Christian Ernst took bold decisions in centralizing the regional authorities in
Bayreuth, settling
Huguenots in
Erlangen, and creating a Knight's Academy (German:
Ritterakademie), the basis for the Regional University of Erlangen (German:
Landesuniversität Erlangen). As margrave, he served
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, whom he supported with war supplies during wars against France in support of the
Dutch Republic and
Lorraine and the liberation of Vienna from the Turks. On 12 February 1664 he was designated a colonel of the
Franconian Circle. From 1668 the arming of his own dominion (which was intended originally to aid the emperor) strained state finances and exposed Bayreuth to military dangers. The principality suffered the first of several financial crises in 1672. The military ambitions of Christian Ernst made him an important political ally in spite of the small territories that he ruled. After supporting the Emperor in the
Franco-Dutch War, he was appointed a Lieutenant Field Marshal (
Generalfeldmarschallleutnant) on 27 March 1676. In the
liberation of Vienna from the Turks in 1683, Christian Ernst was a participant in the relief army. In 1691 he was appointed Imperial Field Marshal (
Kaiserlicher Generalfeldmarschall) and took command of the imperial army stationed on the Rhine in 1692. He realized that he was not up to the task, and so he resigned the command to
Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden. During the
War of the Spanish Succession he obtained some victories, but made a fatal mistake on 22 May 1707 that made it possible for French troops to enter
Swabia and
Bavaria. Thereafter his military career was destroyed. Christian Ernst was also an advocate and benefactor of the arts and education. As a successor for the Latin School of Bayreuth (
Bayreuther Lateinschule) he endowed a secondary school in 1664 that still carries his name, the Christian Ernst Secondary School (
Christian-Ernst-Gymnasium). On the square near his stables he built a castle church in 1672. In 1695 the architect
Leonhard Dientzenhofer began construction of the octagonal castle tower. In 1686 he allowed Huguenots expelled by Louis XIV to reside in Neustadt; soon after he also permitted refugees from the
Palatinate, which was devastated in the
Palatinate War of Succession, to reside in Erlangen. In his private life, the margrave was a lover of horses and dogs (he possessed 85 of the latter). ==Marriages and Issue==