A sister wouldn't have been Fräulein von Pannewitz, though, but Fräulein von Jasmund (Johanna's maiden name). Checking Ziebura again, I find the footnote says it was Anna Helene von Pannwitz, i.e. the sister of Johanna's husband, Katte's commander, who was SD's lady-in-waiting until 1736 and then married Rittmeister Christoph von Schöning. Googling that name, I found wiki only has Christoph von Schöning fils, son of Christoph von Schöning pére without an wiki entry of his own, and born in 1737, which would fit, except the mother of 1737!Christoph is named as Marie Eleonore von Bergen, not Anna Helene von Pannwitz. Googling Anna Helen von Pann(e)witz directly brought me nothing, though you may have more luck. Anyway, I must have overlooked that footnote the first time around.
On a tangent: That's not young for a woman by the standards of the 18th century.
True, though it should be noted that when Madame de Pompadour dies in her early 40s, the Duc de Croy, making an entrance about this in his diary, refers to her as "young", and so does Voltaire in a letter about the same death. Of course, both of them are decades older than Reinette at that point and are writing from this pov.
But what I'm thinking his takeaway from 1730 was is that if you tell people what you're planning, they may betray you (not!Robert Keith), or they may loyally but incompetently die for you (Katte), but either way it's not going to end well. Better to keep things to yourself.
Agreed, though I would add the older he got, the more the need to control people also factored in. I mean, it's one thing to keep AW in the dark despite AW being his designated successor, because Fritz himself isn't yet that old during AW's life time. But it absolutely would have made sense to introduce future FW2 to government work, not just the military stuff. Or, if he absolutely did not want to give future FW2 any real responsibilities beyond regiment exercises, to go through with his "building up Heinrich as the power behind the throne" idea. As it was, FW2 had no job training, Heinrich had no established power base, and presto, FW2 having anti-Heinrich ministers who get the job because they show him affection and flattery and Prussian politics going haywire.
I hear Fritz wrote down some opinions about ruling styles before he became king too. :D
I'm also reminded of AW himself telling Lehndorff in January 1758 that he can't guarantee anything if he ever becomes King "because then the devil gets into one".
More seriously, what I think this shows is that AW would not have followed the *micromanaging* style of his father and brother.
Agreed. He was no slob by any means and willing to work hard, but FW and Fritz style of monarching meant an absolutely insane workload. Not to mention that Heinrich, as the envoys at the time guessed, would probably have become unofficial PM, and because unlike Fredersdorf, he was a member of the royal family, I'm not sure why it shouldn't have been official (i.e. "First Minister" - I mean, the title was there since Richelieu). And we do know Heinrich knew how to delegate.
MT may have been a demanding workaholic, but I think she was less of a paranoid micromanager?
Not when FS was still alive, but don't forget her frequent clashes with Joseph. Mind you, these were inevitable since Joseph, unlike FS, really wanted to co-govern, and they had some differences of opinion on several key issues. So I would say this was less paranoid micomanaging but the inevitable result of an absolute monarch used to rule on her lonesome suddenly having to share, with the added emotional baggage of a mother/son relationship and the confusing and paroxical demands that on the one hand, Joseph as the male ruler should have had precedence, but on the other, MT as the parent should have had precedence. (De facto, many courtiers if in doubt listened to MT, but Kaunitz, with an eye to the future and the invitability of Joseph outliving MT, changed sides.) Absolute monarchy, even the enlightened variation, just wasn't made for a co-governing model.
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Re: AW readthrough
Date: 2020-08-31 06:32 am (UTC)A sister wouldn't have been Fräulein von Pannewitz, though, but Fräulein von Jasmund (Johanna's maiden name). Checking Ziebura again, I find the footnote says it was Anna Helene von Pannwitz, i.e. the sister of Johanna's husband, Katte's commander, who was SD's lady-in-waiting until 1736 and then married Rittmeister Christoph von Schöning. Googling that name, I found wiki only has Christoph von Schöning fils, son of Christoph von Schöning pére without an wiki entry of his own, and born in 1737, which would fit, except the mother of 1737!Christoph is named as Marie Eleonore von Bergen, not Anna Helene von Pannwitz. Googling Anna Helen von Pann(e)witz directly brought me nothing, though you may have more luck. Anyway, I must have overlooked that footnote the first time around.
On a tangent:
That's not young for a woman by the standards of the 18th century.
True, though it should be noted that when Madame de Pompadour dies in her early 40s, the Duc de Croy, making an entrance about this in his diary, refers to her as "young", and so does Voltaire in a letter about the same death. Of course, both of them are decades older than Reinette at that point and are writing from this pov.
But what I'm thinking his takeaway from 1730 was is that if you tell people what you're planning, they may betray you (not!Robert Keith), or they may loyally but incompetently die for you (Katte), but either way it's not going to end well. Better to keep things to yourself.
Agreed, though I would add the older he got, the more the need to control people also factored in. I mean, it's one thing to keep AW in the dark despite AW being his designated successor, because Fritz himself isn't yet that old during AW's life time. But it absolutely would have made sense to introduce future FW2 to government work, not just the military stuff. Or, if he absolutely did not want to give future FW2 any real responsibilities beyond regiment exercises, to go through with his "building up Heinrich as the power behind the throne" idea. As it was, FW2 had no job training, Heinrich had no established power base, and presto, FW2 having anti-Heinrich ministers who get the job because they show him affection and flattery and Prussian politics going haywire.
I hear Fritz wrote down some opinions about ruling styles before he became king too. :D
I'm also reminded of AW himself telling Lehndorff in January 1758 that he can't guarantee anything if he ever becomes King "because then the devil gets into one".
More seriously, what I think this shows is that AW would not have followed the *micromanaging* style of his father and brother.
Agreed. He was no slob by any means and willing to work hard, but FW and Fritz style of monarching meant an absolutely insane workload. Not to mention that Heinrich, as the envoys at the time guessed, would probably have become unofficial PM, and because unlike Fredersdorf, he was a member of the royal family, I'm not sure why it shouldn't have been official (i.e. "First Minister" - I mean, the title was there since Richelieu). And we do know Heinrich knew how to delegate.
MT may have been a demanding workaholic, but I think she was less of a paranoid micromanager?
Not when FS was still alive, but don't forget her frequent clashes with Joseph. Mind you, these were inevitable since Joseph, unlike FS, really wanted to co-govern, and they had some differences of opinion on several key issues. So I would say this was less paranoid micomanaging but the inevitable result of an absolute monarch used to rule on her lonesome suddenly having to share, with the added emotional baggage of a mother/son relationship and the confusing and paroxical demands that on the one hand, Joseph as the male ruler should have had precedence, but on the other, MT as the parent should have had precedence. (De facto, many courtiers if in doubt listened to MT, but Kaunitz, with an eye to the future and the invitability of Joseph outliving MT, changed sides.) Absolute monarchy, even the enlightened variation, just wasn't made for a co-governing model.