Frederick the Great, discussion post 6

[cahn]

...I think we need another one (seriously, you guys, this is THE BEST) and I'd better make it now before I disappear into the wilds of music performance.

(also, as of this week there are two Frederician fics in the yuletide archive and eeeeeeeeeee)
(huh, only one of them is actually tagged with Frederick the Great even though two with Maria Theresia and Wilhelmine, eeeeeee this is awesome I CAN'T WAIT)

Frederick the Great masterpost

Comments

Re: Fredersdorf letters

[mildred_of_midgard]

she's not "ihm hopelessly verfallen", that's her brother.

Indeed, Fritz would have eloped with him to London in a heartbeat if that had been an option. His only really bad judgment when it came to picking a serious partner. (I'm not saying it was sexual, but...something pretty intense there from an intensely homoromantic man.)

Thanks for the Countess Bentinck scoop! Pragmatic Sanction rulers unite!

Mimi: I wasn't wondering who took care of the monkey! Obviously she has staff. The dogs have staff. I was wondering why none of our sources *comment* on the monkey! Monkeys are lively creatures that set manuscripts on fire and do a victory dance over the fiery ashes; they're the sort of thing I'd think you'd notice if you were meeting Fritz and there was one in the vicinity. Especially since his dogs get mentioned all the time. And like you suggested here, how did the dogs and monkey interact? Again, there should be anecdotes!

Gossipy sensationalist wants the gossip, is what I'm saying. :P

1926 Editor claims Voltaire did write him another letter, in (bad) German, as an example of how low Voltaire could sink in attempted flattery

That is low! So Voltaire *did* pick up some German, interesting. I tongue-in-cheek wonder if Fritz thought it contaminated the purity of his French. :P

Fredersdorf is wise, indeed.

Okay, so my most unreliable source has a quote that he says is "almost certainly Voltaire," whatever that means. It's definitely a hilarious quote no matter who said it.

"There is a chancellor, who never speaks, a master of the hunt who wouldn’t dare harm a quail, a grand master who does nothing, a steward who would he hard pressed to tell you whether there is any wine in the cellars, a grand equerry who hasn’t the power to have a horse saddled, a chamberlain, who has never handed him a shirt, a grand master of the wardrobe, who doesn’t know the identity of the court tailor; the functions of all these high-faluting offices are exercised by one man, who is called Fredersdorf."

/snark

Re: Fredersdorf letters

[selenak]

Well, if 1926!Editor, he who swears Fritz did not have a gay bone in his manly fatherly body, finds no other words to describe his hero's feelings for Voltaire than "intellectually in love" - and no, not "loved him spiritually", I know what I'm translating, "intellektuell in ihn verliebt" is the original expression, I think we're all clear that something major was going on.

I sympathize on the frustration of the lack of Mimi anecdotes. Though I sympathize also with whoever was in charge of keeping both Mimi and the dogs happy!

(Lehndorff: this is one job in the Royal household I wold NOT have wanted. Even to be near the King.)

Voltaire picking up some German: he strikes me as a practical man. If you're spending years in Germany where, yes, a great many people speak French, but not necessarily the ones in charge of your well being (servants, cooks etc.), you learn at least enough of the language to say "I like my steak medium, please" or "where do I find the bathroom?". If you additionally are involved in some shady dealings and have ambitions to learn spicy gossip, then knowing the local language is even more useful - at least enough to pick up whether someone is talking about you and/or the King, and whether it's good or bad.

So I doubt whether Voltaire ever cracked a German (untranslated) book, until I'm told otherwise, but I'm not surprised he learned a bit of the language phonetically.

(Since "Candide" actually starts in a German principality and the titular hero as well as his beloved are German, I suppose it also counts as research for a book? And of course Candide is a satire on Leipniz, but I bet, see above, Voltaire read Leipniz in a French translation.)

That is a good quote. :) Though clearly an imperfect list, given that "master of the hunt" is in it and "Spy handler" is not!

Re: Fredersdorf letters

[mildred_of_midgard]

I think we're all clear that something major was going on.

Oh yeah.

Though I sympathize also with whoever was in charge of keeping both Mimi and the dogs happy!

I hope they were separate people! At least at times, they must have been, because Fritz took his dogs on campaign with him, and surely didn't take Mimi or we would have anecdotes. "And then there was the time Mimi fought off the Pandurs single-handedly..." :-P

(Lehndorff: this is one job in the Royal household I wold NOT have wanted. Even to be near the King.)

But Lehndorff! It's not boring! Man, now that you mention it, I wish Lehndorff *had* had this job. Surely, we would have gotten the anecdotes somewhere in those three volumes!

Voltaire: Agreed.

Though clearly an imperfect list, given that "master of the hunt" is in it and "Spy handler" is not!

Ha! Perhaps "spy handler" wasn't common knowledge yet? I don't have a date for this quote, but my impression is that it dates to shortly after Fritz became king, and foreigners are doing their "hot or not?" and "what is the court like?" reports back to their paymasters.