So I realized I hadn't made the translation of Katte's first interrogation protocol that Mildred had asked me for a post or two ago yet. Here it is. Bear in mind: Katte was threatened by torture if he didn't confess all, and of course he knew the punishment for desertion under FW if this was what it was judged to be and wanted to live, so with that caveat, here's what he said happened:
"It has been probably now a year ago that his highness did for the first time honor me with conversation, and did so repeatedly during the Parade and the parole giving. (...) In Cosdorf, his highness the Crown Prince had me called just after his arrival and told me I should go recruiting-" guys, I am a bit lost, "auf Werbung gehen" could mean going to woo, or going to recruit, or going to advertise, but I'm going with "recruit because when in doubt, assume a military context in Prussia - and then I should do him a favor, which he believed I wouldn't refuse him. Whereupon I replied to him that I had already registered regarding the recruitment, but as for the other, his highness had only to order, if it was within my power and I could do it, he only needed to order and I would be ready to do anything.'I do believe it of you,' he returned.
Sidenote: Fritz here as quoted by Katte uses the most formal personal address from a higher ranking to a lower ranking person, calling Katte "Er" - the literal translation would have been "I do believe it of Him". This is true for the entire document, which never once has him use the more familiar versions of "you". (No "Sie" or "Ihr", and most definitely no "Du".) Continuing with Fritz as quoted by Katte:
"'In the camp I want to talk further with you about this, just come this evening, when I'm returning from the King.' Whereupon he left me and went to dine with his highness. Here I must remind you that before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony, his highness the Crown Prince had told me that he wanted to pay a debt to someone he was owing something to, without, however, mentioning who that person was, and had asked me whether I could get him some money. Whereupon I promised to do all I could, and did sent him 1000 Reichstaler, which the Chamberlain Montolieu had lend to me, to Potsdam through his page. The page had met me at Zehlendorf and I had given him the money sealed in a box so he wouldn't know what was inside. (The Prince) duly received this, and wrote to me the next day through one of his servants demanding that I should get him more money after the Saxon journey, which the preserved letter will prove. When his royal highness withdrew for the night at Cosdorf, he told me, oh my God, I can't stand it anymore, my father treats me so harshly, he is always so lacking all mercy towards me, I don't know anymore what I should do.
I was surprised that he thought of this only now, and said he shouldn't be so impatient, besides, one shouldn't be alarmed by what a father said, he should just sleep over it, tomorrow everything would look different, whereupon he said good night to me and fell asleep. Some days later, three or four days after the arrival at the camp, his highness called me one evening and told me he had decided to leave, and I needed to help him in this enterprise.
I then told him that I couldn't believe him to be serious about it, and so I didn't know what to reply. But when he assured me that it was not a joke at all, that he was entirely serious, I couldn't other but tell him that I was very surprised by such thoughts, he should consider what he was planning. Leaving all other considerations aside, this would be a matter not only very difficult to do but something which the entire world would blame him for. I hoped and believed he would change his mind. (...)
The next day, his highness asked me during the exercises why I didn't believe the matter could be accomplished ; once he had horses and a headstart of several hours, he thought that he would not only be able to make a clean getaway but not to be overtaken by anyone. I replied to him that I did believe all this, but that there was the difficulty of getting horses in the first place, and then it would be important to know what plans he had, where he wanted to go to, that wanting to do something wasn't enough but that in order to be sure of a happy ending one needed to know whether the place one had chosen to be one's retreat would be capable of offering safe and sound sanctuary, and as long as he didn't give me any details in this regard, I was bound to see all his designs as empty projects, something he would like to do but would never accomplish.
When he then named France as the place of his refuge to me and assured me intently that he would be accepted with joy there, and that he would not only be offered safety but as much money as he wanted to have. I asked him to tell me on which basis he made this claim, what kind of assurances he had received and how, and discovered it was only based on assumptions because the two courts, the Prussian and the French court, were not having a good relationship right now and thus he would inevitably have credit there. (...)
I did everything in the world to decline this commission, and pointed out what the Duke if he learned of the entire affair would think of the matter, and what kind of opinion he'd hold if he found that one wanted to take his domestic servants away, especially at a time when he needed them. (...) Without furthering his highness the Prince's longing in the slightest and without making the least suggestion, I did reply to his highness that I didn't believe we'd get far with this man who as I noticed was very attached to his lord. The Prince wasn't satisfied with this and told me I should look for him again and investigate whether he couldn't be persuaded, but without talking to the page I brought again the reply that one couldn't do anything with him, that he didn't want to leave his lord, since he'd been raised in the household of the princess his sister. This his highness applauded and said that he hadn't believed this man had it in him, and now had an even higher opinion of him and wanted to have with him all the more. One afternoon, his highness the Crown Prince returned in a very bad mood from his majesty and gave the order to call me as soon as he'd entered his tent. (...)
Meanwhile the prince had called me and said that he couldn't bear it any longer, there had to be evil people who sought to put him in a bad light with his majesty. At just this day, he'd been mortified by the later; among other things, his majesty had told him that he was a coward, that he didn't have heart, and more things like that; he wanted to prove the opposite was true, and when his majesty would see that he was capable of pulling such an enterprise off, then (his majesty) would love him, and would be merciful again. He had no other design to escape his majesty's view but that he didn't want to irritate the later by his presence anymore, and no one should keep him from doing this anymore, I should and must help him, I had to promise him this.
As I didn't want to do this, I now seriously pointed out to him in how tricky and difficult circumstances he'd throw himself, how much he would irritate his majesty the king and sadden her majesty the queen, and moreover, that he didn't know yet where to go to. (...) Meanwhile, I begged him to temper his energy and to await the courier he'd mentioned to me, whereupon he revealed to me that this courier was secretary Guy Dickens, who after his return wanted to bring him definite news as to whether he should come to England or not. He wanted to talk to Count Hoym as well about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito, which happened the next day in the pavillon, when his highness the prince came to me and told me that he'd talked to the count, it would work out, I should just go to him. However, I'd earlier gone to him already and had asked him that if his highness the crown prince would talk a journey I was to make to Leipzig, he should make as many difficulties as he possibly could. Which I asked for a second time when I approached him at the orders of the prince, with the argument that for various reasons I didn't want to make this journey, nor could I, and couldn't explain this to him any further. He promised me to do this and wanted to indicate to the prince that it wasn't so easy as he imagined it would be, and further say that when one imagined such projects one thought them easy, but when they were to be executed there were not only obstacles one hadn't considered but on most occasions, they were never accomplished at all, which was for the best, especially if they were of a kind to cause more damage and distress than use.
I told the Prince that I'd found much more difficulties with Count Hoym than I had expected to, so it couldn't happen that quickly, and if he could just talk to him himself, he'd find out the truth. Then he gave me the key to his box, I should go to his tent and take his things along with the money which I would find. Instead of doing so, I remained down there at the Pavillon until the exercises were over, and then I made myself known again and said that I couldn't succeed since I had met his servants at the tent and they had stopped me, which I accepted. (...)
He then asked me whether Count Hoym had talked to me about this, and I said yes, he'd indicated to me that his highness had many supervisors. I should ride to him straight away, he said, and ask the Count to reveal who the supervisors were and in which way they were keeping an eye on him. IN order to get away I promised to do this, but instead of going to Count Hoym, I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW - until 8 pm, when I returned to headquarters, with some officers who'd been expecting me there in order to ride to Riesa. Meanwhile, his highness was riding away from his majesty and immediately asked me what answer Count Hoym had given. When I told him that I hadn't met the Count and that his people hadn't known where he was, his highness seemed to be displeased and said that I probably hadn't been there. When I assured him of the contrary, he pretended to believe me, and said nothing further than this, that it was my fault that he didn't get away, that he had had the best opportunity here, but that he didn't know yet whether he wouldn't dare it anyway since it was impossible for him to endure the way he was treated any longer. (...)
guys, I am a bit lost, "auf Werbung gehen" could mean going to woo, or going to recruit, or going to advertise, but I'm going with "recruit because when in doubt, assume a military context in Prussia
In numerous secondary sources, I've seen references to Katte trying and failing to get leave to go recruiting in the western domains, as a ploy to get himself close to the French or Dutch border, so I think you're spot on here.
before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony
cahn, this is the "pleasure camp" at Zeithain (also called the camp of Mühlberg), where Augustus the Strong showed that he knew how to throw a party. It lasted the entire month of June 1730, and the purpose was to do a review of the troops to show off the military prowess of Saxony, while simultaneously throwing a really, really big party (think entire opera house built for the purpose) to show off the wealth and high culture of Saxony.
Remember that Saxony, like Prussia, had started out a third-rate power that had only recently become a second-rate one, with Augustus and F1 getting royal titles. Conspicuous consumption played just as big a role in Augustus's plans to get taken seriously by the first-rate powers like France as it had for spendthrift F1 (despised by son FW and grandson Fritz for just this reason). If you're aware that Saxony was one of Prussia's biggest rivals, as well as next-door neighbor, it puts both FW's actions in the War of the Polish Succession as well as Fritz's war crimes into context.
He wanted to talk to Count Hoym
cahn, this is a different Count Hoym than the one you'll see in Blanning as the corrupt minister of Silesia. Wikipedia tells me this was the Saxon ambassador to Versailles, who had recently returned to Saxony. He apparently had many enemies there and in other courts (including Berlin and Vienna), and was imprisoned three times, before finally committing suicide in prison in 1736. Wikipedia tells me one of the charges, which it believes is trumped-up, was impregnating his niece--which goes some way toward answering my question as to how scandalous Voltaire and (the non-impregnated) Madame Denis would have been to contemporaries!
about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito
Geography is important here: Leipzig is in Saxony, so outside FW's domains and in the domains of the somewhat-friendlier-to-Fritz Elector-King Augustus, and located due west of the pleasure camp, so on the way to France.
Chronology is also important:
June 1730: month-long extravagant military-review-cum-pleasure-camp in Saxony, where FW gives Fritz his most public humiliation. Katte recounts in the species facti how Fritz was already making plans to escape via Leipzig. July 12, 1730: Hotham gives up on the double marriage project and goes back to England. August 5, 1730: Fritz snaps and makes his escape attempt near the French border (but not near enough), while he and FW are on a royal tour in the west. August 15, 1731: FW tells Fritz he abused him especially badly in the camp at Saxony to get him to love him! As recounted in the Grumbkow-Seckendorff submission protocol recently given in full by selenak.
I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW
Would it? Everyone gives letter-forwarder's rank as Rittmeister (captain), not Oberst (colonel), in the secondary biographies, and Wikipedia agrees that he wasn't an Oberst until 1743, or even an Oberstleutnant (which is sometimes called Oberst for short by contemporaries) until 1739.
But I can't find any of the other cousins being that highly ranked in 1730; they're all much too young. And Hans Heinrich got promoted from Oberst to Generalmajor in 1718, so it can't be him. I'm not sure who this is. One more distant cousin, David Levin von Katte, will join the Danish service as a major in 1739, then become a colonel, but that's too late. Okay, his older brother, Christoph Friedrich, is also in the Danish service and makes it as far as Obristleutnant, but my source doesn't say when he gets that rank. He may be old enough, born in 1678.
Oh, wait. There's a Saxon-Polish Obrist Hans Christoph von Katte, who's doing something (without using Google Translate, my guess is completing the building of some baroque manor?) in 1727. I wish I could be certain they're using his rank of 1727 and not his final rank, because a Saxon colonel would definitely be on site at the pleasure camp.
Ooh, I think it's him. Kloosterhuis has a mention of him, also gives him the title Obrist, and he's the guy who later recounts the anecdote that at the pleasure camp, Fritz and Katte were talking about the mistress of the Saxon officer who was murdered for his sake, and that's when Fritz and Katte have the "Se non fu vero, fu bene trovato" exchange where Katte says, "Of course, death is the fruit of loyalty."
Okay, if he was both on site and hanging out with Fritz and Katte during the camp, and both my sources give him as an Obrist, I'm going with: it was Hans Christoph von Katte, the Saxon colonel, not Johann Friedrich von Katte, the Prussian captain, that Katte was staying with that evening.
Now the obvious question: how does this guy fit into the Katte family tree? And sadly, I haven't yet found that out. There are apparently 5 Hans Christophs in Martin Katte's family tree, of which he only carries over 3 that I can see in his memoirs.
Hmm. There's one genealogy site that gives me a Hans Christoph von Katte who dies in Berlin in 1766. He is a...5th cousin once removed of Hans Hermann. But I have no way of knowing if it's the same guy.
Okay, I've done what I can! Moving on.
Katte was threatened by torture if he didn't confess all, and of course he knew the punishment for desertion under FW if this was what it was judged to be and wanted to live, so with that caveat, here's what he said happened:
Yeah, he protests his innocence about as much as Trenck. :P When I was tracking this down, some 19th or 20th historian said it seemed basically accurate, except for overstating the extent to which Katte wanted NO PART in all this, no sir, no part at all.
If you're aware that Saxony was one of Prussia's biggest rivals, as well as next-door neighbor, it puts both FW's actions in the War of the Polish Succession as well as Fritz's war crimes into context.
There was a GDR tv miniseries called "Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria" about the few decades where there was actually a rivalry, and the title - "Saxony's Splendour and Prussia's Glory" sums up why they were thought of as the Athens and Sparta of their day. In FW's day the division was clear cut, and August had all the top artists, the art galleries, the musicians (Quantz!), the composers - both Bach and Händel were Saxons, after all, though Händel had his big career mostly abroad, in Italy and England respectively, while Bach remained at home in Leipzig -, and the scholars (hello, Wolff). And of course drop dead gorgeous architecture, the famous porcellain in Meißen, and Poland due to the union of being the Prince Elector of Saxony and the elected King of Poland. FW and Fritz visiting the first time really must have felt like the poor relations coming to town, so during the camp at Zeithain, FW made sure that he at least brought along the one thing where he outshone all other German princes - a modern army.
Presumably it's also a(nother) reason why Fritz was snippy with Algarotti for taking the job with August III when being bored in Berlin in the early 1740s and there were a few years of silence between them. The one thing he could have done that was worse would have been accepting a job in Vienna. At least there, Algarotti limited himself to designing MT's tablewear.
Incidentally, Grumbkow-Seckendorff protocol: do you want me to post it at rheinsberg, or do you want to include it in one of yours? That's why I've held off for now.
--which goes some way toward answering my question as to how scandalous Voltaire and (the non-impregnated) Madame Denis would have been to contemporaries!
Meanwhle, Catherine's mother "saw in me her futher sister-in-law" and let brother Georg Ludwig paw 13 and 14 years old Sophie, according to her memoirs. But then, Voltaire and Madame Denis were not only non-nobles but (nominal) Catholics. (Was Hoym? As a Saxon, it could have been either way.) (ETA: I mention the religion because evidentallly Ferdinand, as a (nominal) Calvinist, didn't need anyone but Fritz' okay for the marriage to their niece. Whereas you needed to be a ruling Spanish Habsburg or a French Bourbon bribing the Vatican massively if you wanted to get niece marriage okay'd by the Pope, and the artist formerly known as Monsieur Arouet, citizen, certainly did not fall under that category, meaning he might even have been acted criminally according to (some) French law.
the title - "Saxony's Splendour and Prussia's Glory" sums up why they were thought of as the Athens and Sparta of their day.
That's interesting, because what that actually reminds me of is the famous Edgar Allen Poe line (I had to look up the attribution): "The glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome."
Presumably it's also a(nother) reason why Fritz was snippy with Algarotti for taking the job with August III when being bored in Berlin in the early 1740s and there were a few years of silence between them.
Agreed!
Incidentally, Grumbkow-Seckendorff protocol: do you want me to post it at [community profile] rheinsberg, or do you want to include it in one of yours? That's why I've held off for now.
Go ahead and post it. There's no particular post of mine I want to fit it into.
Meanwhle, Catherine's mother "saw in me her futher sister-in-law" and let brother Georg Ludwig paw 13 and 14 years old Sophie, according to her memoirs.
Wow. If I knew this, I had forgotten. This fandom: never boring!
But then, Voltaire and Madame Denis were not only non-nobles but (nominal) Catholics. (Was Hoym? As a Saxon, it could have been either way.)
I can't find anything definitive, as as you say, it could go either way.
ETA: I mention the religion because evidentallly Ferdinand, as a (nominal) Calvinist, didn't need anyone but Fritz' okay for the marriage to their niece. Whereas you needed to be a ruling Spanish Habsburg or a French Bourbon bribing the Vatican massively if you wanted to get niece marriage okay'd by the Pope
And we all know how the Church of England got its start! cahn, do we? Combination of political and religious considerations meaning Henry VIII had to be head of his own church in order to authorize his annulment from his first wife? Because the Pope, operating in a context of complicated Continental politics, kept refusing?
the artist formerly known as Monsieur Arouet, citizen, certainly did not fall under that category, meaning he might even have been acted criminally according to (some) French law.
That's actually a really interesting question. Especially with French law varying from region to region, and the fact that just because the church wouldn't give you permission to marry someone doesn't necessarily (but can) mean that it's illegal to have sex with them, or that if there is technically something on the books, anyone will care. Example: if you're a married man, you can't legally marry another woman, and extramarital sex is certainly a sin in the eyes of the Church, but was it technically against French civil law to have a mistress? I'm not actually sure.
iberiandoctor, we have a legal question! Was having non-impregnating sex with your niece illegal in all or part of France in the mid 18th century? As opposed to it not being possible to get a Catholic marriage under most circumstances?
Was having non-impregnating sex with your niece illegal in all or part of France in the mid 18th century? As opposed to it not being possible to get a Catholic marriage under most circumstances?
Non-impregnating sex with a niece in her 30s who is a widow, if that makes a legal difference. (I.e. no virginity lost, also no husband or parents' authority gone against. I'm just recalling that there were legal systems where the problem of extramarital sex was basically the hurting of another man's property rights.
That's interesting, because what that actually reminds me of is the famous Edgar Allen Poe line (I had to look up the attribution): "The glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome."
Ah, but Poe's poetry, as opposed to Poe's short stories, were and are fairly unknown in Germany, due to not having found adequate translations. (Whereas the short stories really were a hit here from the later 19th century onwards.) And the GDR teaching schedule didn't exactly emphasize US literature, so I doubt those East German tv writers were thinking of Poe. If you want to try google translate, here is the German wiki entry about the tv series, which was based on three novels by a Polish writer, and became an East German tv classic of sorts. Since most movies and tv shows of the era focus on Prussia and the Prussian pov, this is the rare exception.
I'm just recalling that there were legal systems where the problem of extramarital sex was basically the hurting of another man's property rights.
Indeed, married vs. unmarried is a very important distinction. Also the virgin aspect (not ruining her future marriage prospects). There are many times and places in which if you were a woman, being a widow got you more freedom (not just sexual) than many of your other options. (Of course, "freedom" also depends on which specific freedoms you personally were most interested in.)
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Katte - Species Facti 1
"It has been probably now a year ago that his highness did for the first time honor me with conversation, and did so repeatedly during the Parade and the parole giving. (...)
In Cosdorf, his highness the Crown Prince had me called just after his arrival and told me I should go recruiting-" guys, I am a bit lost, "auf Werbung gehen" could mean going to woo, or going to recruit, or going to advertise, but I'm going with "recruit because when in doubt, assume a military context in Prussia - and then I should do him a favor, which he believed I wouldn't refuse him. Whereupon I replied to him that I had already registered regarding the recruitment, but as for the other, his highness had only to order, if it was within my power and I could do it, he only needed to order and I would be ready to do anything.'I do believe it of you,' he returned.
Sidenote: Fritz here as quoted by Katte uses the most formal personal address from a higher ranking to a lower ranking person, calling Katte "Er" - the literal translation would have been "I do believe it of Him". This is true for the entire document, which never once has him use the more familiar versions of "you". (No "Sie" or "Ihr", and most definitely no "Du".) Continuing with Fritz as quoted by Katte:
"'In the camp I want to talk further with you about this, just come this evening, when I'm returning from the King.' Whereupon he left me and went to dine with his highness. Here I must remind you that before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony, his highness the Crown Prince had told me that he wanted to pay a debt to someone he was owing something to, without, however, mentioning who that person was, and had asked me whether I could get him some money. Whereupon I promised to do all I could, and did sent him 1000 Reichstaler, which the Chamberlain Montolieu had lend to me, to Potsdam through his page. The page had met me at Zehlendorf and I had given him the money sealed in a box so he wouldn't know what was inside. (The Prince) duly received this, and wrote to me the next day through one of his servants demanding that I should get him more money after the Saxon journey, which the preserved letter will prove. When his royal highness withdrew for the night at Cosdorf, he told me, oh my God, I can't stand it anymore, my father treats me so harshly, he is always so lacking all mercy towards me, I don't know anymore what I should do.
I was surprised that he thought of this only now, and said he shouldn't be so impatient, besides, one shouldn't be alarmed by what a father said, he should just sleep over it, tomorrow everything would look different, whereupon he said good night to me and fell asleep. Some days later, three or four days after the arrival at the camp, his highness called me one evening and told me he had decided to leave, and I needed to help him in this enterprise.
I then told him that I couldn't believe him to be serious about it, and so I didn't know what to reply. But when he assured me that it was not a joke at all, that he was entirely serious, I couldn't other but tell him that I was very surprised by such thoughts, he should consider what he was planning. Leaving all other considerations aside, this would be a matter not only very difficult to do but something which the entire world would blame him for. I hoped and believed he would change his mind. (...)
The next day, his highness asked me during the exercises why I didn't believe the matter could be accomplished ; once he had horses and a headstart of several hours, he thought that he would not only be able to make a clean getaway but not to be overtaken by anyone. I replied to him that I did believe all this, but that there was the difficulty of getting horses in the first place, and then it would be important to know what plans he had, where he wanted to go to, that wanting to do something wasn't enough but that in order to be sure of a happy ending one needed to know whether the place one had chosen to be one's retreat would be capable of offering safe and sound sanctuary, and as long as he didn't give me any details in this regard, I was bound to see all his designs as empty projects, something he would like to do but would never accomplish.
When he then named France as the place of his refuge to me and assured me intently that he would be accepted with joy there, and that he would not only be offered safety but as much money as he wanted to have. I asked him to tell me on which basis he made this claim, what kind of assurances he had received and how, and discovered it was only based on assumptions because the two courts, the Prussian and the French court, were not having a good relationship right now and thus he would inevitably have credit there. (...)
I did everything in the world to decline this commission, and pointed out what the Duke if he learned of the entire affair would think of the matter, and what kind of opinion he'd hold if he found that one wanted to take his domestic servants away, especially at a time when he needed them. (...) Without furthering his highness the Prince's longing in the slightest and without making the least suggestion, I did reply to his highness that I didn't believe we'd get far with this man who as I noticed was very attached to his lord. The Prince wasn't satisfied with this and told me I should look for him again and investigate whether he couldn't be persuaded, but without talking to the page I brought again the reply that one couldn't do anything with him, that he didn't want to leave his lord, since he'd been raised in the household of the princess his sister. This his highness applauded and said that he hadn't believed this man had it in him, and now had an even higher opinion of him and wanted to have with him all the more. One afternoon, his highness the Crown Prince returned in a very bad mood from his majesty and gave the order to call me as soon as he'd entered his tent. (...)
Meanwhile the prince had called me and said that he couldn't bear it any longer, there had to be evil people who sought to put him in a bad light with his majesty. At just this day, he'd been mortified by the later; among other things, his majesty had told him that he was a coward, that he didn't have heart, and more things like that; he wanted to prove the opposite was true, and when his majesty would see that he was capable of pulling such an enterprise off, then (his majesty) would love him, and would be merciful again. He had no other design to escape his majesty's view but that he didn't want to irritate the later by his presence anymore, and no one should keep him from doing this anymore, I should and must help him, I had to promise him this.
As I didn't want to do this, I now seriously pointed out to him in how tricky and difficult circumstances he'd throw himself, how much he would irritate his majesty the king and sadden her majesty the queen, and moreover, that he didn't know yet where to go to. (...) Meanwhile, I begged him to temper his energy and to await the courier he'd mentioned to me, whereupon he revealed to me that this courier was secretary Guy Dickens, who after his return wanted to bring him definite news as to whether he should come to England or not. He wanted to talk to Count Hoym as well about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito, which happened the next day in the pavillon, when his highness the prince came to me and told me that he'd talked to the count, it would work out, I should just go to him. However, I'd earlier gone to him already and had asked him that if his highness the crown prince would talk a journey I was to make to Leipzig, he should make as many difficulties as he possibly could. Which I asked for a second time when I approached him at the orders of the prince, with the argument that for various reasons I didn't want to make this journey, nor could I, and couldn't explain this to him any further. He promised me to do this and wanted to indicate to the prince that it wasn't so easy as he imagined it would be, and further say that when one imagined such projects one thought them easy, but when they were to be executed there were not only obstacles one hadn't considered but on most occasions, they were never accomplished at all, which was for the best, especially if they were of a kind to cause more damage and distress than use.
I told the Prince that I'd found much more difficulties with Count Hoym than I had expected to, so it couldn't happen that quickly, and if he could just talk to him himself, he'd find out the truth. Then he gave me the key to his box, I should go to his tent and take his things along with the money which I would find. Instead of doing so, I remained down there at the Pavillon until the exercises were over, and then I made myself known again and said that I couldn't succeed since I had met his servants at the tent and they had stopped me, which I accepted. (...)
He then asked me whether Count Hoym had talked to me about this, and I said yes, he'd indicated to me that his highness had many supervisors. I should ride to him straight away, he said, and ask the Count to reveal who the supervisors were and in which way they were keeping an eye on him. IN order to get away I promised to do this, but instead of going to Count Hoym, I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW - until 8 pm, when I returned to headquarters, with some officers who'd been expecting me there in order to ride to Riesa. Meanwhile, his highness was riding away from his majesty and immediately asked me what answer Count Hoym had given. When I told him that I hadn't met the Count and that his people hadn't known where he was, his highness seemed to be displeased and said that I probably hadn't been there. When I assured him of the contrary, he pretended to believe me, and said nothing further than this, that it was my fault that he didn't get away, that he had had the best opportunity here, but that he didn't know yet whether he wouldn't dare it anyway since it was impossible for him to endure the way he was treated any longer. (...)
Re: Katte - Species Facti 1
In numerous secondary sources, I've seen references to Katte trying and failing to get leave to go recruiting in the western domains, as a ploy to get himself close to the French or Dutch border, so I think you're spot on here.
before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony
Remember that Saxony, like Prussia, had started out a third-rate power that had only recently become a second-rate one, with Augustus and F1 getting royal titles. Conspicuous consumption played just as big a role in Augustus's plans to get taken seriously by the first-rate powers like France as it had for spendthrift F1 (despised by son FW and grandson Fritz for just this reason). If you're aware that Saxony was one of Prussia's biggest rivals, as well as next-door neighbor, it puts both FW's actions in the War of the Polish Succession as well as Fritz's war crimes into context.
He wanted to talk to Count Hoym
about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito
Geography is important here: Leipzig is in Saxony, so outside FW's domains and in the domains of the somewhat-friendlier-to-Fritz Elector-King Augustus, and located due west of the pleasure camp, so on the way to France.
Chronology is also important:
June 1730: month-long extravagant military-review-cum-pleasure-camp in Saxony, where FW gives Fritz his most public humiliation. Katte recounts in the species facti how Fritz was already making plans to escape via Leipzig.
July 12, 1730: Hotham gives up on the double marriage project and goes back to England.
August 5, 1730: Fritz snaps and makes his escape attempt near the French border (but not near enough), while he and FW are on a royal tour in the west.
August 15, 1731: FW tells Fritz he abused him especially badly in the camp at Saxony to get him to love him! As recounted in the Grumbkow-Seckendorff submission protocol recently given in full by
I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW
Would it? Everyone gives letter-forwarder's rank as Rittmeister (captain), not Oberst (colonel), in the secondary biographies, and Wikipedia agrees that he wasn't an Oberst until 1743, or even an Oberstleutnant (which is sometimes called Oberst for short by contemporaries) until 1739.
But I can't find any of the other cousins being that highly ranked in 1730; they're all much too young. And Hans Heinrich got promoted from Oberst to Generalmajor in 1718, so it can't be him. I'm not sure who this is. One more distant cousin, David Levin von Katte, will join the Danish service as a major in 1739, then become a colonel, but that's too late. Okay, his older brother, Christoph Friedrich, is also in the Danish service and makes it as far as Obristleutnant, but my source doesn't say when he gets that rank. He may be old enough, born in 1678.
Oh, wait. There's a Saxon-Polish Obrist Hans Christoph von Katte, who's doing something (without using Google Translate, my guess is completing the building of some baroque manor?) in 1727. I wish I could be certain they're using his rank of 1727 and not his final rank, because a Saxon colonel would definitely be on site at the pleasure camp.
Ooh, I think it's him. Kloosterhuis has a mention of him, also gives him the title Obrist, and he's the guy who later recounts the anecdote that at the pleasure camp, Fritz and Katte were talking about the mistress of the Saxon officer who was murdered for his sake, and that's when Fritz and Katte have the "Se non fu vero, fu bene trovato" exchange where Katte says, "Of course, death is the fruit of loyalty."
Okay, if he was both on site and hanging out with Fritz and Katte during the camp, and both my sources give him as an Obrist, I'm going with: it was Hans Christoph von Katte, the Saxon colonel, not Johann Friedrich von Katte, the Prussian captain, that Katte was staying with that evening.
Now the obvious question: how does this guy fit into the Katte family tree? And sadly, I haven't yet found that out. There are apparently 5 Hans Christophs in Martin Katte's family tree, of which he only carries over 3 that I can see in his memoirs.
Hmm. There's one genealogy site that gives me a Hans Christoph von Katte who dies in Berlin in 1766. He is a...5th cousin once removed of Hans Hermann. But I have no way of knowing if it's the same guy.
Okay, I've done what I can! Moving on.
Katte was threatened by torture if he didn't confess all, and of course he knew the punishment for desertion under FW if this was what it was judged to be and wanted to live, so with that caveat, here's what he said happened:
Yeah, he protests his innocence about as much as Trenck. :P When I was tracking this down, some 19th or 20th historian said it seemed basically accurate, except for overstating the extent to which Katte wanted NO PART in all this, no sir, no part at all.
Poor Katte. :(
Re: Katte - Species Facti 1
There was a GDR tv miniseries called "Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria" about the few decades where there was actually a rivalry, and the title - "Saxony's Splendour and Prussia's Glory" sums up why they were thought of as the Athens and Sparta of their day. In FW's day the division was clear cut, and August had all the top artists, the art galleries, the musicians (Quantz!), the composers - both Bach and Händel were Saxons, after all, though Händel had his big career mostly abroad, in Italy and England respectively, while Bach remained at home in Leipzig -, and the scholars (hello, Wolff). And of course drop dead gorgeous architecture, the famous porcellain in Meißen, and Poland due to the union of being the Prince Elector of Saxony and the elected King of Poland. FW and Fritz visiting the first time really must have felt like the poor relations coming to town, so during the camp at Zeithain, FW made sure that he at least brought along the one thing where he outshone all other German princes - a modern army.
Presumably it's also a(nother) reason why Fritz was snippy with Algarotti for taking the job with August III when being bored in Berlin in the early 1740s and there were a few years of silence between them. The one thing he could have done that was worse would have been accepting a job in Vienna. At least there, Algarotti limited himself to designing MT's tablewear.
Incidentally, Grumbkow-Seckendorff protocol: do you want me to post it at
--which goes some way toward answering my question as to how scandalous Voltaire and (the non-impregnated) Madame Denis would have been to contemporaries!
Meanwhle, Catherine's mother "saw in me her futher sister-in-law" and let brother Georg Ludwig paw 13 and 14 years old Sophie, according to her memoirs. But then, Voltaire and Madame Denis were not only non-nobles but (nominal) Catholics. (Was Hoym? As a Saxon, it could have been either way.) (ETA: I mention the religion because evidentallly Ferdinand, as a (nominal) Calvinist, didn't need anyone but Fritz' okay for the marriage to their niece. Whereas you needed to be a ruling Spanish Habsburg or a French Bourbon bribing the Vatican massively if you wanted to get niece marriage okay'd by the Pope, and the artist formerly known as Monsieur Arouet, citizen, certainly did not fall under that category, meaning he might even have been acted criminally according to (some) French law.
Re: Katte - Species Facti 1
That's interesting, because what that actually reminds me of is the famous Edgar Allen Poe line (I had to look up the attribution): "The glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome."
Presumably it's also a(nother) reason why Fritz was snippy with Algarotti for taking the job with August III when being bored in Berlin in the early 1740s and there were a few years of silence between them.
Agreed!
Incidentally, Grumbkow-Seckendorff protocol: do you want me to post it at [community profile] rheinsberg, or do you want to include it in one of yours? That's why I've held off for now.
Go ahead and post it. There's no particular post of mine I want to fit it into.
Meanwhle, Catherine's mother "saw in me her futher sister-in-law" and let brother Georg Ludwig paw 13 and 14 years old Sophie, according to her memoirs.
Wow. If I knew this, I had forgotten. This fandom: never boring!
But then, Voltaire and Madame Denis were not only non-nobles but (nominal) Catholics. (Was Hoym? As a Saxon, it could have been either way.)
I can't find anything definitive, as as you say, it could go either way.
ETA: I mention the religion because evidentallly Ferdinand, as a (nominal) Calvinist, didn't need anyone but Fritz' okay for the marriage to their niece. Whereas you needed to be a ruling Spanish Habsburg or a French Bourbon bribing the Vatican massively if you wanted to get niece marriage okay'd by the Pope
And we all know how the Church of England got its start!
the artist formerly known as Monsieur Arouet, citizen, certainly did not fall under that category, meaning he might even have been acted criminally according to (some) French law.
That's actually a really interesting question. Especially with French law varying from region to region, and the fact that just because the church wouldn't give you permission to marry someone doesn't necessarily (but can) mean that it's illegal to have sex with them, or that if there is technically something on the books, anyone will care. Example: if you're a married man, you can't legally marry another woman, and extramarital sex is certainly a sin in the eyes of the Church, but was it technically against French civil law to have a mistress? I'm not actually sure.
Re: Katte - Species Facti 1
Non-impregnating sex with a niece in her 30s who is a widow, if that makes a legal difference. (I.e. no virginity lost, also no husband or parents' authority gone against. I'm just recalling that there were legal systems where the problem of extramarital sex was basically the hurting of another man's property rights.
That's interesting, because what that actually reminds me of is the famous Edgar Allen Poe line (I had to look up the attribution): "The glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome."
Ah, but Poe's poetry, as opposed to Poe's short stories, were and are fairly unknown in Germany, due to not having found adequate translations. (Whereas the short stories really were a hit here from the later 19th century onwards.) And the GDR teaching schedule didn't exactly emphasize US literature, so I doubt those East German tv writers were thinking of Poe. If you want to try google translate, here is the German wiki entry about the tv series, which was based on three novels by a Polish writer, and became an East German tv classic of sorts. Since most movies and tv shows of the era focus on Prussia and the Prussian pov, this is the rare exception.
Re: Katte - Species Facti 1
Indeed, married vs. unmarried is a very important distinction. Also the virgin aspect (not ruining her future marriage prospects). There are many times and places in which if you were a woman, being a widow got you more freedom (not just sexual) than many of your other options. (Of course, "freedom" also depends on which specific freedoms you personally were most interested in.)