Background
He was the third but second surviving son of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Charlotte de Saxe-Meiningen.
He was the third but second surviving son of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Charlotte de Saxe-Meiningen.
Frederick fought - after military training - in the Napoleonic campaigns and was heavily wounded. As a consequence of these injuries, he was constantly ill until his death. Because of his illness, he traveled for a long time seeking a cure.
During these stays outside of his duchy, he left the government in hands of his secret advisor Bernhard August von Lindenau.
After his death, his lands were repartitioned among his Wettin relations. Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld received Gotha, and changed his title to Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, although the two duchies remained technically separate in a personal union.
Altenburg was thereafter ruled by the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, whose dukedom was transferred to Saxe-Meiningen along with Saxe-Saalfeld, which Saxe-Coburg gave up in return for receiving Saxe-Gotha.