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: How to choose a royal wetnurse:

[mildred_of_midgard]

Thank you! You're right: that was very interesting.

has declined to do this as not to incommodate the Queen.

I seem to remember from the opening pages of Oster that back when Fritz1 and/or Fritz2 died, there were rumors that the exuberant firing of cannons after their births was responsible for their deaths as infants.

Re: How to choose a royal wetnurse:

[selenak]

SD picking the wife of a retired French Captain (likely, though not necessarily, a Frenchwoman herself) reminded me again that French really was the primary language for these kids. (Remember, Ferdinand was Quecke - "Qu'est-ce que ce?".) Also: given just a few entries later, when Ferdinand is born, you get the story of Amalie's nurse telling her to petition FW for a job for her husband, it's clear these women, while not the peasants they tended to be in France (if her husband was a Captain, in this age and before the revolution, he was probably minor nobility), still weren't into this job not just for the prestige but because they did want the income and the connections for further employment.

Re: How to choose a royal wetnurse:

[cahn]

I had forgotten Ferdinand was Quecke! Awwww, that's just adorable.