I bet it was, and do instinctively suspect 19th century Hohenzollern censorship.
Yeah, my first thought, too. :( It's quite the blank space, because he was obviously very important in Fritz' life, and yet, I only have a very vague idea of him - basically just the couple of times he shows up in passing in the Voltaire correspondence, his eulogy by Maupertuis (mostly for some actual facts about his life), some vaguely reliable Bielfeld (I think?) anecdotes, and the letters Fritz wrote after his death which I've been collecting...
....I think Gröben is back as a suspect for spreading STD and getting into gambling debts as well, is what I think. (Not least because this reminds me a bit of the whole Reisewitz matter
Huh. Interesting, and not something I'd have thought of. Might not necessarily be Gröben, given that there were quite a few people in Fritz early Ruppin/Rheinsberg circle, but the general idea seems to make sense! I was kind of stuck on how much weight to place on the "friend" line vs. something that's more directly relevant to Fritz, but this would work.
Idle speculation of course, but apart from the possible money/gambling thing, if somebody he did have sex with came down with an STD, it would make sense that he'd be worried both for them and that he might have gotten it himself. Which of course would be the perfect time for an extended stay in Berlin, during which FW starts pressuring him about an heir, gifting him a special marital bed and all. :P
if FW pushing him to produce an heir was the key cause of his January 1736 misery, I think he'd have been more explicit about it in his letters to Camas at least
Okay, point. Especially since he openly mentions it to Manteuffel, too.
Re: Fritz Mystery Affliction January 1736
Yeah, my first thought, too. :( It's quite the blank space, because he was obviously very important in Fritz' life, and yet, I only have a very vague idea of him - basically just the couple of times he shows up in passing in the Voltaire correspondence, his eulogy by Maupertuis (mostly for some actual facts about his life), some vaguely reliable Bielfeld (I think?) anecdotes, and the letters Fritz wrote after his death which I've been collecting...
....I think Gröben is back as a suspect for spreading STD and getting into gambling debts as well, is what I think. (Not least because this reminds me a bit of the whole Reisewitz matter
Huh. Interesting, and not something I'd have thought of. Might not necessarily be Gröben, given that there were quite a few people in Fritz early Ruppin/Rheinsberg circle, but the general idea seems to make sense! I was kind of stuck on how much weight to place on the "friend" line vs. something that's more directly relevant to Fritz, but this would work.
Idle speculation of course, but apart from the possible money/gambling thing, if somebody he did have sex with came down with an STD, it would make sense that he'd be worried both for them and that he might have gotten it himself. Which of course would be the perfect time for an extended stay in Berlin, during which FW starts pressuring him about an heir, gifting him a special marital bed and all. :P
if FW pushing him to produce an heir was the key cause of his January 1736 misery, I think he'd have been more explicit about it in his letters to Camas at least
Okay, point. Especially since he openly mentions it to Manteuffel, too.