Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 21

[cahn]

Much slower because of world-events/Life-in-general/Yuletide/holidays, but still going!

End of Yuletide signups:
4 requests for Frederician RPF :D :D 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 2 offers (I hope we did not scare you off, third offer!)

Comments

Re: Versailles

[mildred_of_midgard]

But given Herrenchiemsee is build on an island in the middle of the largest Bavarian lake - large as in nearly as large as American lakes - , the water supply was no problem!

Indeed! Also, Ludwig lived in the second half of the 19th century, which is when engineers finally developed the technology to get the fountain at Sanssouci working. So he had a number of advantages over Louis and Fritz. I also wonder about the elevation of his gardens relative to his abundant water supply--that was a problem both at Versailles and Sanssouci.

Louis: But Louis the chill of those anecdotes was Louis XV. The author goes on to give illustrations of Louis XIV reprimanding his courtiers for lack of etiquette, including one guy (a prince de Turenne, evidently this one, not the famous one) being banished after a series of repeat offenses culminated in him accidentally hitting Louis in the face with the fringe of his glove, because he hadn't removed his gloves before handing the King his shirt. No citation given, though, unlike the Louis XV anecdotes. The author also doesn't say whether these two sets of anecdotes were representative of how the respective monarchs handled etiquette violations.