* Okay, now SD is trying to make the marriage happen by going through her father G1's mistress the Duchess of Kendal, whom I recognize as Katte's "aunt" Melusine. I'm so glad I waited a year to reread these memoirs so I could pick up on a bunch of minor characters.
* Wilhelmine agrees about Anglo-centrism: she gets introduced to G1's retinue, they all say she looks English and speaks English like a native and is clearly destined to be their queen someday, and she writes: "This means something, since the English think of themselves as the best, and if they say someone could pass for an English(wo)man, they think this is the highest praise they can give."
You're not wrong, Wilhelmine!
* On Cardinal Richlieu: Did too much evil to be praised, too much good to be spoken evil of.
* Lol at SD trying to distract FW by claiming Wilhelmine says her dog is better than SD's dog, and Wilhelmine, playing along, is like, "But of course! My dog is so sweet and smart! <3 <3 <3"
Also, good to know she has her own dog already. I know one of the famous paintings of Fritz and Wilhelmine as small children has a dog in it, but I've always been curious at what age they got to have their very own dogs. I mean, since staff was going to take care of it anyway, maybe from the beginning?
Did Fritz have a dog that missed him while he was in Küstrin? Did he get it back at Ruppin? Did he have to get a new dog? Did he not get to have a dog until Rheinsberg? I need to know these things!
I'm assuming Fritz got to have a dog as a boy but possibly no longer once he was a teenager, since as opposed to Wilhelmine he's now part of the army and gets run ragged by Dad? But that's just guessing. Now that I think of it, Biche is always described as the first Italian Greyhound, not the first dog Fritz ever had...
Sudden thought: dogs are used for hunting. Maybe when FW was trying to make Fritz the hunter happen, he got a hunting dog as bribery?
Or maybe FW thought dogs were for girls and women, full stop, but I doubt it, since the picture of him as a kid is showing him with a dog as well, and he's stroking its head.
I'm assuming Fritz got to have a dog as a boy but possibly no longer once he was a teenager, since as opposed to Wilhelmine he's now part of the army and gets run ragged by Dad? But that's just guessing.
That's always been my guess too! But yes, it's just a guess.
Sudden thought: dogs are used for hunting. Maybe when FW was trying to make Fritz the hunter happen, he got a hunting dog as bribery?
Maybe! I know that when FW was dying, he's supposed to have let the Old Dessauer take his pick of the royal hunting dogs, since he knew Fritz wasn't interested.
Or maybe FW thought dogs were for girls and women, full stop, but I doubt it, since the picture of him as a kid is showing him with a dog as well, and he's stroking its head.
Am I recalling correctly that that was a hunting dog, though? I've always seen Fritz described as unusual not in that he loved his dogs, but that he was a male monarch who loved lap dogs with no purpose other than keeping him company.
Also, one thing that always struck me as weird was that Fritz said when he was being forced to hunt as a teenager, he used to stop the dogs, but "I had to be careful: if I'd stepped on one (si j'avais marché sur un), the King would have screamed." Source: Catt's diary.
Maybe I'm just not clear on the logistics of the hunt here, or maybe "marché" is something other than "stepped on" (I know it's "walk" most often). But Fritz is having to be careful not to step on dogs, not because he doesn't want to hurt the dog, but because FW would be upset at Fritz sneaking his way out of the hunt? Otherwise, he would totally step on the dog? I mean, I can see FW's hunting dogs being a form of torture rather than a creature he feels empathy for, but I feel like I'm missing something here.
The complete passage, which is very telegraphic:
Il voulut que je fusse chasseur. On me donna toute l'éducation convenable. Il fallait courir: j'arrêtais les chiens; et il fallait bien prendre garde. Si j'avais marché sur un, le Roi aurait crié. Le piqueur était bien aise que j'arrêtais.
Translation, at a guess:
He wanted me to be a hunter. I was given the appropriate training. It was necessary to run: I used to stop the dogs, and I had to be on my guard. If I had walked/stepped on one, the King would have yelled. The master of hounds was glad that I would stop.
My best guess: "I used to slow the dogs down", not "stop the dogs".
Ooh, that makes sense! I was thinking of Fritz's claims that he used to read during the hunt, but of course, if everyone is still moving, just more slowly, then he might very well accidentally step on a dog's foot and have to watch out.
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Re: Wilhelmine's Memoirs
* Wilhelmine agrees about Anglo-centrism: she gets introduced to G1's retinue, they all say she looks English and speaks English like a native and is clearly destined to be their queen someday, and she writes: "This means something, since the English think of themselves as the best, and if they say someone could pass for an English(wo)man, they think this is the highest praise they can give."
You're not wrong, Wilhelmine!
* On Cardinal Richlieu: Did too much evil to be praised, too much good to be spoken evil of.
* Lol at SD trying to distract FW by claiming Wilhelmine says her dog is better than SD's dog, and Wilhelmine, playing along, is like, "But of course! My dog is so sweet and smart! <3 <3 <3"
Also, good to know she has her own dog already. I know one of the famous paintings of Fritz and Wilhelmine as small children has a dog in it, but I've always been curious at what age they got to have their very own dogs. I mean, since staff was going to take care of it anyway, maybe from the beginning?
Did Fritz have a dog that missed him while he was in Küstrin? Did he get it back at Ruppin? Did he have to get a new dog? Did he not get to have a dog until Rheinsberg? I need to know these things!
Re: Wilhelmine's Memoirs
Sudden thought: dogs are used for hunting. Maybe when FW was trying to make Fritz the hunter happen, he got a hunting dog as bribery?
Or maybe FW thought dogs were for girls and women, full stop, but I doubt it, since the picture of him as a kid is showing him with a dog as well, and he's stroking its head.
Re: Wilhelmine's Memoirs
That's always been my guess too! But yes, it's just a guess.
Sudden thought: dogs are used for hunting. Maybe when FW was trying to make Fritz the hunter happen, he got a hunting dog as bribery?
Maybe! I know that when FW was dying, he's supposed to have let the Old Dessauer take his pick of the royal hunting dogs, since he knew Fritz wasn't interested.
Or maybe FW thought dogs were for girls and women, full stop, but I doubt it, since the picture of him as a kid is showing him with a dog as well, and he's stroking its head.
Am I recalling correctly that that was a hunting dog, though? I've always seen Fritz described as unusual not in that he loved his dogs, but that he was a male monarch who loved lap dogs with no purpose other than keeping him company.
Also, one thing that always struck me as weird was that Fritz said when he was being forced to hunt as a teenager, he used to stop the dogs, but "I had to be careful: if I'd stepped on one (si j'avais marché sur un), the King would have screamed." Source: Catt's diary.
Maybe I'm just not clear on the logistics of the hunt here, or maybe "marché" is something other than "stepped on" (I know it's "walk" most often). But Fritz is having to be careful not to step on dogs, not because he doesn't want to hurt the dog, but because FW would be upset at Fritz sneaking his way out of the hunt? Otherwise, he would totally step on the dog? I mean, I can see FW's hunting dogs being a form of torture rather than a creature he feels empathy for, but I feel like I'm missing something here.
The complete passage, which is very telegraphic:
Il voulut que je fusse chasseur. On me donna toute l'éducation convenable. Il fallait courir: j'arrêtais les chiens; et il fallait bien prendre garde. Si j'avais marché sur un, le Roi aurait crié. Le piqueur était bien aise que j'arrêtais.
Translation, at a guess:
He wanted me to be a hunter. I was given the appropriate training. It was necessary to run: I used to stop the dogs, and I had to be on my guard. If I had walked/stepped on one, the King would have yelled. The master of hounds was glad that I would stop.
?
Re: Wilhelmine's Memoirs
he was a male monarch who loved lap dogs with no purpose other than keeping him company.
King Charles II.: I would like to point out I got there first. Spaniels I adored/named after me, too/Like me, they were fun/with a natty hairdo.
Re: Wilhelmine's Memoirs
Ooh, that makes sense! I was thinking of Fritz's claims that he used to read during the hunt, but of course, if everyone is still moving, just more slowly, then he might very well accidentally step on a dog's foot and have to watch out.