From the duo that *always* has more gossipy sensationalism...
I also seem to recall (maybe wrongly?) he mentioned Algarotti having some problems in this regard to someone else?
I dug in more to the question of Algarotti's STD. I started with Blanning, who opens his discussion of the question of Fritz/Algarotti with the claim that in the "Orgasm" poem:
There is nothing...to suggest that Frederick himself was Algarotti’s partner. On the contrary, the passage just quoted is preceded by lines identifying the lover as the nymph “Chloris.”
Which, as I've pointed out, suggests that Professor Blanning of Cambridge University has never heard of a literary trope. But! Blanning continues:
It should also be recorded that, in one letter at least, Frederick appeared to state explicitly that their relationship was not physical. On 29 November 1740 he wrote that he felt as much pleasure at seeing Algarotti again after a long absence as did Medoro when reunited with his beloved Angelica, “the difference being that it is my intellect alone that participates in this pleasure, and that it seeks only to woo yours to warm itself with the fire of your sparkling genius.”
Once upon a time, I read this, and put it down in my mental register as possible evidence for Fritz's low sex drive. Then Blanning continues,
One possible explanation for this reticence, which points the other way, had been signaled in a letter of 24 September in which Frederick referred to Algarotti as an “illustrious invalid of the Empire of love,” wished him a speedy recovery from the “wounds of Cythera” and expressed the hope that he would at least be able to benefit from his intellect when they met at Berlin.
Okay, so Algarotti evidently has an STD, if Fritz, during the peak of their relationship, is wishing him luck with it. But nobody ever accused Algarotti of having a low sex drive. I remind you of my headcanon that Fritz tried it with Algarotti a time or two, and decided he was kind of meh about the act, although he liked flirting.
But, as a good scholar, I am always open to new evidence. And knowing Blanning, I knew that it was necessary to go cross-check his claims in Preuss. (Preuss, as we've seen, isn't 100% reliable either, but all you can do is weigh different pieces of evidence against each other and decide what you believe.)
Now, Preuss doesn't have a September 24 letter, but he does have a letter with the quote Blanning gives. Only he dates it to November 21, i.e. about a week before the "I only care about your intellect" letter.
And Preuss's quote is a little bit different from Blanning's. I give you the original French here:
Adieu, illustre invalide de l'empire de l'Amour. Guérissez-vous des blessures de Cythère, et faites du moins que nous profitions à Berlin de votre esprit, tandis que les p...... ne pourront profiter de votre corps.
Um. I see NO other way to read this than "Since our penises can't benefit from your body, at least we can talk." Fritz is NOT meh about sex with Algarotti. Fritz is like, "Damn! No sex with Algarotti this time."
Oh, wow. Blanning's source for the edition of these letters is from 1837, of course it is, and he didn't even think to check the slightly later Preuss. 1837 editor must have censored that last phrase out. BLANNING YOU DROPPED THE BALL HERE. For the biographer whose status as the "Fritz is gay" champion is exceeded only (to my knowledge) by the even more unreliable Burgdorf, you missed the chance to find PREUSS, he of the "I censor Fritz's letters when necessary," evidently either falling asleep on the job or deciding Fritz/Algarotti is cool, even though Fritz/Marwitz/Heinrich love triangles are fucking weird and won't fly with the current Hohenzollerns.
So. Canon Fritz/Algarotti, and Algarotti has an STD. Right?
Münchow fils: Fritz was treated by a field doctor in the early 1740s for something that proved he was still having sex, you Zimmermann idiot! Het sex, obviously.
Did Fritz get an STD from Algarotti??? I'm with selenak that I don't think he was traumatized by an operation into celibacy, but the STD is possible. Maybe he hadn't become symptomatic until 1741.
Discuss! (Including alternate interpretations of the French, in which there is an interesting number of plurals.)
Oh, man, I hope Hans Heinrich either had a good sense of humor or was riding in a different carriage on the way to the homage ceremony. :P
Algarotti's STD and Fritz's sexuality
I also seem to recall (maybe wrongly?) he mentioned Algarotti having some problems in this regard to someone else?
I dug in more to the question of Algarotti's STD. I started with Blanning, who opens his discussion of the question of Fritz/Algarotti with the claim that in the "Orgasm" poem:
There is nothing...to suggest that Frederick himself was Algarotti’s partner. On the contrary, the passage just quoted is preceded by lines identifying the lover as the nymph “Chloris.”
Which, as I've pointed out, suggests that Professor Blanning of Cambridge University has never heard of a literary trope. But! Blanning continues:
It should also be recorded that, in one letter at least, Frederick appeared to state explicitly that their relationship was not physical. On 29 November 1740 he wrote that he felt as much pleasure at seeing Algarotti again after a long absence as did Medoro when reunited with his beloved Angelica, “the difference being that it is my intellect alone that participates in this pleasure, and that it seeks only to woo yours to warm itself with the fire of your sparkling genius.”
Once upon a time, I read this, and put it down in my mental register as possible evidence for Fritz's low sex drive. Then Blanning continues,
One possible explanation for this reticence, which points the other way, had been signaled in a letter of 24 September in which Frederick referred to Algarotti as an “illustrious invalid of the Empire of love,” wished him a speedy recovery from the “wounds of Cythera” and expressed the hope that he would at least be able to benefit from his intellect when they met at Berlin.
Okay, so Algarotti evidently has an STD, if Fritz, during the peak of their relationship, is wishing him luck with it. But nobody ever accused Algarotti of having a low sex drive. I remind you of my headcanon that Fritz tried it with Algarotti a time or two, and decided he was kind of meh about the act, although he liked flirting.
But, as a good scholar, I am always open to new evidence. And knowing Blanning, I knew that it was necessary to go cross-check his claims in Preuss. (Preuss, as we've seen, isn't 100% reliable either, but all you can do is weigh different pieces of evidence against each other and decide what you believe.)
Now, Preuss doesn't have a September 24 letter, but he does have a letter with the quote Blanning gives. Only he dates it to November 21, i.e. about a week before the "I only care about your intellect" letter.
And Preuss's quote is a little bit different from Blanning's. I give you the original French here:
Adieu, illustre invalide de l'empire de l'Amour. Guérissez-vous des blessures de Cythère, et faites du moins que nous profitions à Berlin de votre esprit, tandis que les p...... ne pourront profiter de votre corps.
Um. I see NO other way to read this than "Since our penises can't benefit from your body, at least we can talk." Fritz is NOT meh about sex with Algarotti. Fritz is like, "Damn! No sex with Algarotti this time."
Oh, wow. Blanning's source for the edition of these letters is from 1837, of course it is, and he didn't even think to check the slightly later Preuss. 1837 editor must have censored that last phrase out. BLANNING YOU DROPPED THE BALL HERE. For the biographer whose status as the "Fritz is gay" champion is exceeded only (to my knowledge) by the even more unreliable Burgdorf, you missed the chance to find PREUSS, he of the "I censor Fritz's letters when necessary," evidently either falling asleep on the job or deciding Fritz/Algarotti is cool, even though Fritz/Marwitz/Heinrich love triangles are fucking weird and won't fly with the current Hohenzollerns.
So. Canon Fritz/Algarotti, and Algarotti has an STD. Right?
Münchow fils: Fritz was treated by a field doctor in the early 1740s for something that proved he was still having sex, you Zimmermann idiot! Het sex, obviously.
Did Fritz get an STD from Algarotti??? I'm with
Discuss! (Including alternate interpretations of the French, in which there is an interesting number of plurals.)
Oh, man, I hope Hans Heinrich either had a good sense of humor or was riding in a different carriage on the way to the homage ceremony. :P