* Wow, Louise actually bitter about someone (Mina). Totally understandable, of course, but considering all the *other* people she had every right to be bitter about, it comes as a surprise to see her actually doing it for once.
A little later on: Lehndorff reports on how Mina gets to sit on the throne during the performance, while Louise isn't even invited to the ball at her own house and has to eat elsewhere...okay, I have a pretty high tolerance for people not choosing to spend more time than they have to with their arranged-marriage spouses, but I draw the line at people not getting to eat in their own houses!
* Google translate: I'm pretty sure Wilhelmine is saying "I don't see why there's so much to complain about re Mina," not, "I don't see why Mina has so much to complain about."
* Wilhelmine: She's beautiful and well-behaved, and Heinrich gets his own household and freedom of movement, what more does he want?
Well...
* The dinner to celebrate Amalie becoming abbess, with a Biblically themed menu: clever! I would like to see the complete list of what they came up with for all 20 courses.
* I know this came up in the Heinrich bio, but the WTFery was spelled out in more gory detail here: you're a noble/royal, you're expected to spend a certain amount on conspicuous consumption if you attend court, you don't get any meaningful income from attending court, and Fritz will get mad if you get into debt from living beyond your means, if you leave court and move back to your estate or if you ask for a raise so you can live within your means.
WTF! This system is terrible!
* There was a special military review camp at Spandau September 1-12 in 1753, which was kept more secret and more strictly regulated than most reviews. Foreigners couldn't get in at all, and Prussians only with a pass for a limited number of days.
This date immediately jumped out at me because--Peter Keith! In "Lovers", I was deliberately conflating the following:
Autumn 1750: Jonas Hanway, English traveler and author, reports that he gets a box from Fritz, containing a lot of money and a letter to his mother-in-law.
September 1753: Lehndorff reports that Fritz is being unusually generous to all the officers, and that Peter Keith got money and an invitation to join Fritz "at the camp."
Some non-primary source I've forgotten: describes Peter as Fritz's ADC.
Now, I've often wondered whether "the camp" was Spandau or Silesia, and whether 19th century biographers might be confusing Lt. Col. Peter Keith with the *other* Lt. Col. Keith who was Fritz's ADC according to sources I find more reliable. But for fiction I went with: 1750 to get the reconciliation as early as possible, an invitation to be Fritz's ADC temporarily so they could have close contact, and Silesia just because I knew slightly more about the exercises there than at Spandau.
But now I know what was up with that "invitation to join His Majesty at camp"--it was the invitation-only special semi-secret camp at Spandau that week! Which means Peter got to go for the last couple days.
Also, Ziebura says Fritz was in a good mood and approved of how things went, which is consistent with Lehndorff saying he was being unusually generous to the officers. And judging by the letters, this seems to be the occasion on which, when it was all over and had gone well, AW used military terminology to describe putting the soup on the "left wing" of the table.
This all makes even more sense if it was an unusual event with more riding on it and more unfamiliar rules than on the usual annual military exercises: the relief of pent-up tension emerges from Heinrich's and AW's letters. When you think about nothing but wings and centers for a long time, naturally you start seeing your table in those terms!
Also, AW celebrates because he gets 5,000 talers from Fritz on this occasion. Per Lehndorff, Peter also got 5,000 talers.
Fritz must really have been in a good mood. :)
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I went to check on that fanvid I made of Fritz's movements, and sure enough, he appears in Spandau on September 1 and Berlin/Potsdam on September 14. This is cool!
Wow, Louise actually bitter about someone (Mina). Totally understandable, of course, but considering all the *other* people she had every right to be bitter about, it comes as a surprise to see her actually doing it for once.
I thought this too!
* Google translate: I'm pretty sure Wilhelmine is saying "I don't see why there's so much to complain about re Mina," not, "I don't see why Mina has so much to complain about."
Ah, thank you! I was especially confused because I was pretty sure I had seen this elsewhere with the translation you give, but my German isn't good enough to make that out.
Wilhelmine: She's beautiful and well-behaved, and Heinrich gets his own household and freedom of movement, what more does he want?
Well...
Yeah, I imagine part of this is the gender dichotomy. I mean, to Wilhelmine that must sound pretty good! :(
Louise: is another who could have been forgiven for slapping their spouse with cold fish every day, is what I'm saying.
Re: the details for masques and celebrations: I have to say my favourite is when Amalie gets to play the Grand Sultan while Heinrich plays the Sultan's favourite odalisque. Gender switching costumes for the win! (Meanwhile, Schmidt-Lötzen in his original introduction to Lehndorff's diaries, in the passage where he's saying he thought about censoring more to spare his readers' feelings in the interest of historical veracity and being fair to FW2, who previously was described as having had the first Prussian court where manly chastity was replaced by affairs galore and risqué entertainment, it had be pointed out that such stuff was par the course during the national hero Fritz era, too: Dear readers, if you want to know how the delicate feelings of a lady were offended at that time, check out what the Princess Amalie had to put up with when her brothers organized a fete.
...Schmidt-Lötzen, of all the things Amalie could and would complain about in her life, I really don't think these parties were included. I bet she enjoyed the drag stuff enormously, rather.
WTF! This system is terrible!
Yep, and why such a lot of Prussian nobility were constantly in debt.
Review in Spandau: you truly are the best detective. :)
BTW, it occurs to me that it could have easily been otherwise re: Fritz being in a great mood, because: 1753 is the year of Voltaire's departure. Though I dimly seem to recall that happened still in spring, April or May, so presumably Fritz had some time to cool down. Though hang on, when did the Frankfurt arrest happen, wasn't that in autumn as well? (Voltaire having spent the intermittent months at the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha's place, giving Madame Denis the time to organize her leaving France since they were supposed to meet up at Franfurt.
I have to say my favourite is when Amalie gets to play the Grand Sultan while Heinrich plays the Sultan's favourite odalisque. Gender switching costumes for the win!
Yeah, that was fun.
Dear readers, if you want to know how the delicate feelings of a lady were offended at that time, check out what the Princess Amalie had to put up with when her brothers organized a fete.
Um.
...Schmidt-Lötzen, of all the things Amalie could and would complain about in her life, I really don't think these parties were included. I bet she enjoyed the drag stuff enormously, rather.
I bet! I mean, with Ziebura saying she and Ulrike romped with the boys and would rather have been boys (which is not to say they were transgender, just feeling confined by gender roles).
Yep, and why such a lot of Prussian nobility were constantly in debt.
Which would be suboptimal but still not totally crazy, if Fritz wouldn't complain when you get into debt. OMGWTF.
*mentally revising just how much scrimping Peter and Ariane must have done*
BTW, it occurs to me that it could have easily been otherwise re: Fritz being in a great mood, because: 1753 is the year of Voltaire's departure.
Omg, you're right. I was guessing Fritz's physical health might have been on an upswing in August/September, but I had forgotten about Voltaire!
Voltaire having spent the intermittent months at the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha's place
"Who, God be thanked, did not make verses," aka my favorite line from his memoirs. :P
Though hang on, when did the Frankfurt arrest happen, wasn't that in autumn as well?
Voltaire left Prussia in March, and Frankfurt was June/July. Just a few weeks before the big camp. Hmm.
I do remember Varnhagen von Ense (per Carlyle) arguing that Fritz was out of Prussia and busy with military stuff much of the time, and the orders were relayed through Fredersdorf (of whom von Ense is not a fan). Which is who I take Macaulay to be arguing against when he says it's ridiculous to claim that Fritz wasn't responsible.
Also, you know, *Voltaire* would certainly be in a bad letter-doctoring mood right after Frankfurt, but Fritz, having gotten his book back and asserted his dominance might be in a *good* mood because of Frankfurt more than in spite of Frankfurt.
But yes, it could easily have gone the other way, since Fritz does not soon forget his (boy)friends leaving him. Good catch.
Review in Spandau: you truly are the best detective. :)
:)
We know so little about Peter that I can remember most of the few details we *do* know, and I have a soft spot for him, so I'm always on the lookout for more.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
AW readthrough - early 1750s
A little later on: Lehndorff reports on how Mina gets to sit on the throne during the performance, while Louise isn't even invited to the ball at her own house and has to eat elsewhere...okay, I have a pretty high tolerance for people not choosing to spend more time than they have to with their arranged-marriage spouses, but I draw the line at people not getting to eat in their own houses!
* Google translate: I'm pretty sure Wilhelmine is saying "I don't see why there's so much to complain about re Mina," not, "I don't see why Mina has so much to complain about."
* Wilhelmine: She's beautiful and well-behaved, and Heinrich gets his own household and freedom of movement, what more does he want?
Well...
* The dinner to celebrate Amalie becoming abbess, with a Biblically themed menu: clever! I would like to see the complete list of what they came up with for all 20 courses.
* I know this came up in the Heinrich bio, but the WTFery was spelled out in more gory detail here: you're a noble/royal, you're expected to spend a certain amount on conspicuous consumption if you attend court, you don't get any meaningful income from attending court, and Fritz will get mad if you get into debt from living beyond your means, if you leave court and move back to your estate or if you ask for a raise so you can live within your means.
WTF! This system is terrible!
* There was a special military review camp at Spandau September 1-12 in 1753, which was kept more secret and more strictly regulated than most reviews. Foreigners couldn't get in at all, and Prussians only with a pass for a limited number of days.
This date immediately jumped out at me because--Peter Keith! In "Lovers", I was deliberately conflating the following:
Autumn 1750: Jonas Hanway, English traveler and author, reports that he gets a box from Fritz, containing a lot of money and a letter to his mother-in-law.
September 1753: Lehndorff reports that Fritz is being unusually generous to all the officers, and that Peter Keith got money and an invitation to join Fritz "at the camp."
Some non-primary source I've forgotten: describes Peter as Fritz's ADC.
Now, I've often wondered whether "the camp" was Spandau or Silesia, and whether 19th century biographers might be confusing Lt. Col. Peter Keith with the *other* Lt. Col. Keith who was Fritz's ADC according to sources I find more reliable. But for fiction I went with: 1750 to get the reconciliation as early as possible, an invitation to be Fritz's ADC temporarily so they could have close contact, and Silesia just because I knew slightly more about the exercises there than at Spandau.
But now I know what was up with that "invitation to join His Majesty at camp"--it was the invitation-only special semi-secret camp at Spandau that week! Which means Peter got to go for the last couple days.
Also, Ziebura says Fritz was in a good mood and approved of how things went, which is consistent with Lehndorff saying he was being unusually generous to the officers. And judging by the letters, this seems to be the occasion on which, when it was all over and had gone well, AW used military terminology to describe putting the soup on the "left wing" of the table.
This all makes even more sense if it was an unusual event with more riding on it and more unfamiliar rules than on the usual annual military exercises: the relief of pent-up tension emerges from Heinrich's and AW's letters. When you think about nothing but wings and centers for a long time, naturally you start seeing your table in those terms!
Also, AW celebrates because he gets 5,000 talers from Fritz on this occasion. Per Lehndorff, Peter also got 5,000 talers.
Fritz must really have been in a good mood. :)
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I went to check on that fanvid I made of Fritz's movements, and sure enough, he appears in Spandau on September 1 and Berlin/Potsdam on September 14. This is cool!
Re: AW readthrough - early 1750s
I thought this too!
* Google translate: I'm pretty sure Wilhelmine is saying "I don't see why there's so much to complain about re Mina," not, "I don't see why Mina has so much to complain about."
Ah, thank you! I was especially confused because I was pretty sure I had seen this elsewhere with the translation you give, but my German isn't good enough to make that out.
Wilhelmine: She's beautiful and well-behaved, and Heinrich gets his own household and freedom of movement, what more does he want?
Well...
Yeah, I imagine part of this is the gender dichotomy. I mean, to Wilhelmine that must sound pretty good! :(
WTF! This system is terrible!
Agreed!
Re: AW readthrough - early 1750s
Re: the details for masques and celebrations: I have to say my favourite is when Amalie gets to play the Grand Sultan while Heinrich plays the Sultan's favourite odalisque. Gender switching costumes for the win! (Meanwhile, Schmidt-Lötzen in his original introduction to Lehndorff's diaries, in the passage where he's saying he thought about censoring more to spare his readers' feelings in the interest of historical veracity and being fair to FW2, who previously was described as having had the first Prussian court where manly chastity was replaced by affairs galore and risqué entertainment, it had be pointed out that such stuff was par the course during the national hero Fritz era, too: Dear readers, if you want to know how the delicate feelings of a lady were offended at that time, check out what the Princess Amalie had to put up with when her brothers organized a fete.
...Schmidt-Lötzen, of all the things Amalie could and would complain about in her life, I really don't think these parties were included. I bet she enjoyed the drag stuff enormously, rather.
WTF! This system is terrible!
Yep, and why such a lot of Prussian nobility were constantly in debt.
Review in Spandau: you truly are the best detective. :)
BTW, it occurs to me that it could have easily been otherwise re: Fritz being in a great mood, because: 1753 is the year of Voltaire's departure. Though I dimly seem to recall that happened still in spring, April or May, so presumably Fritz had some time to cool down. Though hang on, when did the Frankfurt arrest happen, wasn't that in autumn as well? (Voltaire having spent the intermittent months at the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha's place, giving Madame Denis the time to organize her leaving France since they were supposed to meet up at Franfurt.
Re: AW readthrough - early 1750s
Yeah, that was fun.
Dear readers, if you want to know how the delicate feelings of a lady were offended at that time, check out what the Princess Amalie had to put up with when her brothers organized a fete.
Um.
...Schmidt-Lötzen, of all the things Amalie could and would complain about in her life, I really don't think these parties were included. I bet she enjoyed the drag stuff enormously, rather.
I bet! I mean, with Ziebura saying she and Ulrike romped with the boys and would rather have been boys (which is not to say they were transgender, just feeling confined by gender roles).
Yep, and why such a lot of Prussian nobility were constantly in debt.
Which would be suboptimal but still not totally crazy, if Fritz wouldn't complain when you get into debt. OMGWTF.
*mentally revising just how much scrimping Peter and Ariane must have done*
BTW, it occurs to me that it could have easily been otherwise re: Fritz being in a great mood, because: 1753 is the year of Voltaire's departure.
Omg, you're right. I was guessing Fritz's physical health might have been on an upswing in August/September, but I had forgotten about Voltaire!
Voltaire having spent the intermittent months at the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha's place
"Who, God be thanked, did not make verses," aka my favorite line from his memoirs. :P
Though hang on, when did the Frankfurt arrest happen, wasn't that in autumn as well?
Voltaire left Prussia in March, and Frankfurt was June/July. Just a few weeks before the big camp. Hmm.
I do remember Varnhagen von Ense (per Carlyle) arguing that Fritz was out of Prussia and busy with military stuff much of the time, and the orders were relayed through Fredersdorf (of whom von Ense is not a fan). Which is who I take Macaulay to be arguing against when he says it's ridiculous to claim that Fritz wasn't responsible.
Also, you know, *Voltaire* would certainly be in a bad
letter-doctoringmood right after Frankfurt, but Fritz, having gotten his book back and asserted his dominance might be in a *good* mood because of Frankfurt more than in spite of Frankfurt.But yes, it could easily have gone the other way, since Fritz does not soon forget his (boy)friends leaving him. Good catch.
Review in Spandau: you truly are the best detective. :)
:)
We know so little about Peter that I can remember most of the few details we *do* know, and I have a soft spot for him, so I'm always on the lookout for more.