Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Life

Anton Ulrich was born on 22 October 1687 at Meiningen. He was the second but first surviving son (in order of birth he was the eighth) of Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his second wife, Elisabeth Eleonore of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

When his father died in 1706, according to his will the duchy was not supposed to be divided among his heirs. However, due to the lack of a primogeniture rule, his three sons had to govern jointly: Anton Ulrich and his two older half-brothers, Ernst Ludwig and Friedrich Wilhelm. This resulted in conflict between Ernst Ludwig I and Anton Ulrich until the former died in 1724. Chaos continued, though, as now Friedrich Wilhelm and Anton Ulrich issued conflicting decrees.

Anton Ulrich had secretly married morganatically in the Netherlands in 1711 and lived in Amsterdam for much of the time. Since Anton Ulrich's cousin on his mother's side was the wife of Emperor Karl VI he made some progress in his attempts to make his offspring entitled to inherit. After Karl VI died, under Charles VII Anton Ulrich's ten children were found to be disqualified to succeed in 1744. Earlier that year, Philippine Elisabeth Caesar, Anton Ulrich's wife, had died. In 1746, Friedrich Wilhelm died, and Anton Ulrich was now the only Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Although his relatives at Weimar and Gotha were already discussing the division of Saxe-Meiningen after his death, Anton Ulrich married again and succeeded in fathering another eight children - all of them eligible for inheritance.

Immediately after he inherited the duchy, Anton Ulrich left Meiningen and established his official residence at Frankfurt, where he lived until his death on 27 January 1763.