re: Seckendorff, I had completely forgot, you're right, and it makes geographic sense - his estate is in the area! (Same estate Fritz will later kidnap him from.)
How Wilhelmine might have known: if she knew already in 1739, it can't have been from Pöllnitz, since he won't show up at her court until the 1740s. Otoh her husband, lest we forgot, is in charge of a Prussian regiment which means he spends quite a lot of the early 1730s in Brandenburg, and he might have picked up some gossip, though I doubt any Wesel military would have risked telling the King's son-in-law. (Unless they witnessed FW doing that drink enforcing, verbal abusing thing to him and thus knew BayreuthFriedrich wasn't a fan, maybe?) Also, both Sonsine and her nieces the Marwitz girls had as we know relations in the service.
erhaps with Algarotti ending up neglected and frustrated too, shortly thereafter--not as schadenfreude but as proof that it's not Peter, it's Fritz.
Oh, it would only be human if Peter felt that way. And maybe he and Algarotti formed a "We left London for this?" club. A bit more seriously, I could see Peter, with his intellectual interests, using the opportunity to talk to world famous celebrity Algarotti, and if they share common ground by knowing England, it's something of a conversation opener.
but I've also always felt that maybe he got married at a time when he needed something that didn't hurt
That makes sense. And someone for whom he comes first. Mind you, re: Peter being judged - at this point, he may have been, but if Lehndorff is anything to go by, before the decade is over he's got friends and at least one admirer, and at least a part of the public sympathizes with him. He also must have left good impressions in Britain if the Brits suggested him as envoy. (I'm still not over the fact that Fritz prefered the last envoy's Swiss secretary who hadn't even sworn loyalty to Prussia.)
And maybe he and Algarotti formed a "We left London for this?" club.
Lol, well, they might well have bonded over this! I'm trying to remember the chronology...Algarotti got sent to Turin pretty soon after the war started (January?), and then shortly after he returned, Fritz summoned him to Silesia (and left him waiting there), and then I think Algarotti went either straight to Dresden or maybe passed through Berlin on his way to Dresden. So either after the return from Turin or after the return from Silesia when A's quitting his job is when mutual frustrations with Fritz will be highest.
And someone for whom he comes first.
Exactly. <3 </3
if they share common ground by knowing England, it's something of a conversation opener.
Exactly. I figure this is how he and Hanway got to know each other in Lisbon. Hanway being an Englishman apprenticed to a merchant there, and Peter having spent the last couple (? few?) years in England, and Ireland before that.
before the decade is over he's got friends and at least one admirer, and at least a part of the public sympathizes with him.
Oh, yeah, definitely. Hanway says the same, iirc. But I wonder how much of that was helped along by Peter proving his willingness to go off to war (whether or not he ever made it to the front). Not Lehndorff, maybe, but the general public.
He also must have left good impressions in Britain if the Brits suggested him as envoy.
Yeah, one of the things I called attention to in my fic is that in 1741-1742, he hasn't been in Berlin since 1729, so people don't know him any more (either because they never met him or because so much time has passed). I think at that point, his emotional support circle in his immediate vicinity was at its lowest.
I'm still not over the fact that Fritz prefered the last envoy's Swiss secretary who hadn't even sworn loyalty to Prussia.
Haha, well, was the guy empowered to negotiate or just a point of contact? Because it may be apples and oranges to compare "make Peter official envoy" to "Eh, who needs envoys?"
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Keith(s)
Date: 2021-02-03 04:16 pm (UTC)How Wilhelmine might have known: if she knew already in 1739, it can't have been from Pöllnitz, since he won't show up at her court until the 1740s. Otoh her husband, lest we forgot, is in charge of a Prussian regiment which means he spends quite a lot of the early 1730s in Brandenburg, and he might have picked up some gossip, though I doubt any Wesel military would have risked telling the King's son-in-law. (Unless they witnessed FW doing that drink enforcing, verbal abusing thing to him and thus knew BayreuthFriedrich wasn't a fan, maybe?) Also, both Sonsine and her nieces the Marwitz girls had as we know relations in the service.
erhaps with Algarotti ending up neglected and frustrated too, shortly thereafter--not as schadenfreude but as proof that it's not Peter, it's Fritz.
Oh, it would only be human if Peter felt that way. And maybe he and Algarotti formed a "We left London for this?" club. A bit more seriously, I could see Peter, with his intellectual interests, using the opportunity to talk to world famous celebrity Algarotti, and if they share common ground by knowing England, it's something of a conversation opener.
but I've also always felt that maybe he got married at a time when he needed something that didn't hurt
That makes sense. And someone for whom he comes first. Mind you, re: Peter being judged - at this point, he may have been, but if Lehndorff is anything to go by, before the decade is over he's got friends
and at least one admirer, and at least a part of the public sympathizes with him. He also must have left good impressions in Britain if the Brits suggested him as envoy. (I'm still not over the fact that Fritz prefered the last envoy's Swiss secretary who hadn't even sworn loyalty to Prussia.)Re: Keith(s)
Date: 2021-02-03 08:54 pm (UTC)Lol, well, they might well have bonded over this! I'm trying to remember the chronology...Algarotti got sent to Turin pretty soon after the war started (January?), and then shortly after he returned, Fritz summoned him to Silesia (and left him waiting there), and then I think Algarotti went either straight to Dresden or maybe passed through Berlin on his way to Dresden. So either after the return from Turin or after the return from Silesia when A's quitting his job is when mutual frustrations with Fritz will be highest.
And someone for whom he comes first.
Exactly. <3 </3
if they share common ground by knowing England, it's something of a conversation opener.
Exactly. I figure this is how he and Hanway got to know each other in Lisbon. Hanway being an Englishman apprenticed to a merchant there, and Peter having spent the last couple (? few?) years in England, and Ireland before that.
before the decade is over he's got friends and at least one admirer, and at least a part of the public sympathizes with him.
Oh, yeah, definitely. Hanway says the same, iirc. But I wonder how much of that was helped along by Peter proving his willingness to go off to war (whether or not he ever made it to the front). Not Lehndorff, maybe, but the general public.
He also must have left good impressions in Britain if the Brits suggested him as envoy.
Yeah, one of the things I called attention to in my fic is that in 1741-1742, he hasn't been in Berlin since 1729, so people don't know him any more (either because they never met him or because so much time has passed). I think at that point, his emotional support circle in his immediate vicinity was at its lowest.
I'm still not over the fact that Fritz prefered the last envoy's Swiss secretary who hadn't even sworn loyalty to Prussia.
Haha, well, was the guy empowered to negotiate or just a point of contact? Because it may be apples and oranges to compare "make Peter official envoy" to "Eh, who needs envoys?"