Duke Frederick of Saxe-Weimar (1 March 1596 in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

– 29 August 1622 in Fleurus, Belgium) was a prince from the Ernestine branch of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

and a Colonel in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

Life

Duke Frederick was the son of John II of Saxe-Weimar and his wife Dorothea Maria of Anhalt, sister of Prince

Louis I Louis I may refer to: Cardinals * Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (1527–1578) Counts * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois (1172–1205) * Louis I of Flanders (1304–1346) * Louis I of Châtillon (died 13 ...

of Anhalt-Köthen. His brothers were the Dukes John Ernest the Younger of Saxe-Weimar, William IV of Saxe-Weimar, Albert of Saxe-Eisenach, John Frederick of Saxe-Weimar, Ernest I of Saxe-Gotha, and

Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Born in Weimar in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Mar ...

. With his older brother, Duke John Ernest the Younger, he received his first lessons from the tutor and Hofmeister Friedrich von Kospoth. He also studied in Jena, like his brothers John Ernest the Younger and Frederick. The Fruitbearing Society was founded on 24 August 1617 at Hornstein Castle (now Williamsburg Castle). Frederick was a founding member. Prince

of Anhalt-Köthen gave him the nickname ''der Hoffende'' ('"the Hopeful'") and the motto ''it will be so''. His emblem was ''a half-ripe cherry, hanging on the three''. In the register of the Society at Köthen, he is registered as number 4.Mitgliederdatenbank der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft - 004 Herzog Friedrich von Sachsen-Weimar (Der Hoffende)
retrieved 12 April 2021. A few weeks later, Duke Frederick began his Grand Tour. This led him via France to Britain and back through the Netherlands. He returned home in 1619. He fought on the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

side in the

, together with his brothers John Ernest the Younger, John Frederick and William IV. He served as a colonel under

Ernst von Mansfeld Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (; 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander; despite being a Catholic, he fought for the Protestants during the early years of the Thirty Years' War. He was one of the l ...

. In the regiment of

Christian the Younger of Brunswick Christian the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (20 September 1599 – 16 June 1626), known as ''der tolle Halberstädter'' (the daredevil from Halberstadt), was a German Protestant military leader during the early years of the Thirty Years' War ...

, he tried to break through the blockade of the Spanish troops during the Battle of Fleurus and was fatally wounded. He died the next day, aged 26.

References

Dukes of Saxe-Weimar House of Wettin 1596 births 1622 deaths 17th-century German nobility Sons of dukes {{Germany-hist-stub