de facto nonexistent during Nazi Rule, when the Reichsgau system was used instead and Gau Thuringia administered the Free State and Gau Bayreuth administered northern Bavaria.
This line is also likely to go extinct soon as Michael only has a daughter and the only other male is his cousin Prince Wilhelm Ernst (b.
In the very likely event of the extinction of these two senior branches, the sole representation of the Ernestine Wettins will pass to the descendants of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who are the present Saxe-Coburg-Gothas led by Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b.
Francis and his nephew Ludwig Frederick Emil von Coburg are also ancestors to morganatic lines.
The House of Windsor (whose original male line includes only the descendants of Edward's son George V since 26 April 1943) and the Royal Family of Belgium renounced their German titles in 1917 and 1920 respectively.
