Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
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Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b. Gotha, 14 April 1699 - d. Gotha, 10 March 1772), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
He was the eldest son of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalene Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.
After the death of his father, in 1732, Frederick III assumed the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Since 1734 he sign a flourishing soldier trade with the Emperor, to the Prince of Waldeck and to the King of Prussia, which put him into the position to created a tax in his own duchy. The duchy had to suffer for Frederick with difficulty in the Seven Years War and force the duchy into a war with his neighbour, the duke Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen (The "Wasunger War").
In Gotha on 17 September 1729, Frederick married with Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen, his cousin. They have nine children:
- Frederick (b. Gotha, 20 January 1735 - d. Gotha, 9 June 1756).
- Ludwig (b. Gotha 25 October 1735 - d. Gotha, 26 October 1735).
- stillborn son (Gotha, 25 October 1735), twin of Ludwig.
- stillborn twin sons (1739).
- Fredericka Luise (b. Gotha, 30 January 1741 - d. Gotha, 5 February 1776).
- Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b. Gotha, 30 January 1745 - d. Gotha, 20 April 1804).
- Sofie (b. Gotha, 9 March 1746 - d. Gotha, 30 March 1746).
- August (b. Gotha, 14 August 1747 - d. Gotha, 28 September 1806).
From 1748 to 1755 he was regent of the duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on behalf of Ernst August II Konstantin. From 1750, he acted as regent alongside with his kinsmen Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
