cahn | Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 22 (or: Yuletide 2020 edition)

ETA: Whoops, I missed my cue -- this might as well be the next discussion post, I guess! :)

This is about the fic I didn't author (I have another reveals post for the fics I did author).

So my goal this Yuletide was NOT to write any historical fandom (because hard!) and just enjoy the excellent stuff that other people wrote. And... that sort of happened? I didn't end up authoring anything history-intensive? Buuuuut I ended up spending a lot more time than I did on any of my own fics working with

mildred_of_midgard on her fic, which she was worried about being able to pull off because she had had this completely insane idea to write a long casefic about Frederick the Great that every time I turned around had another twist put in :P :) She supplied me with what we called a "rough opal in matrix" bus pass casefic, and I cut away the matrix that remained and in some cases carved the opal -- that is to say, writing additional text for some of the scenes, what we liked to call "putting in feels," and in at least two cases entirely rewriting and/or restructuring the scene she'd written. She didn't always keep what I wrote (which we'd agreed upon in the beginning), but when she did (which was most of the time :) ) she then went in and rewrote/restructured what I put in to wordsmith (some of the words I gave her were really rough) and match her style, adding even more scenes -- that is, polishing it up and adding some gold and diamonds -- and voila, a beautiful pendant, I mean, story :)

I'm really proud of it and also it was really fun and also what I could handle this year, especially because mildred did all the parts I thought were hard and also wrote all the parts involving actual history or subtle AU before I was brought in so I didn't actually have to know historical stuff (though I guess I will never forget the battle of Leuthen now), and took full responsibility for how the whole thing turned out, so all I had to do was be like "Here, I'll write some rough feels for you for this scene!" The funny part was that I would often then write a paragraph justifying why I *had* to write the scene the way I did, and more likely than not mildred would be like, "yeah, I was sure you would do that, of course it should be written like that." (The most glaring example of this was where I inserted the Letter of Doom at the climax. I was worried there was some reason she didn't want it there, but she said, no, she just didn't have time to put it in herself and was just trusting me to do that :) ) She started jokingly calling me her "other self," to which I replied that it was with 1000% less angst and frustration -- as Frederick the Great's brother was his "other self" (which actually comes up in the fic) that he could trust to do all kinds of competent things, but they had a relationship that was, um, fraught? radioactive? Whereas this was just fun :)

Mildred did so much more than I did (we estimated a 90%/10% word ratio, not even counting the part where she wordsmithed a lot of my text) that I felt very uncomfortable being listed as a co-author, but hey, ~3000 words is a respectable Yuletide fic length :)

Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small (30384 words) by mildred_of_midgard
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Anna Amalie von Preußen & Wilhelmine von Preußen, Anna Amalie von Preußen & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen, Wilhelmine von Preußen & Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia
Characters: Anna Amalie von Preußen (1723-1787), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802), Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1732-1780), Wilhelmine von Hesse-Kassel (1726-1808), August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Alcmene 1 | Frederick the Great's Italian Greyhound, Voltaire (Writer), Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, Suicide, Alternate Universe - Dark, Siblings, Canon-Typical Violence, Mystery, Tide of History Challenge
Summary:

January 1758. Prince William is dead, some say of a broken heart. Frederick wants to absolve himself of blame for William's death. Henry schemes to end the Third Silesian War on his terms. Amalie and Wilhelmine team up to find out what really happened to their brother. Alcmene just wants to be told she's a good dog.

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Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Yep, as far as I know, he spent every December/January there. I suspect a lot of emotional upheaval around that time of year. It sounds like 1737/1738 went a bit better, but still very stressful for Fritz.

From:

cahn

This is why I'm so mad at the musical for what they did with Katte, because I know if they'd even met me halfway (like, even if it wasn't shippy, just a romantic friendship) I'd have fallen hard for Katte/Fritz in a way I haven't yet quite been able to do yet (the closest I've gotten is reading "Pulvis et Umbra").

...really what I ought to do is write Katte/Fritz, I suppose. It worked for Fredersdorf! :D

omg, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell fusion is spectacular, I love it :D Of course Fredersdorf is a magician! And Voltaire and Émilie :D

From:

cahn

...this... is the only version of Catt I've seen in this fandom that pleases me :P :D

It just didn't work because of leftover Fredersdorf protection spells woven around Fritz.

And this is the perfect explanation :D

From:

cahn

Ha, omg, yes, I could totally see Fritz deciding to be "nice."

Der Große König: wow and :( I can see how this could have been effective propaganda :(

From:

cahn

omg I LOVE THIS, this is AWESOME lolololol. :D Poor Marie!

From:

cahn

awwwww this is awesome :D Yay Henri! I love it all, but the hair is quite excellent :D

From:

cahn

So I missed the word "military" in the title of the book, and my takeaway from this writeup was, "Swedes, I can totally see why you declined as a superpower!! Because NO ONE COULD FIGURE OUT WHEN ANYTHING WAS!"

From:

cahn

So more background on this: the Madness ficlet was originally set in Wusterhausen (with Amalie just being fond of asking weird questions when she gets drunk), but before the big blowup fight, and I had a line in there about how it wasn't really living up to Heinrich's expectations (except for Fritz not being there, lol), and mildred asked why, since she'd assumed from that line that the ficlet took place after the fight. Hence the discussion about expectations, which I am mortally certain happened in that Wusterhausen trip, probably before the big fight too.

Anyway, when the setting of Amalie betaing Heinrich's play became a thing, I dropped the Wusterhausen setting :)

From:

cahn

This is lovely, thank you!

As mentioned, he lost his arm at age 18 (during the War of the Spanish Succession), got a prosthesis and kept rising through the ranks until he died in 1741 (of fever).

I forgot to mention it in your earlier writeup, so I will here. Wow, this guy!

I feel the feelings of filial love redouble in me when I see feelings so reasonable and so just in the author of my days.

My response was something like "...well, I guess I can see why you might be super impressed by FW ever acting reasonable." Gah, abusive families.

Your memory is dearer to me than all the treasures that could be given to me, and even if your letters were accompanied only by a sprig of straw, that very straw would please me if it came from you.

Awww, this is really sweet <3

Voltaire gossip. Someone not Fritz is writing to him and Fritz has to know everything, because reasons

Of COURSE he does :P

The letter where Camas is sick is just really sweet <3

Blessed is this M. de Camas, not so much because he represents Your Majesty but because he will see you again!

Awwww, these guys! <3

From:

cahn

lol! At first I was thinking "cool, I write drabble comments!" but then I realized that it's probably a rather bifurcated distribution :)

From:

felis

New thread for the Countess, split in three parts. There are only 28 letters at Trier - 23 written by Fritz and 5 by her (plus two little footnote excerpts from unpublished ones *sideeyes Preuss*) - but they are a truly fascinating read. They date from August 1744 to November 1765, with a big gap between 1745 and 1760.

The very first one made me scratch my head a bit:

(Potsdam) August 2nd, 1744:
Ma bonne maman,
I give you a thousand thanks for wanting to share the cares of friendship with me. I love you a thousand times more for it. You will know what happened here. I never got out of a greater mess/distress/embarassment [? - embarras]. Poor Rottembourg thought he was dying of inflammation of the kidneys; but I believe today it is out of the question. Farewell, my good maman; don't forget a friend with whom one plays stripped king [jouer au roi dépouillé]. Federic.

As you can see, some of it is unclear to me, because I'm not sure if the entire note is about Rottembourg's illness, or if that's just a "this is also happening" info and there is something else going on that I don't understand for lack of context. I initally thought it might be war-related somehow (which starts a couple days later) - not least because when I googled "jouer au roi dépouillé" I found this definition game where one undresses dress after dress the king of the game and, figuratively, a saying when several people unite to ruin another (see also: the title of this French Revolution Louis Le Dernier Caricature) - but I really don't know.

Speaking of the Second Silesian War: Early on, Schwedt cousin Wilhelm dies of an errant cannon shot at Prague and Fritz is worried how SD is going to take that, so he asks Countess Camas to consult with Podewils and to break it to her gently and without details. The two relevant letters from September 1744 were written by his secretary, but he added postscripts by hand, which basically repeat the message in a more casual and personal manner:

I tremble that one does not give my mother a report which would disturb her peace. I implore you, by all that I can conjure, to remove any sinister idea from her mind, so that I will see her again happy and in good health. My brothers, thank God, and I are doing very well, and the city will be taken in two days.

Follow-up: Ma bonne maman Camas, you are the best person in the world. I embrace you with all my heart for the care you take of my dear mother; I beg you to continue in the same way, and not to worry about the fate of an individual who has no other merit than to be entirely attached to you.

Further on, he gives short updates on war developments and deaths, and repeatedly praises her common sense, see for example this letter from July 27th, 1745:

If everyone wore [as much] common sense on their backs as you have under your hair, we wouldn't see as much madness happening in the world as we do. I know Madame de B ... too well not to do justice to her merits, blaming the lightness of her resolutions. Alas! you tell me more flattering things than I deserve. I beg you to send me all your wisdom by first mail, because I really need it in the situation in which I find myself, and perhaps it is not for me to find a fault in Madame de B... of which I can be guilty myself. [No footnote to tell me who Madame de B... is supposed to be, so I'm stumped.] We are looking at each other like fools here, and I assure you, madame, that if you saw it, you would have pity for the ridiculous figure that two great armies make vis-a-vis each other. We scrap dealers turn our eyes to Berlin, like the Jews to Holy Zion. For myself, I pleasantly flatter my imagination by letting the sweet idea of my relatives, my friends, and so many people dear to me in Berlin reign in my mind. Now is the time to make ourselves worthy of enjoying ourselves with them wholeheartedly this winter, and to give us all the peace of mind so necessary to taste pleasure.

Farewell, ma chère maman; keep us all a mother [mère] you know we adore very much, [is he talking about her, or is he talking about the fact that she's taking care of SD? I'm leaning towards the latter, because the maman vs. mère showed up in the 1744 exchange as well] and, when you tie your knots during the silence of your parrots, the quiet of the Academy, and the slumber of your dogs, give a few of your lost thoughts to your absent friends, counting me, I pray, as the first of them.

Then Keyserlingk dies in August 1745 (after Jordan did earlier during the year) and Fritz shares his grief with her and asks her to take care of Keyserlingk's young daughter Adelaide (he also switches from "maman" to "madame" as the opening address for these, and these only, no idea why - possibly dictated?):

August 30th:
The last time I wrote to you, my soul was very quiet, and I did not foresee the misfortune that was going to overwhelm me. I lost, in less than three months, my two most faithful friends, people with whom I have always lived, and whose gentle companionship, the quality of honest men, together with the true friendship that I had for them, has often helped me to overcome sorrows and to endure illnesses. You can imagine that it is difficult for a heart born sensitive like mine to stifle the deep pain that this loss causes me. On my return to Berlin, I will find myself almost a stranger in my own homeland and, so to speak, isolated in my own home. I am talking to a person who has shown remarkable strength, also losing, almost suddenly, so many people who were dear to her; but, madame, I confess that I admire your courage without being able to imitate it yet. I only put my hope in time, which overcomes everything there is in nature, and which begins by weakening the impressions in our brain, in the end destroying us ourselves.
I looked forward to my return as an object of joy; now I fear Berlin, Charlottenburg, Potsdam, in short, all the places which will bring me fatal memories of friends whom I have lost forever. Rest easy in Berlin; barring great setbacks, which it is impossible to foresee, I do not see the shadow of danger, and if fate has not resolved to destroy us, I do not see what there is to fear.

September 10th:
You know that I lost a friend whom I loved as much as myself, and whose memory I still revere. I beg you, for all the reasons I have to esteem you, to serve, with Knobelsdorff, as tutor to poor Adelaide, to take care of her health and her young age as well as of her education when the time is right. You know the grandmother, and know that she is not capable of raising a daughter. As I want this one to be worthy of her father, I ask, for the friendship you have always shown me, that you take this remnant of my dear Keyserlingk under your protection, and that, now and in a more mature age, you assist the mother with your advice and the daughter with your care. I will look at this attention as if you had it for myself, and if anything can add to the esteem I have for you, be sure that this choice which I ask of you, and the assurance that I have that you will accept it, will make me look at you with more consideration than ever. As you have almost no relatives left, I hope your good heart will not refuse my request, something that can truly relieve me in my affliction.

And that's basically it for the early period. The published correspondence resumes in 1760 - which means it skips all the catastrophes and deaths during the first half of the Seven Years War - at which point we finally get some letters from her as well.

Edited Date: 2021-01-21 10:58 am (UTC)

From:

felis

In November 1760, Fritz has porcelain to distribute, changes to report, and smaller battles to fight:

I am exact in answering you and eager to satisfy you; you will have breakfast, my good maman, with six very pretty coffee cups, well variegated, and accompanied by all the little embellishments which add to the price. A few additional pieces will be delayed in shipment for a few days; but I flatter myself that this delay will contribute to your satisfaction, by providing you with a trifle [joujou] which, by pleasing you, will make you remember your old worshiper.

It is singular how age makes itself known. For four years I have given up suppers, as incompatible with the profession I am obliged to follow; and on walking days my dinner consists of a cup of chocolate.

We ran like mad, swollen with our victory, to see if we could drive the Austrians out of Dresden; they laughed at us from the top of their mountains; I retraced my steps, like a little boy, to hide in spite in one of the most accursed villages in Saxony. Now we must drive them out of Freyberg and Chemnitz to have enough to live on and space for ourselves. It is, I swear to you, a dog's life [une chienne de vie - he uses that expression repeatedly], that, except for Don Quixote, no one has led but me. All this business, all this disorder that never ends, has aged me so much that you will hardly recognize me. On the right side of the head, my hair is all gray; my teeth are breaking and falling out; my face is wrinkled like the frills of a skirt, my back arched like a bow, and my mind sad and downcast like a monk from La Trappe. I warn you about all this, so that, in case we still see each other in the flesh, you don't find yourself too shocked by my face. Only my heart remains, it has not changed, and will preserve, as much as I breathe, the feelings of esteem and of a tender friendship for my good maman.

But lest you think coffee cups are it, she also gets snuffboxes! Her response, from Magdeburg, April 25th, 1761:

M. le Comte de Finckenstein asked me for a special audience on his arrival; he showed me the beautiful snuffbox which YM was kind enough to fill for me. Full of joy, I wanted to throw myself on it; but he took care not to let go until I had listened to his explanations on the gray colour, endless love, and on the little flowers called Forget-me-nots [since the original rhymes and has German, have that too: gris de lin, amour sans fin, et sur les petites fleurs nommées Vergissmeinnicht]. I was like crazy; I replied to all this: But this dear king, this good king who is willing to think of me! And here it is, Sire, all that my eloquence can provide to thank YM. I therefore find myself as if drowned in great pleasure; I take my chocolate with delight in my beautiful cups, and I will take good tobacco in my beautiful box. They are pleasant amusements while I'm waiting for that longed-for happiness of seeing YM face to face, devouring him with my eyes, and then closing them forever, if necessary. But this much-desired peace, where is it kept? Will we still have a summer filled with anguish? It is not of YM that I have the impertinence to ask these questions, it is of myself, and it is a little soliloquy that I make at all times, and where my answers to myself are not very satisfactory.

Next up, Fritz doesn't mince words (!) and makes plans for the reunion:

January 27th, 1762:
I am delighted, my good maman, that you have so much courage, and I strongly urge you to redouble it even more. Everything ends; so hopefully this damn war will not be the only eternal thing in this world. Since death dispatched a certain harlot from a hyperborean country [as in: Elizabeth of Russia], our situation has conveniently changed and become much more bearable than it was. It is to be hoped that some good events will still happen, which we can take advantage of to achieve a good peace.
You tell me about Berlin. I wish I knew all of you there together. But I would like, if you went, that you wouldn't be like birds perched on a branch, and that you could stay there with the proper dignity. This means that I am waiting for the moment when I will believe security established on good foundations, to write to you to return there. If all this ends well, honestly, I will bless heaven to see you again, my good maman, and to embrace and kiss you [embrasser]! Yes, I say embrace and kiss, because you no longer have another lover [amant] in the world but me, you can no longer give me jealousy, and I have the right to claim a kiss [baiser] as the price for my constancy and my attachment to you. You can prepare for it. Finette can say what she wants; she can dry up in annoyance, because since her late duke, she no longer has a [baiseur - google says "fucker", German says "Hurenbock", the two German translations at Trier say "nobody to kiss her" which seems literal and might be sanitized, but I'm not sure that there hasn't been some drift in meaning].
Farewell, my good maman. Pardon the poor things I write to you; it is that I am alone, that I sometimes forget my troubles, that I love you, and that I take advantage of the pleasure of talking to you.

Finette, by the way, is Auguste Marie Bernardine de Tettau, lady-in-waiting to EC, born 1721. Fritz apparently gave her the "Finette" nickname and in the early days - 1742 - he occasionally sent her greetings through Jordan, like so: Sent my jokes to the limping satyr [Pöllnitz], my regrets to Brandt, my compliments to Mme de Katsch, and my love to Finette. (She also visited Wilhelmine in 1747.) Telling you all this because she dies a couple of months later, and the Countess writes the following: I am convinced, Sire, that Your Majesty will have taken part in the death of Mademoiselle de Tettau, who has suffered for so long with so much strength, without the slightest change in her mind or in her mood.

(For more info, Lehndorff: [...] this girl had a very peculiar fate. She had come to court very young, at the time when the queen formed her court after the accession to the throne. Beautiful and amiable, she aroused general admiration. The king himself marked her in such a way that people thought there was more to it than mere esteem. The old Duke of Holstein was still madly in love with her before his death. This pleasant life lasted until 1747, when she suffered a neuropathy. She went to several baths but got weaker and weaker and was eventually paralyzed and wheelchair-bound for 15 years. A few years ago her only sister, General Saldern's wife, died, which depressed her completely, although she bore her suffering with the steadfastness of a hero.
For a year her ailments got worse from day to day, in June she left Magdeburg to go to the bath in Freienwalde. In the middle of her cure, she got the news of the dethroning of Emperor Peter II. and the false rumor that Russia had declared itself against us. Since the Russians were only a few miles away, she had to flee in a hurry. She arrived in Berlin seriously ill and died there in September with excruciating convulsions. The Queen and all her friends weep for her sincerely.)

In conclusion: damn it, Fritz, let's hope Finette didn't get to see the January letter before her death.

Fritz' response to the news, October 19th, 1762:
You tell me about poor Finette. Alas! my good maman, for six years I no longer pity the dead, but the living. It is a dog's life that we lead, and there is no regret in losing it. I wish you a lot of patience, my good maman, and all the prosperity that is useful in these calamitous times, especially that you keep your good humour, the greatest and the most real treasure that fortune can give us.

Back to nicer things, we are not done with porcelain gifts yet, and I'm including this one for the decoration and the response:

Meissen, November 20th, 1762:
I am sending you, my good maman, a trifle to make you remember me. You can use this snuffbox for rouge, or mouche [artificial beauty spot, I was surprised to learn those existed already], or tobacco, or sugared almonds, or pills; but, whatever use you intend it for, think at least, upon seeing this dog, this emblem of fidelity which is painted on it, that the one who sends it to you surpasses in his attachment to you the fidelity of all the dogs in the universe, and that his devotion to you has nothing in common with the fragility of the material that was used. I ordered porcelain here for everyone, for Schönhausen [euphemism for EC, which Contess Camas uses as well, see below], for my sisters-in-law; in short, I am only rich now in this fragile material. I hope that those who receive it will take it for good money, because we are beggars, my good maman; we only have honor, cloak, sword, and china.

Her response from Magdeburg:

Nothing could better delight my heart and my eyes than the gracious letter and the charming snuffbox which I have just received. YM surely does not doubt my gratitude; but will he not find me too impertinent when I dare to remember that he gave me, several years ago, a box of Spanish tobacco, and that he was kind enough to tell me that he would give me more when I needed it? I have saved it so well, taking it only in the morning when I wake up, that I still have it, but so little, so little, that I tremble to see the end of it.
Now, it will be impossible for me to put big, ugly tobacco in this pretty snuffbox. I don't use rouge or mouche, let alone pills, which only serve to quarrel with my good friend Lesser when he wants me to take them, and who told me bluntly that when one is greedy and lazy, one must take medicine. I give him a thousand reasons for doing nothing, and he leaves me laughing and shrugging his shoulders. [...]
Schönhausen is delighted and full of gratitude for the porcelain he intended for her; finally YM has the gift of making people happy. The highest price is placed on everything that comes from his hand, and if he has, as he says, only honor, cloak and sword, with a good supply of glory, only modesty kept him from adding that he will always be the greatest king in the world and the object of the admiration and envy of other rulers.

He promptly sends her the tobacco only a few days later, too.

Early in 1763, Countess Camas tells him about a lady of the court who got pregnant. He has opinions on the matter, as does she:

Fritz: [...] The affair which has just happened is quite ordinary; there is no court, no convent even where this does not happen. I am very indulgent when it comes to the weaknesses of our species, I do not stone ladies of the court who have children. They perpetuate the species, unlike these fanatical politicians who destroy it with their fatal wars. One is not always master of oneself; one takes a poor girl in a moment of tenderness, one says such pretty things to her, one makes her a child: what harm is there in that? I confess to you that I like these too tender temperaments better than the chastity dragons who tear their fellow human beings apart, or these vexatious women who are fundamentally wicked and evil. Let this child be brought up well, let the family not be prostituted, and let this poor girl get out of court without scandal, while sparing her reputation as much as possible.

Countess Camas: I suspected, Sire, that Your Majesty would make fun of me a little, but that at the same time he would have pity for this poor girl, who, however, does not think herself as unhappy as I find her. She wants to go to Stettin, to see her sister Madame de Lepel, and she is too convinced that her lover will marry her first thing after the peace. The Queen has taken care to have the child placed with a nurse through Mr. Lesser, who at the same time takes care of everything necessary for the childbirth. Everything is done quietly, no one at court talks about it; but that does not prevent that everyone whispers about it in town. Finally, despite the compassion I have for her, I must admit that we are happy to be free of her; her character is worth nothing, and her too great inclination towards love is, in my opinion, the least of her faults.

Fritz has a birthday coming up and the end of the war in his sights:

Leipzig, January 22nd, 1763:
Fifty-one, my good maman, is no trifle. It is almost the entire extent of Madame Clotho's spindle, which spins our destinies. I thank you for taking part in bringing me here. You are interested in an old friend, a servant for whom neither age nor absence ever change his feelings, and who now hopes with some sort of conviction to see you again and to embrace you, if you will allow it. Yes, my good maman, I believe that you will be in Berlin before Flora has embellished the earth with her gifts, to express myself poetically; and if I am sincerely delighted to see anyone in this capital again, it is you; but don't say anything. This is not poetic, and must be understood literally. [...]

The court finally returns to Berlin and I'm annoyed that Preuss only gives this one line of the Countess' report in a footnote:

I admit that I was delighted to be at the palace, where I arrived exasperated by all the entrances and harangues the Queen had to suffer on the way, which delayed our march at all times.

Fritz is looking forward to the reunion, but has to report another death, since Bayreuth!Friedrich just died:

So I'll see you again, my good maman, and I hope it will be towards the end of this month or the beginning of April, and I hope to find you as well as I left you. For me, you will find me aged and almost babbling, gray as my donkeys, losing a tooth every day, and half crippled by gout; but your indulgence will endure the infirmities of age, and we will speak of the old days.
Here is our good margrave of Baireuth who has just died. This causes me real pain. We are losing friends, and enemies seem to want to last forever. Ah! my good maman, how I fear Berlin and the voids I will find there! But I will think only of you, and I will delude myself on the rest. [...]

And that concludes the wartime letters.

From:

felis

Post-war, there are only three small exchanges:

First, Fritz reports on summer with the relatives (July 1764 = engagement FWII) while Countess Camas seems to have been recovering from an illness:

My good maman, your letter and your keepsake gave me real pleasure, because they are signs that your health is improving. I am assured that there is no danger, and that you will recover completely. My sister [Charlotte] will be arriving in an hour. I admit that it gives me great pleasure. We are promised the great nephew. His love is as cold as his whole person; but what do you care? Try, my good maman, to put your nose in the air. The great outdoors is the sovereign medicine; it will put balm back in your blood, and make you whole. For me, I am sincerely interested. You know my old heart, which is still the same, and which is made to love you as long as it exists.

//

I will show your letter, my good maman, to my sister, who will be charmed by what you think of her. I regret, in truth, not to enjoy your presence here; but I find that you have great reason to spare yourself, and ultimately, I could profit very little from your amiable company, for we are, like in a general diet of the Holy Roman Empire, surrounded by thirty princes and princesses; and besides, my infirmities prevent me from attending all the banquets. I am at the great feasts, and I try to get some rest in between. The old baron [Pöllnitz] is an insult to my crippled legs; he ran with Prince Frederick and overtook him. For me, who is dragging one foot, almost like a turtle, I match the speed of their run as well as a paralytic who would attend a ballet by Denis.
Good evening, my good maman; I hope to see you again when my legs come back to me, and I can climb the palace stairs that lead to your paradise.

Second, EC is seriously ill with fever (autumn 1764 or 65), Camas asks for help/Cothenius, and Fritz sends his own opinion on the matter (no medicine, lots of tea and warmth). Her response:

Your Majesty is certainly a more skilful physician than the good Lesser, although in your prescription there is not a word of Greek or Latin; but your letter caused infinite satisfaction to the Queen, in whose eyes I saw, for the first time, a little liveliness. [...] [The doctor] absolutely followed YM's ideas, gave no medicine, and made the Queen take a lot of tea, making her lie in bed in even perspiration. I asked him to put his ideas on the attached paper. I do not know the terms of the art, and I do not trust my knowledge. The worry in which I am perhaps makes me see things badly; I can only be at peace when the fever and the oppression are over.
With regard to my health, which YM is kind enough to care about, I will take the liberty of telling him that, from the waist up, things are quite well, but that my legs often have difficulty to support me. I am an old house whose foundations are crumbling. I hope, however, that, before I fall, I will still have the good fortune to sometimes do a nice curtsy for YM, and to assure him of all the respect and attachment imaginable. YM will allow me, I hope, to give him news of the Queen until her recovery. S.-C. de Camas.

The final letter is a sad one, Fritz' response to a condolence letter from Countess Camas (not included, only referenced in a footnote once again) in the wake of Sophie's death, November 1765, which causes him to ruminate on all the losses in the family:

I am very much obliged to you, my good maman, for taking part in the loss we have just suffered. It is a loss for all honest people, for my sister was a truly virtuous person. I knew long ago that men are mortal; I witnessed that her health was threatening ruin: but that did not prevent me, my good maman, from feeling keenly the privation of a sister whom death tore from me like a limb. Nature, a tender friendship, a true esteem, all these feelings claim their rights, and I feel, my good maman, that I am more sensitive than reasonable. My tears, my regrets are unnecessary; however, I cannot erase them. Our family seems to me a forest in which a hurricane has knocked down the most beautiful trees, and where from distance to distance you can see some thinned out fir tree hanging on by its roots, only to contemplate the fall of his companions, and the damage and devastation the storm has wrought. I hope, my good maman, that this breath of death will turn away from you, that we will keep you for a long time, and that I can often reiterate to you the assurances of my old and faithful friendship. Federic.

From:

selenak

Thank you so so much! I continue to have a very crowded week, so will have to be brief, but can't resist commenting.

Madame de B... - too early for Bentinck, I suppose? If Lehndorff's diaries are anything to go by, she doesn't become a regular in Berlin until 1751/1752 or thereabouts, I think.

Early on, Schwedt cousin Wilhelm dies of an errant cannon shot at Prague and Fritz is worried how SD is going to take that

Intriguing, as I hadn't thought SD cared one way or the other about the Schwedt cousins. Otoh reading further, it occurs to me he was afraid SD might hear a royal prince had died, and wrongly assume it was one of her sons?

Adelaide: given she features also in the Fritz/Fredersdorf letters of the same era (i.e. Fritz wanting to make sure she's taken care of), and given that Lehndorff later frequently grumbles she's getting away with everything, a case can be made being a child of Keyserlingk was a way better thing to be than being a Hohenzollern in terms of how Fritz will treat you....

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Busy this week like Selena, but:

As you can see, some of it is unclear to me, because I'm not sure if the entire note is about Rottembourg's illness, or if that's just a "this is also happening" info and there is something else going on that I don't understand for lack of context. I initally thought it might be war-related somehow (which starts a couple days later) - not least because when I googled "jouer au roi dépouillé" I found this definition game where one undresses dress after dress the king of the game and, figuratively, a saying when several people unite to ruin another (see also: the title of this French Revolution Louis Le Dernier Caricature) - but I really don't know.

When I saw the date, I immediately assumed war-related, because Fritz is fond of writing "You already know what's going on here" to his correspondents in relation to the war. And if that's a game that means "a saying when several people unite to ruin another," that's additional evidence, because any time Fritz goes to war after the first time, it's all about how everyone is ganging up on him (see also the Maenads of the Seven Years' War, ripping poor Orpheus apart).

Fritz continues not to slut-shame women! He's oddly good about that, considering the ways in which he's awful about women.

They perpetuate the species, unlike these fanatical politicians who destroy it with their fatal wars.

Also, I'm torn on how much self-criticism is in that line. I would assume the context is self-pitying and it's aimed at Kaunitz et al., if not for the one line in Catt's diary (pretty sure it's the diary) in which he says, "The Queen of Hungary and I cause a lot of misery with our stubbornness."

Okay, meeting starting! Bye!

Edited Date: 2021-01-21 08:01 pm (UTC)

From:

felis

My genuine pleasure! :)

re: SD - I think it was mostly the manner of his death, that it was an accidental cannonshot, which Fritz thought might disturb her. Possibly also because she'd worry more about the rest of them if she knew? The secretary-written part of the letter goes into a bit more detail: it is extremely important that HM the Queen Dowager is informed of this accident only in the least striking manner possible, and that she does not know other circumstances of the death of this poor prince except that he was in command when the trenches in front of the town were opened.
ETA: I just remembered that allegedly, Fritz was very close by and witnessed the death. Not sure if this is a confirmed fact or not - it isn't mentioned in these letters - but if there were rumours about that at the time, it would probably be a detail he wouldn't want his mother to know.

Ha, I saw a Keyserlingk mention from Lehndorff in passing and briefly wondered if that was her! And while Fritz also had his favourite Hohenzollern nieces and nephews, I think he might have been quite sentimental about Keyserlingk in particular, whose death was very unexpected and painful for him, so it makes sense that would extent to his daughter.

Edited Date: 2021-01-21 07:47 pm (UTC)

From:

cahn

Awwww, the porcelain and the snuffbox exchanges are rather cute! (well, I guess if one doesn't think too hard about where the porcelain came from) Especially how she asks him for more tobacco later on :)

Heh, it was

selenak who informed me that "baiser," which I learned in my proper schoolgirl (and apparently old-fashioned) French as meaning "to kiss," is a way of colloquially saying "to fuck." (Hmm, poking around on google gives a couple of links that says that this meaning started in ~16-17th C (so definitely would have had that connotation by this time), and that in current French the verb form basically almost solely means "to fuck," (embrasser being used as "to kiss") although this wasn't always true. But it seems much harder to get the history of "baiseur" in particular.) So yeah, I think a "baiseur" literally might mean "someone to kiss," buuuuut it probably meant "someone to fuck." (But, confusingly, as far as I can tell, "un baiser" really does mean a kiss, and not a fuck.)

Let this child be brought up well, let the family not be prostituted, and let this poor girl get out of court without scandal, while sparing her reputation as much as possible.

Awwww! Fritz, you're actually being nice and enlightened here! (Not as sure about Countess Camas right here, honestly, although I guess it's true that she knew her and Fritz didn't...)

From:

cahn

but your letter caused infinite satisfaction to the Queen, in whose eyes I saw, for the first time, a little liveliness.

Aw.
EC: See! He does care about me!
Me: Oh EC.

Our family seems to me a forest in which a hurricane has knocked down the most beautiful trees, and where from distance to distance you can see some thinned out fir tree hanging on by its roots, only to contemplate the fall of his companions, and the damage and devastation the storm has wrought.

Yeah, this is a sad one :( And Countess Camas herself died not too long after, right?

From:

selenak

I see

cahn has already covered the double meaning of "baiser". (Fritz definitely uses it in the second sense elsewhere, as when he's gossipping with the Marquis D'Argens about Émilie's sex life years after her death and says "she only let herself be fucked by poets and geometers". And I think he also uses it at least ambigously when asking Henri de Catt if he's already, well, either kissed or fucked the local girl Catt was after and offers to write love poetry for him. (This is in the diary, not in the memoirs.) So... poor Finette, yes, I hope she didn't see the letter.

This relationship with the Countess really comes across as one of the most positive relationships Fritz had in these quotes! I'm also intrigued that he's sorry to see BayreuthFriedrich go, seeing as he started out listing him as least fave brother-in-law towards Mantteuffel in the 30s and wrote to Heinrich when sending him to represent the family at Wilhelmine's daughter's wedding that the guy was a lightweight joke or something like that. Though of course that was when Wilhelmine herself was alive and well, and after her death Fritz sees him in a way as her legacy?

From:

selenak

We are promised the great nephew. His love is as cold as his whole person; but what do you care?

Does he mean Charlotte's son? Because the phrasing is ambiguous, and I wonder about "great nephew" - could the translation also be "tall nephew"? Because future FW2 was taller than most in the rather small and medium sized family, and Fritz frequently remarks on how he's grown in his letters to other people in the 7 Years War years. It would make sense if he was summoned on the occasion of Charlotte's visit, though conversely it would also make sense if she brought her son along. "Prince Friedrich" is definitely future FW2 - Lehndorff refers to him by that name through the war and only settles on "Prince of Prussia" in the post war years, avoiding the first names thereafter.

Our family seems to me a forest in which a hurricane has knocked down the most beautiful trees, and where from distance to distance you can see some thinned out fir tree hanging on by its roots, only to contemplate the fall of his companions, and the damage and devastation the storm has wrought.

I recognize that image! He also uses it when writing to Heinrich about the death of sister Friedrike (the Ansbach sister) later. Incidentally, that Fritz is affected by the deaths of Sophie and Friederike, the two Cinderella sisters, in a way, among the siblings (as in, the two with the worst husbands and the two who didn't share their siblings fondness for music and books), speaks well of him.

From:

felis

And Countess Camas herself died not too long after, right?

She did, about seven months later, July 1766, at the age of 80.

From:

felis

Especially how she asks him for more tobacco later on :)

Right? Her writing style is entertaining in general, and this is certainly one example.

this meaning started in ~16-17th C (so definitely would have had that connotation by this time)

Okay, that's a useful thing to know.

So yeah, I think a "baiseur" literally might mean "someone to kiss," buuuuut it probably meant "someone to fuck." (But, confusingly, as far as I can tell, "un baiser" really does mean a kiss, and not a fuck.)

Yeah, and while he uses both nouns here, he doesn't use the verb, so ... ambiguity it is I guess.

(Not as sure about Countess Camas right here, honestly, although I guess it's true that she knew her and Fritz didn't...)

That, and she did write to enlist Fritz' compassion/help in the first place, despite not having a good opinion of her. Plus, as a woman at court herself, she might have a more direct grasp of the social and societal realities here, whereas Fritz, male and king, might have the luxury of being a bit more blasé about it?

ETA: I was just looking through Lehndorff for a different anecdote and he actually talks about a scandal concerning a pregnancy in early 1763 as well! If that's the same one, which would make sense, the scandal horse has definitely left the barn. He is even less complimentary about the person in question, calling her unworthy and detestable, a liar and a gossip, and someone who managed to deceive the Queen and even Countess Camas for a while. He also says the father is an Austrian officer. Huh.

Edited Date: 2021-01-22 12:27 pm (UTC)

From:

felis

Wait, Bayreuth!Friedrich as least favourite? I know he put him beneath the Brunswick one, but I didn't think it was least favourite. I mean, he had way worse candidates for that.

This relationship with the Countess really comes across as one of the most positive relationships Fritz had in these quotes!

I really like that at least some of her personality comes through in the letters we were given, and it seems like they definitely shared a sense of wit/humour, some playfulness in expressing themselves, and an attitude towards doctors. :D
Plus, I think he really valued her common sense [sorry, Valori, that's the word he uses] and her steadfastness under pressure. Which reminds me, checking Lehndorff for mentions, I came across this anecdote from when they had to flee Berlin helter-skelter for the first time in 1757 and spend some time in Spandau under dire conditions:

But the most touching thing is to see good old Countess Camas. She hasn't closed an eye during the night, but her humour keeps her going and she knows how to see the bright side in everything. And there's indeed nothing more amusing than to see her sitting in her holey chair [the only one available] while the queen and the whole royal court confer with the ministers in front of her. A couple of times she says to us: "Children, speak louder, I would like to free myself from a wind that is incommodating me!"

It seems to me like Fritz would really appreciate someone with an attitude like that, while the same attitude would also make it easy for her to deal with him.

From:

felis

Ah, damn, didn't catch that google double translation error, it has to be "we will promise the tall nephew". (French: Nous allons promettre le grand neveu.) So, yes, definitely talking about FWII here, as everybody's coming to visit for his engagement ceremony. And of course he isn't in love with the bride, but it's kind of telling that "cold" is really not how you'd describe his love life otherwise, but certainly Fritz' relationship with him.

From:

selenak

Austrian father: not that unusual, if you consider that the captured enemy officers socialized a lot with the Prussian court ladies, were drafted as dancers and what not. (Unless Fritz especially gave order for the officers in question not to.) But it explains why she'd think he'd marry her after the war (according to Countess Camas), not during. Having just found the relevant entry in Lehndorff when you pointed it out, I guess this Countess H. is probably the same person. In terms of Lehndorff's negative characterisation, on the one hand, he does have a double standard and is prone to cry out "MESSALINA!" intermittently at young women behaving the same way noble young men do, otoh, he doesn't do this all the time (see the very positive entry about the Austrian Ambassador's mistress in 1756, for example, and with Countess Bentinck, he goes from bristling at her from liking her. So IDK how reliable his judgment is here. Otoh, what he's most angry about is that she's been lying to both the Queen and Countess Camas when they had promised to help her and handle everything discreetly, i.e. the unnecessary lie more than the sex, and it would make sense that this is what makes Camas herself annoyed with the woman, too.