Speak of holy grails of gossipy sensationalists. :)
I mean, he did say he was going to write their love story! And his erotic poetry has disappeared before, only to turn up later! :D
Darget and D'Argens, sheesh. I don't know enough about the details to have an opinion of my own. I have more questions than answers at this point.
A certain competitive relationship between the two men (Darget and D’Argents) cannot be ruled out.
*blink*
What exactly do they think is a competitive relationship, if not this?
Also, I‘m not clear on whether the implication here is that Darget writing an ode to Fritz and publishing it as supposedly written by Voltaire was a) on Darget‘s own initiative, b) on Fritz‘ orders, or c) because Voltaire was supposed to write it and turned the task over to Darget?
It would help greatly to know what year this was. Also how complimentary vs. snarky the ode was (I trust these people not at all). Agree that (c) is the least likely, because Voltaire.
May I ask what your source is for the story of the French supposedly intending Darget to become a Fritz boytoy and spy on him only to be foiled by either Fritz keeping fondness for good looking men and work apart or Darget being loyal to the King or both? Because it‘s a bit tricky to square it the reason for his hiring as reported by Lehndorff, unless the idea is that Valori and Darget faked the incident in question?
Source is Blanning, who I think is less of an idiot than MacDonogh but I still don't trust him. But I don't think the two stories are irreconcilable, because it goes like this.
According to Blanning, the following are facts: - Darget was the secretary of Valori. - Darget got captured by the Austrians pretending to be Valori. - Fritz requested the French let him have Darget as librarian. - The French sent Darget as envoy to Fritz in late 1745. - Darget joined Fritz's court permanently in early 1746.
According to Blanning, the following is an open question: - Why send a mere secretary on such an important mission to a king, if you're trying not to insult him?
Blanning's headcanon: - Fritz had already demonstrated that he was attracted to Darget by requesting his transfer to his own court. The French hoped Darget could influence him in ways a more high-ranking but less attractive-to-Fritz official couldn't.
Blanning reports that Fritz refused to stay in the war for the French but kept Darget.
So he's not claiming that the French had Darget infiltrate Fritz's court, just that they used Fritz's pre-existing interest in him. Nothing Blanning says is inconsistent with Lehndorff's story that Fritz was impressed by Darget's loyalty.
But the part about why the French sent Darget as their ambassador is the purest speculation on Blanning's part, which is why I call it a headcanon. If we weren't all gossipy sensationalists looking for homosexual relationships, you could just as easily say that they sent Darget because Fritz had already requested his transfer and the French knew Darget and Fritz were on good terms. Or, if the French political documentation didn't contradict it, that they were very ticked off at the Margrave of Brandenburg, didn't think there was much chance of getting him to not break his word yet again, and sent a secretary on purpose. I mean if Fritz can send a Jacobite envoy to piss off his British relatives...
And as for all the rest of the Darget/d'Argens/Fritz/Voltaire/Palladion madness, I need more facts and more dates before I can venture opinions.
...these people are all nuts.
Have seen this quote, had it bookmarked on my backlog of things to share! In his defense, it's the 18th century, medicine is terrible, nobody has the least idea how disease works, everyone is trying every random thing they can think of to try to stay alive. It's a very common human fallacy (and often not an unreasonable one) to not want to change something you're doing in case that's what's working and not doing it has horrendous consequences.
Re: Fritz and Wilhelmine Correspondance, Trier Version IV - More Things Between Heaven and Earth...
Speak of holy grails of gossipy sensationalists. :)
I mean, he did say he was going to write their love story! And his erotic poetry has disappeared before, only to turn up later! :D
Darget and D'Argens, sheesh. I don't know enough about the details to have an opinion of my own. I have more questions than answers at this point.
A certain competitive relationship between the two men (Darget and D’Argents) cannot be ruled out.
*blink*
What exactly do they think is a competitive relationship, if not this?
Also, I‘m not clear on whether the implication here is that Darget writing an ode to Fritz and publishing it as supposedly written by Voltaire was a) on Darget‘s own initiative, b) on Fritz‘ orders, or c) because Voltaire was supposed to write it and turned the task over to Darget?
It would help greatly to know what year this was. Also how complimentary vs. snarky the ode was (I trust these people not at all). Agree that (c) is the least likely, because Voltaire.
May I ask what your source is for the story of the French supposedly intending Darget to become a Fritz boytoy and spy on him only to be foiled by either Fritz keeping fondness for good looking men and work apart or Darget being loyal to the King or both? Because it‘s a bit tricky to square it the reason for his hiring as reported by Lehndorff, unless the idea is that Valori and Darget faked the incident in question?
Source is Blanning, who I think is less of an idiot than MacDonogh but I still don't trust him. But I don't think the two stories are irreconcilable, because it goes like this.
According to Blanning, the following are facts:
- Darget was the secretary of Valori.
- Darget got captured by the Austrians pretending to be Valori.
- Fritz requested the French let him have Darget as librarian.
- The French sent Darget as envoy to Fritz in late 1745.
- Darget joined Fritz's court permanently in early 1746.
According to Blanning, the following is an open question:
- Why send a mere secretary on such an important mission to a king, if you're trying not to insult him?
Blanning's headcanon:
- Fritz had already demonstrated that he was attracted to Darget by requesting his transfer to his own court. The French hoped Darget could influence him in ways a more high-ranking but less attractive-to-Fritz official couldn't.
Blanning reports that Fritz refused to stay in the war for the French but kept Darget.
So he's not claiming that the French had Darget infiltrate Fritz's court, just that they used Fritz's pre-existing interest in him. Nothing Blanning says is inconsistent with Lehndorff's story that Fritz was impressed by Darget's loyalty.
But the part about why the French sent Darget as their ambassador is the purest speculation on Blanning's part, which is why I call it a headcanon. If we weren't all gossipy sensationalists looking for homosexual relationships, you could just as easily say that they sent Darget because Fritz had already requested his transfer and the French knew Darget and Fritz were on good terms. Or, if the French political documentation didn't contradict it, that they were very ticked off at the Margrave of Brandenburg, didn't think there was much chance of getting him to not break his word yet again, and sent a secretary on purpose. I mean if Fritz can send a Jacobite envoy to piss off his British relatives...
And as for all the rest of the Darget/d'Argens/Fritz/Voltaire/Palladion madness, I need more facts and more dates before I can venture opinions.
...these people are all nuts.
Have seen this quote, had it bookmarked on my backlog of things to share! In his defense, it's the 18th century, medicine is terrible, nobody has the least idea how disease works, everyone is trying every random thing they can think of to try to stay alive. It's a very common human fallacy (and often not an unreasonable one) to not want to change something you're doing in case that's what's working and not doing it has horrendous consequences.
But as stories go, it's hilarious.