Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (25 September 1697, in Saalfeld – 16 September 1764, in Rodach) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (September 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 9,092 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Franz Josias (Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld)]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|de|Franz Josias (Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Quick Facts Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Reign ...

Francis Josias
Portrait of Francis Josias wearing the Polish Order of the White Eagle
Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Reign	4 September 1745 – 16 September 1764
Predecessor	Christian Ernest
Successor	Ernest Frederick
Born	(1697-09-25)25 September 1697 Saalfeld, Saxe-Saalfeld, Holy Roman Empire
Died	16 September 1764(1764-09-16) (aged 66) Rodach, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Holy Roman Empire
Spouse	Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Issue	Ernest Frederick Prince Johann Wilhelm Princess Anna Sophie Prince Christian Franz Charlotte Sophie, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Princess Fredericka Magdalene Princess Fredericka Caroline Prince Josias
House	Wettin
Father	John Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Mother	Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen
Religion	Lutheranism

Close

He was the fourth living son of Johann Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the third born by his father's second wife Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen.

During his youth, Francis Josias served in the Imperial Army.

The death of his two older brothers Wilhelm Frederick (d. 28 July 1720) and Charles Ernest (d. 30 December 1720) made him the second in line in the succession of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, preceded only by his older half-brother, Christian Ernest.

When Christian Ernest married unequally in 1724, Francis Josias claimed the sole inheritance of the duchy. His father's will (1729), however, compelled him to rule jointly with his brother. In 1735, the support of the line of Saxe-Meiningen allowed him to effectively rule over Coburg on his own right, and Christian Ernest's death in 1745 made him the sole Duke. Already in 1733 he proclaimed primogeniture in the duchy, which, however, was confirmed by the Emperor only in 1747. From 1750 to 1755, he was regent of the duchy of Saxe-Weimar on behalf of Ernest Augustus II Konstantin.

In Rudolstadt on 2 January 1723 Franz Josias married Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. They had eight children:

1. Ernest Frederick (b. Saalfeld, 8 March 1724 – d. Coburg, 8 September 1800)
2. Johann Wilhelm (b. Coburg, 11 May 1726 – killed in battle, Hohenfriedberg, 4 June 1745)
3. Anna Sophie (b. Coburg, 3 September 1727 – d. Coburg, 10 November 1728)
4. Christian Franz (b. Coburg, 25 January 1730 – d. Coburg, 18 September 1797)
5. Charlotte Sophie (b. Coburg, 24 September 1731 – d. Schwerin, 2 August 1810), married on 13 May 1755 to Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
6. Fredericka Magdalene (b. Coburg, 21 August 1733 – d. Coburg, 29 March 1734)
7. Frederica Caroline (b. Coburg, 24 June 1735 – d. Schloß Schwaningen, 18 February 1791), married on 22 November 1754 to Karl Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
8. Frederick Josias (b. Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg, 26 December 1737 – d. Coburg, 26 February 1815)

• August Beck: Franz Josias, Herzog von Sachsen-Koburg-Saalfeld. En: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 296.
• Das herzogliche Haus Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. Seine Geschichte und gegenwärtige Stellung in Europa. C. Macklot, 1842, S. 234 ff. (Digitalisat)

• Pedigree at the Wayback Machine (archived October 26, 2009)
• WW-Person: A database of the higher nobility in Europe.