He might credit himself for his own success, though, and silently sigh and wish other people would just do what he does and not bring out the worst in Fritz.
Thinking of some people with difficult spouses I know: yes, sounds familiar…
BTW, I meant the "echo chambers are a thing" comment as agreeing with your earlier point, and the "Fredersdorf also gets the word from the staff" as a separate issue. For example: I couldn't help but notice that Lehndorff, even while he's a fan of the Divine Trio in general, loves to hang out with them and then of course falls in love with Heinrich in particular for the next few decades, doesn't, when he has younger relations, both male and female to place, try to get them into the household of any of the princes. Or EC's household. (Or that of Fritz, but presumably that one is impossible for him anyway.) He gets both his niece and his teen brother in law (before the later's early demise) places in Amalie's household, because, moody as he's known her to be with her equals and with the nobility, "nobody can deny she takes care of her young people and educates them well". And, as he notes elsewhere, Amalie actually likes kids. Now I could be wrong, but I suspect this is among other things because Lehndorff has observed that if you're a page with one of the brothers, you can end up in a messy love triangle, and if you're a lady in waiting, EC does take her sadness and frustration out on you and definitely isn't a strong enough personality to lay down the law if, like little Keyserlingk Jr., you flirt like you're in Versailles. So he has both the pov of someone who adores the princes (most of the times) and loves spending time with them, and is able to step back and see that from the pov of whom to place an impressionable teen with, they're not so great.
None of which is meant as disagreement with your earlier points, especially since whatever he thinks of the other siblings, Fredersdorf is bound to believe they've got it easier than Fritz did.
If it were me, I'd go for holding up a picture of Fritz as benevolent king and his brother as loyal and grateful to him after this incident blows over with no damage done.
And if he finds Fritz in terrier mode, we all agree Fredersdorf backs off with a "Nothing I can do, and not worth wrecking my own relationship with him over." Just like with EC.
Absolutely. Just with a tiny tiny caveat, and that is: as I've observed elswhere, the more I read of the sibling correspondances, the more it strikes me that Fritz did feel a need for them to love him. (While also feeling the need to keep them from any power and definitely subordinate to him, of course.) And this grows with the years, instead of lessening, as would perhaps be the more usual way of things. So there's another motivation for Fredersdorf - not because of however much or little sympathy he has for the sibs, in this case, Heinrich and AW, but because he's aware that Fritz has an inner FW yelling "But I don't want you to fear me, I want you to love me!" riding in tandem with "you better are in awe of me and do what I say, sonny!", and that if this type of interaction continues, it might poison the well for good. In which case maybe he doesn't try to influence Fritz but considers working the other angle, i.e. have a chat with AW as the most harmony loving brother and respectfully suggest that talking Heinrich into apologizing might be best for everyone. Something like that.
(I'm also assuming Fredersdorf doesn't talk to Heinrich himself here. Precisely if he's recognized the similiarities of temper.)
is it true that after August 1757, Fritz had correspondence with AW handled by a secretary? Unreliable source, but for the letters I've spot-checked up to August, Trier lists as "Nach der Ausfertigung. Eigenhändig," and the ones after simply as "Nach der Ausfertigung." Which makes me think maybe the later ones are indeed in a different hand?
I know as much as you do in this regard. "Ausfertigung" sounds as if the letters were dictated, but "eigenhändig" sounds to me as if Fritz might have added a line or two in addition to his signature. (For example: Klosterhuis mentions that the "His son is a villain, so is mine" etc. lines were written by FW himself, while the majority of the correspondance was written by Eichel.)
The Wilhelmine travel letters website has scans of the originals so you can see the handwriting, but I take it Trier doesn't, if it's exclusively based on Preuss?
Re: Brotherly Conduct I: The Prelude
Thinking of some people with difficult spouses I know: yes, sounds familiar…
BTW, I meant the "echo chambers are a thing" comment as agreeing with your earlier point, and the "Fredersdorf also gets the word from the staff" as a separate issue. For example: I couldn't help but notice that Lehndorff, even while he's a fan of the Divine Trio in general, loves to hang out with them and then of course falls in love with Heinrich in particular for the next few decades, doesn't, when he has younger relations, both male and female to place, try to get them into the household of any of the princes. Or EC's household. (Or that of Fritz, but presumably that one is impossible for him anyway.) He gets both his niece and his teen brother in law (before the later's early demise) places in Amalie's household, because, moody as he's known her to be with her equals and with the nobility, "nobody can deny she takes care of her young people and educates them well". And, as he notes elsewhere, Amalie actually likes kids. Now I could be wrong, but I suspect this is among other things because Lehndorff has observed that if you're a page with one of the brothers, you can end up in a messy love triangle, and if you're a lady in waiting, EC does take her sadness and frustration out on you and definitely isn't a strong enough personality to lay down the law if, like little Keyserlingk Jr., you flirt like you're in Versailles. So he has both the pov of someone who adores the princes (most of the times) and loves spending time with them, and is able to step back and see that from the pov of whom to place an impressionable teen with, they're not so great.
None of which is meant as disagreement with your earlier points, especially since whatever he thinks of the other siblings, Fredersdorf is bound to believe they've got it easier than Fritz did.
If it were me, I'd go for holding up a picture of Fritz as benevolent king and his brother as loyal and grateful to him after this incident blows over with no damage done.
And if he finds Fritz in terrier mode, we all agree Fredersdorf backs off with a "Nothing I can do, and not worth wrecking my own relationship with him over." Just like with EC.
Absolutely. Just with a tiny tiny caveat, and that is: as I've observed elswhere, the more I read of the sibling correspondances, the more it strikes me that Fritz did feel a need for them to love him. (While also feeling the need to keep them from any power and definitely subordinate to him, of course.) And this grows with the years, instead of lessening, as would perhaps be the more usual way of things. So there's another motivation for Fredersdorf - not because of however much or little sympathy he has for the sibs, in this case, Heinrich and AW, but because he's aware that Fritz has an inner FW yelling "But I don't want you to fear me, I want you to love me!" riding in tandem with "you better are in awe of me and do what I say, sonny!", and that if this type of interaction continues, it might poison the well for good. In which case maybe he doesn't try to influence Fritz but considers working the other angle, i.e. have a chat with AW as the most harmony loving brother and respectfully suggest that talking Heinrich into apologizing might be best for everyone. Something like that.
(I'm also assuming Fredersdorf doesn't talk to Heinrich himself here. Precisely if he's recognized the similiarities of temper.)
is it true that after August 1757, Fritz had correspondence with AW handled by a secretary? Unreliable source, but for the letters I've spot-checked up to August, Trier lists as "Nach der Ausfertigung. Eigenhändig," and the ones after simply as "Nach der Ausfertigung." Which makes me think maybe the later ones are indeed in a different hand?
I know as much as you do in this regard. "Ausfertigung" sounds as if the letters were dictated, but "eigenhändig" sounds to me as if Fritz might have added a line or two in addition to his signature. (For example: Klosterhuis mentions that the "His son is a villain, so is mine" etc. lines were written by FW himself, while the majority of the correspondance was written by Eichel.)
The Wilhelmine travel letters website has scans of the originals so you can see the handwriting, but I take it Trier doesn't, if it's exclusively based on Preuss?