ERNST I., surnamed the pious, duke of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg, founder of the house of Gotha, was b. at the castle of Altenburg, 24th Dec., 1601. He was the son of that Johann, duke of Weimar, mentioned in the previous article, who died in 1605, and was thus connected with the main Ernestinian line. E. was the ninth of ten brothers, the youngest of whom was the famous Bernhard (q.v.) von Weimar. He received an excellent education from his mother, Dorothea Maria von Anhalt. After the arrival of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, E. entered the Swedish service, and in various engage ments exhibited great courage and skill, completing the victory of the Protestants at Liltzen, after the fall of Gustavus. After the battle of Nbrdlingen, 26th Aug., 1634, E. withdrew from the theater of strife, and for the rest of his life devoted himself to restoring the prosperity of his territories, which had been frightfully devastated during the thirty years' war. He died in 1675. Of his seven sons, the eldest, Friedrich, con
tinued the line of Gotha, while the third became the founder of the house of Meiningen, and the seventh, the founder of the house of Saalfeld. E. is a line type of the old Ger man Protestant prince. Zealously attached to the doctrines and government of the Lutheran church, he exercised a constant watch over its religious and educational inter ests. With the formalism, however, that often characterizes "strictly religious" people, he compelled his children to learn the whole Bible by heart. He was much interested in the cause of Christianity abroad, and invited to his court the abbot Gregorius from Abyssinia, besides sending thither on a religious embassy Joh.Mich. Wansleb of Erfurt. He also carried on a correspondence with the king of Ethiopia and the patriarch of Alexandria. His line became extinct by the death of Friedrich IV. in 1825.