Honestly, I don't know that much more about Charlotte than what is in the memoirs (where yes, Wilhelmine accuses Charlotte of having schemed against her and badmouthed her to Fritz). Whether or not she did, who knows. Wiki says Charlotte, like her siblings, was brainy and a patron of arts and libraries (she financed a good 5000 for the Braunschweig one), but also very... well, when her sons went off to fight for Uncle Fritz in the 7-years-war she told them a variation of the Spartan "come back with your shield or on it", i.e.: "Prove yourself worthy of the House of Hohenzollern or never see me again".
Let me put it this way: her daughter Anna Amalia's principle of education for Carl August seems to have been "how Mom and her siblings grew up? Yeah, I'll do the opposite with my kid".
But yeah, given the sheer number of siblings, the designation „my sister“ in the memoirs is not helpful. Btw, another confusion to avoid later on – „the Empress“ whom Wilhelmine meets isn’t Maria Theresia (whom she also met, but later). Maria Theresia gets referred to as either „the arch duchess“ or „the Queen of Hungary“. Background: remember in Shakespeare’s play Henry V. the long monologue about „The Salic Law“ by the Archbishop of Canterbury early on (to justify Henry invading France)? That. The Salic Law applied to the Holy Roman Empire, which meant no woman on the throne. Now, since the fourteenth century, the Emperor had been exclusively from the House of Habsburg, though technically, Emperors were elected by the German princes. However, Maria Theresia’s dad had no sons, try as he might. That he didn’t really accept this until basically five minutes before his death meant MT hadn’t been prepared for the throne and had to learn on the job. But when he acknowledged at least the possibility there would be no sons, he worked hard to get the other German princes to acknowledge „The Pragmatic Sanction“, which meant Maria Theresia would inherit Austria and assorted territories and her spouse would be elected Holy Roman Emperor. (This meant the Salic Law technically still applied, since it was the spouse who would be Emperor, and Maria Theresia only Empress by marriage, not crowned in her own right.)
Now, when MT’s Dad did die, this at first was ignored by practically everyone. Instead of her husband – Franz Stefan, the Duke of Lorraine, which is why from this point onwards, it’s actually the House of Habsburg-Lorraine -, the German princes voted the Duke of Wittelsbach (ruler of Bavaria) as the next Emperor, and Fritz invaded Silesia to make her on-the-job learning even more joyful. The old fat Empress Wilhelmine mentions near the end of her memoirs this is the lady of Bavaria. After the Duke of Wittelsbach-turned-Emperor, who wasn’t the youngest, died, however, MT had on-the-job-learned, and also, she’d persuaded the Hungarians to crown her Queen despite her being „only“ arch duchess, not Empress. Which meant that this time around, the electors voted for her husband Franz Stefan as Emperor. Behold, Empress-by-marriage Maria Theresia. Fritz still referred to her as „the Queen of Hungary“ only, which is why Wilhelmine does, too. (Though she did meet her.)
(Who did the ruling, which was never a question. Franz Stefan was that rarity of a male 18th century and later spouse who did not object to this. He also had a talent for spotting economic advantages and focused on large scale cloth manufacturing.)
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Re: Charlotte and sisters?
Date: 2019-09-11 07:46 am (UTC)Let me put it this way: her daughter Anna Amalia's principle of education for Carl August seems to have been "how Mom and her siblings grew up? Yeah, I'll do the opposite with my kid".
But yeah, given the sheer number of siblings, the designation „my sister“ in the memoirs is not helpful. Btw, another confusion to avoid later on – „the Empress“ whom Wilhelmine meets isn’t Maria Theresia (whom she also met, but later). Maria Theresia gets referred to as either „the arch duchess“ or „the Queen of Hungary“. Background: remember in Shakespeare’s play Henry V. the long monologue about „The Salic Law“ by the Archbishop of Canterbury early on (to justify Henry invading France)? That. The Salic Law applied to the Holy Roman Empire, which meant no woman on the throne. Now, since the fourteenth century, the Emperor had been exclusively from the House of Habsburg, though technically, Emperors were elected by the German princes. However, Maria Theresia’s dad had no sons, try as he might. That he didn’t really accept this until basically five minutes before his death meant MT hadn’t been prepared for the throne and had to learn on the job. But when he acknowledged at least the possibility there would be no sons, he worked hard to get the other German princes to acknowledge „The Pragmatic Sanction“, which meant Maria Theresia would inherit Austria and assorted territories and her spouse would be elected Holy Roman Emperor. (This meant the Salic Law technically still applied, since it was the spouse who would be Emperor, and Maria Theresia only Empress by marriage, not crowned in her own right.)
Now, when MT’s Dad did die, this at first was ignored by practically everyone. Instead of her husband – Franz Stefan, the Duke of Lorraine, which is why from this point onwards, it’s actually the House of Habsburg-Lorraine -, the German princes voted the Duke of Wittelsbach (ruler of Bavaria) as the next Emperor, and Fritz invaded Silesia to make her on-the-job learning even more joyful. The old fat Empress Wilhelmine mentions near the end of her memoirs this is the lady of Bavaria. After the Duke of Wittelsbach-turned-Emperor, who wasn’t the youngest, died, however, MT had on-the-job-learned, and also, she’d persuaded the Hungarians to crown her Queen despite her being „only“ arch duchess, not Empress. Which meant that this time around, the electors voted for her husband Franz Stefan as Emperor. Behold, Empress-by-marriage Maria Theresia. Fritz still referred to her as „the Queen of Hungary“ only, which is why Wilhelmine does, too. (Though she did meet her.)
(Who did the ruling, which was never a question. Franz Stefan was that rarity of a male 18th century and later spouse who did not object to this. He also had a talent for spotting economic advantages and focused on large scale cloth manufacturing.)