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: Random things

[mildred_of_midgard]

Voltaire’s instinct to bow and scrape to despots, even allegedly enlightened despots, remained with him for ever. Just as he did not want to tell ‘odious truths’ about Peter

Given his 1730s letters to Fritz and his evolving awareness of just how bad Peter's bad side was, this strikes me as having less to do with awe of despots and more to do with not wanting to confront the fact that his problematic fave is problematic. Possibly not wanting to glorify that kind of behavior, but also just super uncomfortable with admiring the guy. Think of all the Fritz depictions that stop with 1730. ;)

More fun from today's Davidson reading:

* Voltaire gets accused of selling illegal books. He writes a letter:

"Who, me?? I would never do such a thing! I am a poor, innocent, harmless old man. I deserve your pity!"

Davidson, pulling no punches: It is a pitiful, wretched letter, full of lies and half-truths, pathetic denials and abject snivelling; it is very Voltaire. For if Voltaire was spiritually bold, he was not personally brave at all.

* Voltaire in 1766, in trouble with the law (see above), wants to start up a colony of exiled philosophes in...Cleves. Fritzian territory, in other words. He went as far as trying to get other philosophes involved, telling them how great living in Fritz territory was and how supportive of this project Fritz would be and how much they could accomplish in a place with a free press, instead of groveling before the censors in Paris.

Diderot was the first to say, "I'll take my chances with the censors, thanks." prompting an indignant response from Voltaire.

...Looks like Fritz wasn't the only one with delusions of utterly bother-free visits from his ex?

Re: Random things

[selenak]

Given his 1730s letters to Fritz and his evolving awareness of just how bad Peter's bad side was, this strikes me as having less to do with awe of despots and more to do with not wanting to confront the fact that his problematic fave is problematic.

This. Also, he had already written a biography of Peter's enemy, Charles of Sweden, and the same Fritz who in his Voltaire correspondance of the 1730s is very Peter critical complains to Henri de Catt in the 1760s that Voltaire has been really unfair to Peter in the Charles biography. (Haven't looked it up again, but I think it's in the same passage where he complains about Voltaire not valueing the art of war.


...Looks like Fritz wasn't the only one with delusions of utterly bother-free visits from his ex?

Look, Kleves holds sentimental memories! It's where they first met! :)

More seriously, it's also far, far away from Berlin and Potsdam, and Fritz wasn't likely to show up there more than once a year at most, if at all. But yes, it's still Voltaire being delusional. (Orieux agrees.) Considering he had told all of Europe his version of how things went down at Frankfurt (as opposed to Kleve, not Prussian territory at all but a free HRE city), no wonder Diderot was all "thank but no thanks".

Re: Random things

[mildred_of_midgard]

Look, Kleves holds sentimental memories! It's where they first met! :)

The hand-kissing! The pulse-taking! :D

More seriously, it's also far, far away from Berlin and Potsdam

And close to the Netherlands, Peter Keith would like to point out. (Wesel being in Cleves/Kleve, for our American friends.)