lands including the Thuringian estates were incorporated into the Electorate of Saxony (Upper Saxony). However, already in 1485 Elector Ernest of Saxony agreed on the Leipzig partition with his younger brother Duke Albert III. Ernest retained the southern Thuringian estates with Saalfeld; his grandson John Frederick I lost the electoral dignity in the 1547 Capitulation of Wittenberg ending the Schmalkaldic War, along with all his possessions outside of Thuringia. Confirmed by Emperor Maximilian II at the 1570 Diet of Speyer, John Frederick's Ernestine descendants only retained the duchies of Saxe-Weimar and (from 1572) Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach. Upon the death of Duke Frederick William I of Saxe-Weimar in 1602, Saalfeld passed to the newly established Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, from 1673 Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld After several blazes in the early 16th century, Saalfeld had been rebuilt in a lavish Renaissance style. In 1675 Duke Albert V of Saxe-Coburg upon his accession chose the town as his residence and from 1677 onwards had Saalfeld Castle erected on the site of the destroyed Benedictine abbey, which in 1680 fell to his younger brother John Ernest IV. After Albert's death in 1699, John Ernest also claimed Saxe-Coburg and called himself a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The Castle, which has been renovated and is today the town administrative building, was home to four generations of the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld branch. Until 1825, Saalfeld remained one of two capitals of the duchy, together with Coburg, its Franconian sister town to the south. The 4th Duke Ernest Frederick (1724–1800) was the last to be born in Saalfeld; in 1764, he moved the capital from Saalfeld to Coburg, where in 1805 his son and heir Duke Francis (1750–1806) would buy Rosenau Castle as his residence. Francis' children were linked to many of Europe's royal families: His daughter Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861) by her marriage with Prince Edward became the mother of Queen Victoria. Her brother Duke Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1784–1844) was the father of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Consort Albert. This line continues unbroken from Queen Victoria through to Queen Elizabeth II today. At about the same period, their brother Duke Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1790–1865) became the ancestor of the royal House of Belgium in 1831, while their sister Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1781–1860) married Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia. Other descendants of Duke Francis include Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Alexandra, Empress consort of Russia, Victoria, Queen consort of Spain, Ferdinand II,