Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/556

 SAXE-COBURG

494

SAXE-COBURG

Ostkreis (254 sq. miles) and the Westkreis (257 sq. miles). It contained 216,312 inhabitants in 1910; 206,508 in 1905, including 5,449 Catholics (3 per cent), 200,511 Protestants, and 131 Jews. The duchy became a separate state in 1826, when in con- sequence of the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line (1821), its possessions were divided among the Saxon ducal lines, the territory of Altenburg falling to the Saxe-Hildburghausen line as an independent domain. Duke Ernest II (b. 1S71) has ruled since 1902. The present duchy was sejiarated from the former Burgra- vnate of Altenburg, which belonged to the ancestral estates of the House of Saxe-^Ieissen, by the jiar- tition treat}' of 1485, to which is to be traced the divi- sion of the princely House of Saxony into the Ernestine Line, ruhng over the various Thuringian states, and the Albert ine Line, ruling in the Kingdom of Saxony. Altenburg fell to the Ernestine Line. A special Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg was founded in 1603, but, on the extinction of the ruling family (1672), the territorj' fell to Saxe-Gotha.

The inhabitants of the territory constituting the modern duchy were prevailingly Protestant from the beginning of the Reformation movement. The few Catholics in the duchj' are mostly immigrants who settled there during the latter half of the nineteenth centur\'; in 1871 the Catholics formed only 0.14 per cent of the population. Catholic services have been • held in the city of Altenburg by priests from Leipzig (Kingdom of Saxony) since the third decade of the nineteenth century — in the beginning only at long in- tervals. Since 1880 Altenburg has had its own priest, and to-day Catholic service and religious instruction are held in seven places in the duchy, partly by priests from the Principality of Reuss and the neighbouring Pru.ssian territories. By a Rescript of the Propaganda of 27 June, 1869, the Catholics of the duchy were placed under the Bishop of Paderborn, and by Decree of the Propaganda of 19 Sept., 1877, under the vicar Apostolic in the Kingdom of Saxony. There are no legal provisions governing the relations between the Catholic Church and the State, the government usu- ally conforming to the principles observed in the Kingdom of Saxony. The public primary schools are all Evangelical-Lutheran; there is a Catholic private school (220 pupils in 1910) in the town of Rositz, to which the State has granted a subsidy since 1909. The erection of a private Catholic elementary school in the city of Altenburg (120 Catholic children under obligation to attend school) has not yet materialized owing to lack of funds. The CathoUcs are mostly poor immigrant factory hands.

Braun, Erinnerungshl/itleT nun der Gesch. AUenhurgs von 1SS5 bis I8S1G (Altenburg, 1870) ; LSbe, Gesch. der Kirchen u. Schulcii des Herzoytumn .'iachsen-AUenburg (3 vols., Altenburg, 1887-91). Protestant; Freise.v, Stoat u. kath. Kirche in den deutschen Bundegstaalen, II (Stuttgart, 1900), 327 sq.

Hermann Sacher.

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.one of the Saxon-Thurin- gian diK-hics, has an area of 751 scj. miles and two chief divisions, the Duchy of Coburg (216 sq. miles) and liie Duchy of Gotha (541 sq. miles). These divisions are separated from each oth(r by a portion of Saxe-Mein- ingen and a strip of land belonging to Pru.ssia (Kreis Schleasingen). In 1910 the territory had 257,208 in- habitants; in 1905 its population of 242,432 includfid 3897 Catholics (2 per cent), 237,187 Evangelicals, and 714 Jews. The two duchies were united in 1826, but eafih territory has still its own constitution, diet, and internal a/lministration, even as regards religion and e<]ucation. Only for certain specified kinds of business do the diets hold a common session. Apart from thf! separation of the two states, and the mark(!d difference in the extent of their Crown lands, which greatly influences questions of taxation, racial differ- ences also contribute to keep the states separate, the inhabitants of Saxe-Gotha being of Saxon Btock and

the inhabitants of Saxe-Coburg of Prankish. The two duchies originated in the division of the ancestral estates of Duke Ernest the Pious (d. 1675), the founder of all the Saxon ducal hnes (except the grand-ducal line of S;lxe-^^'eimar-Eisenach), among his seven sons. With Duke Frederick IV, who had become a Catholic at Rome in 1807, the line of Saxe-Gotha became ex- tinct (1821), and, after long disputes concerning the succession, the territory of Gotha fell to the line of Coburg-Saalfeld in 1826. Members of the ruling house of Coburg-Gotha ascended the thrones of several European countries during the nineteenth century; by his marriage with Queen Victoria (1840), Prince Albert became the founder of the present roj^al house of England ; Prince Leopold was elected heredi- tary King of Belgium in 1831, the Belgian branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg becoming Catholic. The hne of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (often called Coburg-Kohary), founded through the marriage of Prince Ferdinand with the heiress of the Hun- garian princely House of Kohary (1810), is also Catho- lic. A son of this marriage, Ferdinand, was the founder (1837) of the dynasty which ruled in Portugal until 1910; a grandson, also named Ferdinand, became in 1887 hereditary Prince, and in 1909 King (Tsar) of Bulgaria. In the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha the main line became extinct in 1893, the succession falling to the English branch; Duke Charles Edward (b. 1884), son of the Duke of Albany and grandson of the Prince Consort Albert and Queen Victoria, has reigned since 1899 (until 1905 under a guardian).

In the old Catholic days the territory of the present Duchy of Gotha belonged to the Archdiocese of Mainz, the episcopal jurisdiction being exercised by the coad- jutor bishop living at Erfurt. The Reformation de- stroyed all Catholic life, and it was only at the end of the eighteenth century that a small Catholic commu- nity was again formed in the town of Gotha, the re- ligious ministration being supplied from Erfurt and by the Franciscans of the Saxon province. Though accorded parish rights in 1S7, this community had not a special priest until 1857. In 1868 all Catholics in the Duchy of Gotha were assigned to the parish of Gotha. The relations between the Catholic Church and the State were fixed in one-sided fashion by the "Regulativ fiir die kirchliche Verfassung der romisch- katholischen Glaubensgenossen im Herzogtum Gotha" of 23 August, 1811 ; regulations were therein made for the state supervision of the entire ecclesiastical life, for the establishment of the ruler's placet, etc. The validity of this "Regulativ" has never been recog- nized by the Catholic Church. On the reorganization of the German sees at the b(>ginning of llu; nineteenth century the Catholics of Gotha were assigned to no diocese. At the desire of the Governm(>nt of Gotha, express(Hl through the medium of Prussia, the Catho- lics of the du('hy were assigned to the Diocese of Paderborn by papal Decree of 13 Dec, 1853. The publication of this D(!cree, however, was forbidden by the Government of Gotha, because the Bishop of Paderborn refused to recognize the validity of the "Regulativ" of 1811, and the sovereign prerogatives of the duke in ecclesiastical afTairs. Despite frequent attempts at settlement (the last in 1899), this dispute continues to the present day, the bi.shop being allowed to discharge episcopal functions in the duchy only after sec\iring the permission of the Government. The duke and diet grants a small annual subsidy (about $200) for Catholic objects. The raising of church taxes is forbidden, and" the administration of church proi)erty is controlled by the State. There are no special legal regulations concerning religious orders; the Sisters of St. ]']lizabeth (Cirey Sisters) from Bres- lau have an establishment in the duchy.

The territory of the Duchy of Coburg was eccle- siast ically subject to the Diocese of Wiirzburg until the Reformation, after the inauguration of which the few