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: Advancing the Cause of Seckendorff

[cahn]

reason this is so striking is that the Alte Dessauer gets mentioned with total respect in most of the sources

ahahaha, thank you for this!

The take on this I've always seen is that Seckendorff, who knew that Grumbkow was vulnerable to influence when drunk, used to encourage Grumbkow to drink in order to take advantage of him, and had to drink more than he wanted to in order to keep up. Which is not exactly different from what this author is saying, but with a slightly different slant.

*nods*

He was sordidly scheming; his manners were crude and rustic; lying had become so much second nature to him that he had lost the use of the truth. He was a usurer who sometimes appeared in the guise of a soldier, and sometimes in that of a diplomat.

Ah! Excellent, thank you! (I still haven't put in the fistulas -- I have been busy lately :P One of these days I promise I'll go back and edit these.)