Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: Early Fritz letter to Voltaire / Random Thoughts

[felis]

Oh, wow, that's something indeed. Thank you so much! I continue to be occasionally surprised by how visceral/explicit the primary sources are, especially in contrast to all the hiding and dissembling that's also happening.

Re: Early Fritz letter to Voltaire / Random Thoughts

[selenak]

Quite. I was thrilled when I found this one; Henckel delivers on other occasions as well, such as during Fritz' early outbursts against AW followed by the officers starting to mutter he's scapegoating as soon as his back is turned. Come the 19th century, these kind of scenes were ignored because they did not it with the whole national hero image, until Koser (who unearthed a great number of sources) brought them back - he uses Henckel's diary as a source, - though not without chiding him as biased against Fritz due to being Heinrich's AD in the early part of the war and a friend of his in general. It's telling that when Koser describes the same scene (Fritz returning from Kolin) in his Frederick-the-Great biography, he actually uses Henckel's descripton almost verbatim at first, though, just slightly paraphrased, only adding a bit in late 19th century pseudo Wagnerian style - "sein helles Auge, das sonst jedem erstrahlte, nun war es umwölkt" - and censoring the kiss. (Oh, and Henckel's sharp "der sich noch vor wenigen Tagen für den Eroberer der Welt gehalten hatte".)

Henri de Catt hears about the same event from Henckel a few years later, and it shows up in his diary partly in Latin, though not, I think, in his memoirs. BTW, the reason why Heinrich had a retreat plan ready to be okay'd was that as soon as he'd heard what had happened from the messenger Fritz had sent ahead, he figured they'd need one and worked one out. This is the kind of thing that makes an alter ego.