If he loved Wilhelmine, that ended with Küstrin. And even before that, she mostly meant to him the possibility of having a sister as Queen of England, and his aloofness on the occasion of her wedding can be partly attributed to him giving up on that idea.
Good grief. Even Jürgen Luh, the other "he didn't love anyone" (except possibly Fredersdorf) guy, doesn't believe Fritz' emotional investment in Wilhelmine (or lack of same) had anything to do with her potential Queendom and its loss. I guess Lavisse doesn't mention why, if Fritz only values his siblings according to their rank (and bringing in their husbands as allies, in the case of the Margrave), Queen Ulrike isn't his favourite?
Royal Reader, you who are so much more knowledgeable about Austria and Imperial politics than I am, I would be interested in your take on the complexity of FW's politics vis-a-vis the Emperor as described in pages 75-95.
Sorry, I'll have to get back to you on that. Darth Real Life, also the absence of my best MT biography, which is excellent in presenting the political backfround for the previous generation. Would say that Young Seckendorff's Journal does contain Vienna being sceptical About FW's general intentions, which is a neat contrast to the Prussian pov of cruelly exploited by the Emperor FW.
Making a habit of executions in front of loved ones: even Henry VIII didn't go that far… All I see that remotely corresponds to that in the Suhm write-up is "er habe mich so in den Arm gekniffen, daß ich ihn nicht mehr rühren könne," which sounds like Fritz holding Suhm's arm so tight Suhm couldn't move it. You tell me, O German Speaker.
You got it. Fritz is the pincher/hold-tight-er, Suhm is hte one who can't move his arm afterwards. Which absolutely isn't saying either of them couldn't feel anything. Where Lavisse got "this was playacting" from is beyond me.
Damn. I bet he approves of FW's "But consider my peace of mind!" letter to Hans Heinrich. Because indecision and fear of death are totally equivalent!
Now, if I had to make a case for FW to be pitied, I'd argue his tragedy is that he wanted to have not a typical "noble/royal" marriage but a normal one, with faithful spouses and adoring children and a lot of affection, and managed to make his family with one or two exceptions fear him at best and hate him at worst, that he wanted to be a good Christian but managed to distort all the Christian virtues into punishment devices, without getting any of the emphasis on love and comfort, even for himself, for he was plagued by religious fears throughout his life. But I certainly would not go for "Peace of mind"/fears and equalize that with what his children (or poor Gundling) went through in terms of abuse.
Also, lol at the implicit shade-throwing at FW, "recruits about ten feet high."
Do we detect some subversiveness in loyal Prussian subject Hille?
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Lavisse
Date: 2020-02-09 01:03 pm (UTC)If he loved Wilhelmine, that ended with Küstrin. And even before that, she mostly meant to him the possibility of having a sister as Queen of England, and his aloofness on the occasion of her wedding can be partly attributed to him giving up on that idea.
Good grief. Even Jürgen Luh, the other "he didn't love anyone" (except possibly Fredersdorf) guy, doesn't believe Fritz' emotional investment in Wilhelmine (or lack of same) had anything to do with her potential Queendom and its loss. I guess Lavisse doesn't mention why, if Fritz only values his siblings according to their rank (and bringing in their husbands as allies, in the case of the Margrave), Queen Ulrike isn't his favourite?
Royal Reader, you who are so much more knowledgeable about Austria and Imperial politics than I am, I would be interested in your take on the complexity of FW's politics vis-a-vis the Emperor as described in pages 75-95.
Sorry, I'll have to get back to you on that. Darth Real Life, also the absence of my best MT biography, which is excellent in presenting the political backfround for the previous generation. Would say that Young Seckendorff's Journal does contain Vienna being sceptical About FW's general intentions, which is a neat contrast to the Prussian pov of cruelly exploited by the Emperor FW.
Making a habit of executions in front of loved ones: even Henry VIII didn't go that far…
All I see that remotely corresponds to that in the Suhm write-up is "er habe mich so in den Arm gekniffen, daß ich ihn nicht mehr rühren könne," which sounds like Fritz holding Suhm's arm so tight Suhm couldn't move it. You tell me, O German Speaker.
You got it. Fritz is the pincher/hold-tight-er, Suhm is hte one who can't move his arm afterwards. Which absolutely isn't saying either of them couldn't feel anything. Where Lavisse got "this was playacting" from is beyond me.
Damn. I bet he approves of FW's "But consider my peace of mind!" letter to Hans Heinrich. Because indecision and fear of death are totally equivalent!
Now, if I had to make a case for FW to be pitied, I'd argue his tragedy is that he wanted to have not a typical "noble/royal" marriage but a normal one, with faithful spouses and adoring children and a lot of affection, and managed to make his family with one or two exceptions fear him at best and hate him at worst, that he wanted to be a good Christian but managed to distort all the Christian virtues into punishment devices, without getting any of the emphasis on love and comfort, even for himself, for he was plagued by religious fears throughout his life. But I certainly would not go for "Peace of mind"/fears and equalize that with what his children (or poor Gundling) went through in terms of abuse.
Also, lol at the implicit shade-throwing at FW, "recruits about ten feet high."
Do we detect some subversiveness in loyal Prussian subject Hille?
Fritz not loving Katte: sigh. Head. Desk.