What was the source for that again, an AW letter via Ziebura?
I came across a facsimile of one of the written-on-the-spot passports, provided by Koser, and in a footnote he mentions another write-up of the whole incident, which is based on the two sources that Volz has, plus a report in a journal called "Staatssecretario" and -- a second-hand report from Manteuffel of all people, who apparently talked to some of the people who were on the trip (surely not Fritz!) and had a source in Strasbourg (?) and sent a compiled report to Dresden on September 28th. Says Wiegand. (He also reports that Troeger - yep, again - wrote another account of the trip and doesn't think Manteuffel is all that reliable, because all second-hand, whereas Wiegand himself thinks differently and seems to trust him more.)
Now, the passport is interesting, because it's for both "Graf Ferdinand Albrecht v. Schaffgotsch" AND for Algarotti, who doesn't seem to have had a pseudonym after all, no matter what Rödenbeck says. The thing is dated "28 July 1740" (ha), written by Fredersdorf (says Koser) and signed by Fritz.
The Wiegand write-up is also interesting because while it doesn't have an arrest either, it does mention that Broglie apparently debated detaining them and waiting for orders from Paris how to proceed, but didn't actually do so. Wiegand says both Broglie himself and Manteuffel report that, which means Volz must have left it out? And it still contradicts AW?
In Straßburg, Wartensleben was apparently the one to repeatedly urge caution and less conspicuous behaviour, but Fritz ignored him. (Which makes me wonder if he might have been one of Manteuffel's sources.) Other details: AW ate a lot and didn't say a word during the meal with Broglie, Algarotti, and Wartensleben. Fritz did get to visit the theatre, and attracted curiosity there as well, because he commented loudly on the performance and gave a lot of money to a girl who was selling lottery tickets. (If that anecdote isn't true after all, it was certainly invented by someone who knew him. :P)
I just checked Ziebura’s AW biography again, and she says AW mentioning the arrest is from his “my life so far” CV that he wrote on the occasion of his son’s birth. (I really want to read that document!) Maybe he dramatized for future FW2’s benefit?
Anyway,thank youi for Wiegand’s write-up. Leaving aside the German nationalism near the end about Fritz discovering the true nature of the French etc. etc., it is very informative, down to the footnotes, which make me understand why he puts faith in Manteuffel. Looks like Manteuffel really must have had first class sources, because even before the September 28th compilation, he as early as September 2nd (!!!!!) correctly reports to Brühl that Fritz must have gone to Straßburg, on September 5th, he knows that Fritz was there for three days, that he visited the theatre and the local head officers, and on September 9th that Fritz was recognized by deserters. The footnote names directly the Manteuffel letters in question from the State Archive. His located in Straßburg source, according to the footnote, was a young noble studying maths at the Straßburg university, but I think you’re right about his source with Fritz being Wartensleben, what with all the Wartensleben pov sections on everything not hailing from the Valvons, Broglie or Fritz-to-Voltaire versions.
Anyway, if Manteuffel got his intel from Wartensleben - this particular spawn of the great Wartensleben clan, that is, who according to the Wiegand article had been freshly promoted by Fritz to his AD post throne ascension - , I think we have another possible source for the anymous report on Fritz. Either way, given that Manteuffel is in northern Germany, and Fritz is in Straßburg in the last week of August, all that correct intel starting from September 2nd doesn’t just indicate top sources but lightning speed couriers. I mean, okay, knowing on September 2nd Fritz went to Straßburg could hail from his source telling him pre trip (maybe from Bayreuth?) that such was Fritz’ intention, but knowing correct details like the theatre visit on September 5th does point to a really quick courier. In any case, Manteuffel being on the outs with Fritz himself evidently did not deprive him from good and realiable intel from Fritz’ entourage. Between that and the intimate reports as referenced by Seckenforff Jr. in the mid 1730s, I must say that le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys.
Back to the write-ups: Wiegand really comes down on Broglie for not being up to the situation by insisting on treating Fritz like a King, not as the Comte Dufour, but it was an extremely difficult situation, because Fritz is an unknown quantity at this point, and royals can be touchy if actually treated like non-royals, no matter what they say. (See also Wilhelmine’s encounter with MT’s cousin the Wittelsbach Empress and the negotiation about chairs.). Otoh I found it amusing that Wiegand mentions Joseph, decades later, on his incognito trip to Paris, also lodged in the same inn, the Raven, on his stopover in Straßburg. Because of course he did. (Speaking of Joseph, I remember the Duc de Croy in his diary being in some trouble of how to address him and act towards him, too, because as Emperor, he would outrank anyone else in any room, including the King, but as he travelled as Count Falkenstein, this wasn’t the case, yet on the third hand everoyne knew he wasn’t really Count Falkenstein, so which etiquette to use was a Versailles trained French nobleman’s headache.
Oh, and it is of course very telling for pre revolutionary France (and Prussia) that no account mentions Fritz’ servants as people, just in the plural (as in, him getting served by them, not the staff at the inn - btw, I take it this means Fredersdorf?), whereas they do list the gentleman of rank by name. The detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it from Koser makes me wonder from which original report that comes from for this reason. (Evidently not Fritz’ to Voltaire, or any of the French sources.)
The detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it from Koser makes me wonder from which original report that comes from for this reason. (Evidently not Fritz’ to Voltaire, or any of the French sources.
We saw that recently in Bielfeld's account. He mentions the separate inns: Fritz at the Holy Ghost, and AW at the Raven, though I don't see where he mentions Algarotti staying at the Raven. I'm also skimming quickly before bed, so I might have missed it.
ETA: Wartensleben is this guy, btw. Just to help us keep our Wartenslebens straight.
I think Bielfeld is wrong about the inns actually, because as Volz says via the two French sources, Fritz and Wartensleben stayed at the Raven. Wiegand confirms that and also says that AW and Algarotti arrived later (they'd apparently split up to attract less attention - great job on that! :P) and then stayed at the Ghost. (Rödenbeck has is the wrong way around as well, so I suspect he either read Bielfeld or they both had the same wrong source.)
Rödenbeck cites Bielfeld as one of his sources, so that must be it. I kind of suspect Bielfeld's source might have been Fritz and/or AW, but he was also writing after the fact from a memory of a story that was probably told to him orally, not writing on the spot as it happened, so it makes sense that he would reverse the inns. I have been guilty of worse memory lapses!
What felis says re: the inns, plus: so this Wartensleben is the son of Grandpa Wartensleben, making him Katte's uncle (more like a cousin age wise, I guess, but as Katte's mother was his sister, uncle in terms of degree)?
ETA: also, thank you for linking Bielfeld's book. I only knew excerpts before (mostly from Volz' anthologies), but a hasty overview provides me with gems such as this:
Bielfeld to his father as to why he's not heartbroken that FW has died and Fritz is King: The long and griveous illness of the late King, moreover, frequently gave him such fits of ill temper as made him terrible to the muses and their votaries, and sometimes alarmed us so much that we should have been glad to have Pegasus at our command, to carry us out of his reach.
There's a detailed description of the funeral (if you ever want to use it for a story; I know Bielfeld probably wrote the letters with the benefit of hindsight, but he did witness the funeral, so that's an eyewitness account), and I finally find out what exactly the Königsberg homage ceremony consists of:
We are not surprised the King has not been crowned. Frederic, the first king of Prussia, had good reason for submitting to that ceremony; but his successors receive the crown from the hands of Providence, and not from their subjects. They content themselves with administring the oath of fidelity to the troops, to the nobility and to the people.
And on page 195, Bielfeld gives us a description of the almost duel between FW and G2!
They say that this natural antipathy, which is worse than hatred, once rose so high that the two monarchs, after the example of Charles V. and Francis I., had determined to decide it by single combat; that the King of England had fixed on brigadier Sutton for his second; and his Prussian majesty had made choice of Colonel Derschau; that the territory of Hildesheim was appointed for the rendezvous. His Britannic Majesty was then at Hannover, and His Prussian Majesty was already arrived at Salzdahll, near Brunswick. Baron von Borck, who had been the Prussian minister at London, and who had been dismissed from that court in a most ungracious manner, arriving at Salzdahl, found the King his master in so violent a rage that he did not think it adviseable to directly oppose his design; but on the contrary, in order to gain time, seemed to approve of the choice of single combat, and even offered his service to carry the cartel. But entering the King's appatment an hour after, he took the liberty to say: "Sire, I am convinced that your majesties' quarrel should not be decided but by a duell, and if I am allowed the expression, as between one gentleman and another. But your majesty is scarce recovered from a dangerous illness, and have still the symptoms of your late disorder. How unfortunate therefore would it be, if you should relapse the evening before the combat, or even that very morning, and what triumph would it be for the English king? And what would the world say? what odious suspicions would it cast upon your majesty's courage? Would it not therefore be far better to postpone the entire affair for a few days, till your majesty's health is established?"
The King, they say, acquiesced, though with difficulty, in these reasonings; the cartel was not sent; the ministers of both sides gained time; the wrath of the two kings by degrees evaporated; and by the next year they became in a manner reconciled.
plus: so this Wartensleben is the son of Grandpa Wartensleben, making him Katte's uncle (more like a cousin age wise, I guess, but as Katte's mother was his sister, uncle in terms of degree)?
Yep, Katte's uncle who was younger than he was. The relevant Wartenslebens are sorted out to the best of my ability here. Which means, btw, that the Wartensleben on this trip was the same one Fritz listed as one of the 6 most loved a few months later. So if he was passing info to Manteuffel via rapid-fire couriers... :/
Thank you for the Bielfeld gems! You may also notice that that's volume 3. Here we have volumes one, two, and four. I'll get them into the library at some point.
I finally find out what exactly the Königsberg homage ceremony consists of:
Horowski has a great account of F1's homage ceremony! If I had more time, I would write it up.
Duel: that's awesome! Assuming that's reliable, that progressed a lot further than I thought.
his Prussian majesty had made choice of Colonel Derschau;
The one Fritz hated, who interrogated him in 1730, I assume.
Duel: that's awesome! Assuming that's reliable, that progressed a lot further than I thought.
Now I'm imagining FW and G2 singing "The Ten Duel Commandments" from Hamilton. (Hamilton can certainly be credited for even non history buffs knowing what a second is and how an 18th century duel works.
Derschau: indeed.
"One of six" Wartensleben as possible IM - wait, that's an acronym which is not familiar in English - IMs "Informelle Mitarbeiter" was how the GDR secret service referred to people they got to spy on their neighbours/loved ones/whomever without listing them as official agents - well, I could be wronging him, but you know what we agreed on re: pov, and what it betrays about who's telling the story. In the Wiegand version, you can tell which bits come from Valvons' account, from Broglie's, from Fritz' own to Voltaire. And basically 99% of the other stuff, which hails form Manteuffel, is constantly referencing what Wartensleben did or thought. So....
Wartensleben: Well, Fritz once called him his Socrates!
but you know what we agreed on re: pov, and what it betrays about who's telling the story.
No, I totally agree. I haven't been able to read the sources myself, but I trust both of you to sort out the unaccounted for elements and recognize the POV, so it does very much sound like Wartensleben was reporting to Manteuffel.
Thank you for teaching me the term IM!
Wartensleben: Well, Fritz once called him his Socrates!
Good grief, how many does he need? And did this one get a golden walking stick head? :P
Misunderstanding alert! I just wanted to make a joke, letting Wartensleben excuse himself for spying on Fritz by pointing out Fritz had called Manteuffel his Socrates.
Now I'm imagining FW and G2 singing "The Ten Duel Commandments" from Hamilton. (Hamilton can certainly be credited for even non history buffs knowing what a second is and how an 18th century duel works.
"So we're doing this!"
lol! I knew what a second was from reading random 18th-19th C literature as a kid (though I guess the footnotes to Pushkin's Onegin, which I didn't read until college, were the first time I was exposed to some of the points in "Commandments"). though it makes perfect sense that Hamilton will be the first exposure to duels for a lot of kids from this generation.
Also, speaking of people Fritz listed as loved at some point, here's Nicolai, who lists D'Argens and Quintus Icilius as his main sources early on, only slightly paraphrased:
"So, we're all clear that of the foreign intellectuals from the first fifteen years or so, D'Argens was the only one to truly deserve Fritz' affections, right? Lemme go through a check list: Darget: respected Fritz, but didn't love him, couldn't bear living with him and hence headed back to Paris. La Mettrie: Ugh. Firstly, kept making mischief by telling everyone what everyone else had said about them and telling it wrongly or making it up, and secondly, have you read his theories? Ugh. Totally deserved his gross death. Algarotti: "subtle man with subtle manners" (direct quote), Fritz truly loved him, but Algarotti was mostly into the relationship because Fritz was a King, and after a while, Fritz figured that out. Maupertuis didn't do anything ungrateful, but he was a weird control freak. And VOLTAIRE. Need I say more? Okay, intellectually, yes, he was the foremost writer of Europe and as such deserved Fritz as a reader BUT he totally did not deserve him as a person. I mean. Do we remember how he repaid our glorious King for his affections, all the shady deals, the freaking pamphlets? Let me quote D'Argens again here: "The man had wit for thirty, but was as malicious as a monkey." Fritz was FORCED to retrieve those poems the way he did at Frankfurt, as any rightthinking person will admit. And no, I don't get how the King could forgive him enough to correspond with him again from the late 1750s onwards, either. Freaking Voltaire. In conclusion: our noble King thought these guys were his friends, showered them with affection, praise and worldly goods, and they were just - ugh. Except for D'Argens! The King's true friend!"
Also Nicolai, in volume 3, only slightly paraphrased: "Having reported to you, dear readers, that Fritz loved to sit near the beautiful Antinous statue and SEEMINGLY gaze at it in summer days in his old age, I must tell you that only shallow people would think he only did this because it appealed to his senses. I mean, sure, our glorious King enjoyed beauty, statues, and summer days, more power to him. But look, you know where that statue was located at Sanssouci before our new King moved it to the Berlin town palace? NEXT TO FRITZ' GRAVE. So what Fritz was actually doing wasn't related to the statue. He was contemplating his grave and his impending death. Because he was deep like that, our philosopher king. That's why he kept resting at this particular spot, so everyone I interviewed tells me."
Okay, so first of all, this Nicolai sounds super reliable and unbiased, lol forever.
And secondly,
Fritz loved to sit near the beautiful Antinous statue and SEEMINGLY gaze at it in summer days in his old age
It's always great when reality confirms my headcanons, because this was ALREADY MY HEADCANON. :D
And yeah, he's totally thinking about death while he's doing it, but that's largely because he's thinking ABOUT KATTE. Same with Wilhelmine when he goes to sit at her temple. (Didn't we run across something recently--a Camas letter?--where he said he visited her temple regularly and thought about her? I maintain Antinous was the same.)
Algarotti was mostly into the relationship because Fritz was a King
I mean...they definitely hit it off as individuals, but was much of Algarotti's behavior driven by Fritz being king? Imo, totally yes.
Also, wasn't d'Argens the one Fritz got upset with for going back to France for health reasons? But then he had a grave monument built for him? Just like Algarotti? JUST SAYING.
I mean, sure, our glorious King enjoyed beauty, statues, and summer days, more power to him.
Lolol.
I knew this collection would have goodies! Also, judging by what I saw in the table of contents, there are a *lot* of d'Argens anecdotes. Makes sense if d'Argens was one of his main sources.
. La Mettrie: Ugh...secondly, have you read his theories?
cahn: he was a materialist, who argued that humans don't have souls, so I can see why Nicolai would be all "ugh" at his theories.
Fritz, writing to Wilhelmine, on the manner of his death:
We lost poor La Mettrie. He died for a joke, eating a whole pheasant pâté; after having gotten a terrible indigestion, he dared to be bled, to prove to the German doctors that one could bleed in an indigestion. It did not succeed; he took a violent fever which, having degenerated into putrid fever, prevailed.
I am so far behind on comments. I will try to catch up this weekend, but goodies keep coming in!
re: reliability, in fairness, Nicolai actually, biased or not, fares pretty well in this regard. (Compared to his contemporaries, not compared to current day standard of research, obviously.) Every volume contains corrections to the previous one based on getting new intel. And not only does he use first hand wintesses - Quintus Icilius, D'Argens, Quanz (whom he knew personally and who is his source for some Fritz and music stories), as well as dozens of veterans from the 7 Years War who tell him war stories -, but he's careful to read everything else published, including English sources, not just French ones. This can cause nearly half a volume of eviscaration of said sources, but he reads them first. BTW, this was fascinating of me in terms of crossover to another interest of mine. Apparently, when Fritzmania exploded in Britain during the 7 Years War, Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote a short article on Fritz on public demand, while admitting that a) he doesn't speak German and b) it's only based on other articles he read about Fritz. As Nicolai says, the article would not have been reprinted and been forgotten if it hadn't been by Dr. Johnson. Once Johnson himself died, everything Johnson sold well, including the two first biographies/anecdote collections - by John Hawkins and Hester Thrale, respectively; Boswell was still working on his magnum opus - and Nicolai read both, which republish the Johnson-on-Fritz stuff due to the closeness of Fritz' death which also heightened interest again. And Mrs. Thrale, now Mrs. Piozzi, also published a book on her travels through the continent, including Prussia. While admitting she doesn't speak German, either, she did read Voltaire. This means Nicolai while saying Mrs. Thrale Piozzi writes entertainingly is busy being indignant that everyone - Johnson, Hawkins, Thrale - gets it so wrong about Fritz (and also FW), good intentions or not, about Prussian customs and law, and what rubbish is this!
You may also recall that Nicolai published Münchow's letter to him, and followed this up later when Minerva published another letter. Where I'm going with this: Nicolai is strongly opinionated and biased as hell, but his collections aren't cheap rip-offs; he does his research, if he finds evidence contradicting something he previously thought to be true, he says so, and he doesn't invent stuff.
But his biggest feud is with Zimmermann, which I dimly recall from Zimmermann's fragments. Now Zimmermann (Cahn, that's the doctor of "broken penis" fame) is mentioned as a friend in volume 1 of Nicolai, but then they have a fallout which Nicolai can't quite explain and Zimmermann turns against Nicolai and trashes him, while Nicolai trashes back. (My own suspicion is that Zimmermann must have been planning to publish and was disgruntled Nicolai got there first.) One big bone of contention is whether or not MT's Dad the Emperor saved Fritz' life in 1730 by having Seckendorff point out that FW can't pass a capital sentence on Fritz, because Fritz is a Reichsfürst of the HRE, and only the diet in Frankfurt could condemn him to death. This is a story which was debated at the time, and which Zimmermann believes, not least because it feeds into his theory that Fritz really wasn't off to escape to France or England but secretly was planning to escape to Austria and marry MT. Nicolai argues that while they can't know for sure because they can't access the state archive, he thinks this is rubbish. Undoubtedly the Emperor, like the other crowned heads of Europe, wrote a letter to FW pleading with him not to kill his son. This was announced in newspapers at the time, and Nicolai has found some articles mentioning it. But he really really doubts that the Emperor pulled out the "FW: you are not allowed to kill your son, a prince of the HRE!" argument. (And as we know, he's correct there.)
Another half a volume rant of Nicolai's triggered by Zimmermann and some other publications is everyone who took Voltaire's sarcastic description of some Sanssouci rooms being full of satyrs after nymphs and that if anyone could have seen the table round gatherings, he'd have assumed philosphers met in a brothel,and ran with it. Nicolai interprets this as Voltaire (and the others) saying that Fritz had painted porn on his walls in Sanssouci, and indignantly defends him against it, saying that sure, Fritz had some beautiful nudes there, but no porn, not ever, never would the King have stood for something like that! (Meanwhile, yours truly has been to Sanssouci and yes, there's a lot of nymphs and satyrs there, enough to my my AP go "are you sure he was gay?" Painted porn, it's not, but then that's not what Voltaire wrote.) This is another bone of contention between Zimmermann and Nicolai, because Zimmermann sees it as part of his no homo theory of Fritz the prostitute client in his younger years who now, with broken penis, can't anymore but still wants to.
A lot of the anecdotes you already know because they made it into later biographies, like the servants having to say Sie/Vous to the dogs ("bellen Sie nicht so laut, Biche! Fressen Sie doch auf, Alkmene!"), or Fritz naming his horses after politicians. There's a lot about the horses, in fact.
And yeah, he's totally thinking about death while he's doing it, but that's largely because he's thinking ABOUT KATTE. Same with Wilhelmine when he goes to sit at her temple. (Didn't we run across something recently--a Camas letter?--where he said he visited her temple regularly and thought about her? I maintain Antinous was the same.)
It's definitely mentioned in a Voltaire letter, but yes, I think also in a Camas letter. I'm with you on Antinous being the same. Nicolai at some other point says that Fritz did come around in his late years to believing in the immortality of the soul, because he hoped to see his sister again.
I mean...they definitely hit it off as individuals, but was much of Algarotti's behavior driven by Fritz being king? Imo, totally yes.
As we agreed with other people as well, it's impossible to have a relationship with someone who is a Crown Prince/A King and completely block that factor out. With Algarotti, who was looking for a job, definitely not. At the same time, the Algarotti essay collection and the Lady Mary biography have informed me Algarotti did root for Fritz during the 7 Years War in writing and in person in Italy (i.e. when with people who aren't Fritz' subjects), even if he wrote an MT poem just in case as well (perhaps a reaction to having written an earlier poem calling the battle of Prague the Prussian Pharsalos, which, not so much?), and while he clearly had decided at some point that living with Fritz was just too much, he still held respect and affection for him. (Another example of Algarotti being not nearly as gigolo like in his relationships as one could think is as I mentioned in my anthology write up that in the original version of his Russia book, he lets all his letters there be addressed to Lord Hervey, despite the fact the Russia book was published long after Hervey's death and a point where Hervey's name wasn't recalled with fondness by anyone of influence . And of course him reopening relationships with Lady Mary at a point when she's an English exile in Italy with not nearly as much money as she used to have.)
Also, wasn't d'Argens the one Fritz got upset with for going back to France for health reasons? But then he had a grave monument built for him? Just like Algarotti? JUST SAYING.
But that's different! D'Argens clearly had REAL health trouble! Algarotti was just faking it! And only one of them befriended Nicolai!
(BTW, I had known this but reading brought it back to me: D'Argens and Nicolai did team up in Fritz' life time to get him to make Moses Mendelsohn (one of the greatest philosophers of his time, the model for Lessing's Nathan the Wise, grandfather of Felix the composer) an Academy member. No dice. However, they did get Fritz to provide Mendelsohn with a Schutzbrief (given the shaky legal status of Jews, very important to have).
Having reported to you, dear readers, that Fritz loved to sit near the beautiful Antinous statue and SEEMINGLY gaze at it in summer days in his old age, I must tell you that only shallow people would think he only did this because it appealed to his senses. I mean, sure, our glorious King enjoyed beauty, statues, and summer days, more power to him. But look, you know where that statue was located at Sanssouci before our new King moved it to the Berlin town palace? NEXT TO FRITZ' GRAVE. So what Fritz was actually doing wasn't related to the statue. He was contemplating his grave and his impending death. Because he was deep like that, our philosopher king.
*chokes*
I can see why you immediately thought of Mildred! I did too, LOL!
And VOLTAIRE. Need I say more?
I feel like I will forever find hilarious that Fritz/Voltaire had this crackship going that NO ONE understands :D
I can see why you immediately thought of Mildred! I did too, LOL!
Because this was ALREADY my headcanon and I had ALREADY developed entire storylines in my head revolving around Fritz sitting by the Antinous statue and contemplating Katte and death in the last years of his life. :D
History owes me a headcanon or two confirmed, after OBLITERATING so many of my long-cherished ones. :P
Wow, that really was an almost-duel! Now I can't help but wonder what would have happened if they'd actually gone through with it and one of them (*cough*presumably FW) had managed to kill the other! (I may as usual have missed something, because it seems like the kind of thing you guys would have talked about, but at least a cursory search only turns up talking about averting the duel...)
Seconded. The habit of adding appendices which reproduce unpublished sources mentioned in the main text - I'd like it back please!
le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys
Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it
I can easily see Manteuffel getting that from his source(s). Also, since one of the two passports survived in the state archive, somebody must have kept it as a souvenir in the first place, and I can't imagine that AW didn't tell tales about his adventure when he came back, even outside of writing memoirs for his kid (and imaginary fanfiction letters :)).
Me neither. BTW, Wiegand's Manteuffel-gained account of AW not saying anything but limiting himself to eating in the dinner with Algarotti, Wartensleben and Broglie is I think directly related to what Bielfeld hints at here:
Prince Wilhelm is one of the finest figures I have ever seen; he is tall, and in every respect perfectly well proportioned. His hair is brown; he has huge sprightly blue eyes, and all his features are extremely pleasing. Though he does not express himself well (...), his education appears to have been much neglected; and he has a timid and embarrassed air, which is very far from making a striking impression at the first interview.
To wit, that AW's now (that he's the new heir presumptative) when meeting new people is conscious of his lack of education Fritz kept pointing out before both in letters to him and to other people. This is something some of the early envoys also remark on (not to mention the probably Voltaire authored pamphlet exaggarating it to "he didn't learn to read or write until Fritz became King") and contrast with his older brother. Now the interesting thing is that no one else before or after describes AW as shy or tongue bound. Certainly not as a child when interacting with Dad whom everyone else is afraid of, and definitely not by the time Lehndorff gets to know him. And he was working on catching up with his education and using the cultural opportunities he now had (see also the fact he corresponded with Maupertuis). Now, AW's education had been neglected - Ziebura quite plausible speculates that the teachers, with the vivid example of how Duhan fared, probably rather erred on the side of not teaching anything to the King's second son, with the result that AW's on the same level as the four years younger Heinrich in his lessons - but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
...on the other hand, Wilhelmine certainly didn't see him as tongue-tied or shy when she met him on that same trip for the first time as an adult but was very positively impressed according to her memoirs. (And pointedly switches the "my brother" designation to AW while Fritz is now "The King".)
Manteuffel, the Kim Philby of Envoys: Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
Good point. Though it begs the question: would Manteuffel have bothered betraying him to MT? Because he might have decided to bet on Fritz in any case, and certainly no one thought MT had much of a shot once France, Saxony, Bavaria and Spain followed suit. Not to mention MT was out of cash, and Manteuffel might not have considered her as a rightful ruler anyway (because woman, and also cousin Karl Albrecht was the one voted Emperor). More likely Manteuffel would have signaled to Brühl that now was the time to team up with the Prussians in order to enlarge the chance of August III. getting voted Emperor. (Though that was off the table as soon as France decided to back Karl Albrecht, and maybe Manteuffel saw that coming, too.)
I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
This makes perfect sense. Combine that with your king being someone who values a quick wit and likes to indulge his taste for mockery, and I could see keeping your mouth firmly shut in his presence.
Perhaps Wilhelmine got some one-on-one time with AW in which he was more relaxed than he was in front of Fritz?
but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
That makes a lot of sense. And it also makes sense that AW could catch up to a great extent although he'd never be on Heinrich's level
You should have seen my face when I saw that there was a passport and it had turned up in salon! This place is amaaaazing.
Now, the passport is interesting, because it's for both "Graf Ferdinand Albrecht v. Schaffgotsch" AND for Algarotti, who doesn't seem to have had a pseudonym after all, no matter what Rödenbeck says.
Interesting! Voltaire even says:
Algaroti, who already had attached himself to [Fritz], was the only one who went unmasked.
Bielfeld doesn't have it, and of course neither does Koser. Preuss does, but is probably relying on Rödenbeck, who doesn't name his source. The two sources he cites (other than the Berlin newspapers he quotes) are Bielfeld and Voltaire, neither of which name Pfuhl, so I can't trace Pfuhl back any earlier than Rödenbeck.
Fritz did get to visit the theatre, and attracted curiosity there as well, because he commented loudly on the performance and gave a lot of money to a girl who was selling lottery tickets. (If that anecdote isn't true after all, it was certainly invented by someone who knew him. :P)
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-15 10:53 pm (UTC)Also, no arrest,
What was the source for that again, an AW letter via Ziebura?
I came across a facsimile of one of the written-on-the-spot passports, provided by Koser, and in a footnote he mentions another write-up of the whole incident, which is based on the two sources that Volz has, plus a report in a journal called "Staatssecretario" and -- a second-hand report from Manteuffel of all people, who apparently talked to some of the people who were on the trip (surely not Fritz!) and had a source in Strasbourg (?) and sent a compiled report to Dresden on September 28th. Says Wiegand. (He also reports that Troeger - yep, again - wrote another account of the trip and doesn't think Manteuffel is all that reliable, because all second-hand, whereas Wiegand himself thinks differently and seems to trust him more.)
Now, the passport is interesting, because it's for both "Graf Ferdinand Albrecht v. Schaffgotsch" AND for Algarotti, who doesn't seem to have had a pseudonym after all, no matter what Rödenbeck says. The thing is dated "28 July 1740" (ha), written by Fredersdorf (says Koser) and signed by Fritz.
The Wiegand write-up is also interesting because while it doesn't have an arrest either, it does mention that Broglie apparently debated detaining them and waiting for orders from Paris how to proceed, but didn't actually do so. Wiegand says both Broglie himself and Manteuffel report that, which means Volz must have left it out? And it still contradicts AW?
In Straßburg, Wartensleben was apparently the one to repeatedly urge caution and less conspicuous behaviour, but Fritz ignored him. (Which makes me wonder if he might have been one of Manteuffel's sources.) Other details: AW ate a lot and didn't say a word during the meal with Broglie, Algarotti, and Wartensleben. Fritz did get to visit the theatre, and attracted curiosity there as well, because he commented loudly on the performance and gave a lot of money to a girl who was selling lottery tickets. (If that anecdote isn't true after all, it was certainly invented by someone who knew him. :P)
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 02:03 am (UTC)Anyway,thank youi for Wiegand’s write-up. Leaving aside the German nationalism near the end about Fritz discovering the true nature of the French etc. etc., it is very informative, down to the footnotes, which make me understand why he puts faith in Manteuffel. Looks like Manteuffel really must have had first class sources, because even before the September 28th compilation, he as early as September 2nd (!!!!!) correctly reports to Brühl that Fritz must have gone to Straßburg, on September 5th, he knows that Fritz was there for three days, that he visited the theatre and the local head officers, and on September 9th that Fritz was recognized by deserters. The footnote names directly the Manteuffel letters in question from the State Archive. His located in Straßburg source, according to the footnote, was a young noble studying maths at the Straßburg university, but I think you’re right about his source with Fritz being Wartensleben, what with all the Wartensleben pov sections on everything not hailing from the Valvons, Broglie or Fritz-to-Voltaire versions.
Anyway, if Manteuffel got his intel from Wartensleben - this particular spawn of the great Wartensleben clan, that is, who according to the Wiegand article had been freshly promoted by Fritz to his AD post throne ascension - , I think we have another possible source for the anymous report on Fritz. Either way, given that Manteuffel is in northern Germany, and Fritz is in Straßburg in the last week of August, all that correct intel starting from September 2nd doesn’t just indicate top sources but lightning speed couriers. I mean, okay, knowing on September 2nd Fritz went to Straßburg could hail from his source telling him pre trip (maybe from Bayreuth?) that such was Fritz’ intention, but knowing correct details like the theatre visit on September 5th does point to a really quick courier. In any case, Manteuffel being on the outs with Fritz himself evidently did not deprive him from good and realiable intel from Fritz’ entourage. Between that and the intimate reports as referenced by Seckenforff Jr. in the mid 1730s, I must say that le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys.
Back to the write-ups: Wiegand really comes down on Broglie for not being up to the situation by insisting on treating Fritz like a King, not as the Comte Dufour, but it was an extremely difficult situation, because Fritz is an unknown quantity at this point, and royals can be touchy if actually treated like non-royals, no matter what they say. (See also Wilhelmine’s encounter with MT’s cousin the Wittelsbach Empress and the negotiation about chairs.). Otoh I found it amusing that Wiegand mentions Joseph, decades later, on his incognito trip to Paris, also lodged in the same inn, the Raven, on his stopover in Straßburg. Because of course he did. (Speaking of Joseph, I remember the Duc de Croy in his diary being in some trouble of how to address him and act towards him, too, because as Emperor, he would outrank anyone else in any room, including the King, but as he travelled as Count Falkenstein, this wasn’t the case, yet on the third hand everoyne knew he wasn’t really Count Falkenstein, so which etiquette to use was a Versailles trained French nobleman’s headache.
Oh, and it is of course very telling for pre revolutionary France (and Prussia) that no account mentions Fritz’ servants as people, just in the plural (as in, him getting served by them, not the staff at the inn - btw, I take it this means Fredersdorf?), whereas they do list the gentleman of rank by name. The detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it from Koser makes me wonder from which original report that comes from for this reason. (Evidently not Fritz’ to Voltaire, or any of the French sources.)
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 02:16 am (UTC)We saw that recently in Bielfeld's account. He mentions the separate inns: Fritz at the Holy Ghost, and AW at the Raven, though I don't see where he mentions Algarotti staying at the Raven. I'm also skimming quickly before bed, so I might have missed it.
ETA: Wartensleben is this guy, btw. Just to help us keep our Wartenslebens straight.
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 09:35 am (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-19 10:20 pm (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 10:30 am (UTC)ETA: also, thank you for linking Bielfeld's book. I only knew excerpts before (mostly from Volz' anthologies), but a hasty overview provides me with gems such as this:
Bielfeld to his father as to why he's not heartbroken that FW has died and Fritz is King: The long and griveous illness of the late King, moreover, frequently gave him such fits of ill temper as made him terrible to the muses and their votaries, and sometimes alarmed us so much that we should have been glad to have Pegasus at our command, to carry us out of his reach.
There's a detailed description of the funeral (if you ever want to use it for a story; I know Bielfeld probably wrote the letters with the benefit of hindsight, but he did witness the funeral, so that's an eyewitness account), and I finally find out what exactly the Königsberg homage ceremony consists of:
We are not surprised the King has not been crowned. Frederic, the first king of Prussia, had good reason for submitting to that ceremony; but his successors receive the crown from the hands of Providence, and not from their subjects. They content themselves with administring the oath of fidelity to the troops, to the nobility and to the people.
And on page 195, Bielfeld gives us a description of the almost duel between FW and G2!
They say that this natural antipathy, which is worse than hatred, once rose so high that the two monarchs, after the example of Charles V. and Francis I., had determined to decide it by single combat; that the King of England had fixed on brigadier Sutton for his second; and his Prussian majesty had made choice of Colonel Derschau; that the territory of Hildesheim was appointed for the rendezvous. His Britannic Majesty was then at Hannover, and His Prussian Majesty was already arrived at Salzdahll, near Brunswick. Baron von Borck, who had been the Prussian minister at London, and who had been dismissed from that court in a most ungracious manner, arriving at Salzdahl, found the King his master in so violent a rage that he did not think it adviseable to directly oppose his design; but on the contrary, in order to gain time, seemed to approve of the choice of single combat, and even offered his service to carry the cartel. But entering the King's appatment an hour after, he took the liberty to say: "Sire, I am convinced that your majesties' quarrel should not be decided but by a duell, and if I am allowed the expression, as between one gentleman and another. But your majesty is scarce recovered from a dangerous illness, and have still the symptoms of your late disorder. How unfortunate therefore would it be, if you should relapse the evening before the combat, or even that very morning, and what triumph would it be for the English king? And what would the world say? what odious suspicions would it cast upon your majesty's courage? Would it not therefore be far better to postpone the entire affair for a few days, till your majesty's health is established?"
The King, they say, acquiesced, though with difficulty, in these reasonings; the cartel was not sent; the ministers of both sides gained time; the wrath of the two kings by degrees evaporated; and by the next year they became in a manner reconciled.
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 03:59 pm (UTC)Yep, Katte's uncle who was younger than he was. The relevant Wartenslebens are sorted out to the best of my ability here. Which means, btw, that the Wartensleben on this trip was the same one Fritz listed as one of the 6 most loved a few months later. So if he was passing info to Manteuffel via rapid-fire couriers... :/
Thank you for the Bielfeld gems! You may also notice that that's volume 3. Here we have volumes one, two, and four. I'll get them into the library at some point.
I finally find out what exactly the Königsberg homage ceremony consists of:
Horowski has a great account of F1's homage ceremony! If I had more time, I would write it up.
Duel: that's awesome! Assuming that's reliable, that progressed a lot further than I thought.
his Prussian majesty had made choice of Colonel Derschau;
The one Fritz hated, who interrogated him in 1730, I assume.
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 06:09 pm (UTC)Now I'm imagining FW and G2 singing "The Ten Duel Commandments" from Hamilton. (Hamilton can certainly be credited for even non history buffs knowing what a second is and how an 18th century duel works.
Derschau: indeed.
"One of six" Wartensleben as possible IM - wait, that's an acronym which is not familiar in English - IMs "Informelle Mitarbeiter" was how the GDR secret service referred to people they got to spy on their neighbours/loved ones/whomever without listing them as official agents - well, I could be wronging him, but you know what we agreed on re: pov, and what it betrays about who's telling the story. In the Wiegand version, you can tell which bits come from Valvons' account, from Broglie's, from Fritz' own to Voltaire. And basically 99% of the other stuff, which hails form Manteuffel, is constantly referencing what Wartensleben did or thought. So....
Wartensleben: Well, Fritz once called him his Socrates!
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-19 10:25 pm (UTC)No, I totally agree. I haven't been able to read the sources myself, but I trust both of you to sort out the unaccounted for elements and recognize the POV, so it does very much sound like Wartensleben was reporting to Manteuffel.
Thank you for teaching me the term IM!
Wartensleben: Well, Fritz once called him his Socrates!
Good grief, how many does he need? And did this one get a golden walking stick head? :P
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 07:26 am (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
From:Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 06:00 pm (UTC)"So we're doing this!"
lol! I knew what a second was from reading random 18th-19th C literature as a kid (though I guess the footnotes to Pushkin's Onegin, which I didn't read until college, were the first time I was exposed to some of the points in "Commandments"). though it makes perfect sense that Hamilton will be the first exposure to duels for a lot of kids from this generation.
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 06:42 pm (UTC)"So, we're all clear that of the foreign intellectuals from the first fifteen years or so, D'Argens was the only one to truly deserve Fritz' affections, right? Lemme go through a check list: Darget: respected Fritz, but didn't love him, couldn't bear living with him and hence headed back to Paris. La Mettrie: Ugh. Firstly, kept making mischief by telling everyone what everyone else had said about them and telling it wrongly or making it up, and secondly, have you read his theories? Ugh. Totally deserved his gross death. Algarotti: "subtle man with subtle manners" (direct quote), Fritz truly loved him, but Algarotti was mostly into the relationship because Fritz was a King, and after a while, Fritz figured that out. Maupertuis didn't do anything ungrateful, but he was a weird control freak. And VOLTAIRE. Need I say more? Okay, intellectually, yes, he was the foremost writer of Europe and as such deserved Fritz as a reader BUT he totally did not deserve him as a person. I mean. Do we remember how he repaid our glorious King for his affections, all the shady deals, the freaking pamphlets? Let me quote D'Argens again here: "The man had wit for thirty, but was as malicious as a monkey." Fritz was FORCED to retrieve those poems the way he did at Frankfurt, as any rightthinking person will admit. And no, I don't get how the King could forgive him enough to correspond with him again from the late 1750s onwards, either. Freaking Voltaire. In conclusion: our noble King thought these guys were his friends, showered them with affection, praise and worldly goods, and they were just - ugh. Except for D'Argens! The King's true friend!"
Also Nicolai, in volume 3, only slightly paraphrased: "Having reported to you, dear readers, that Fritz loved to sit near the beautiful Antinous statue and SEEMINGLY gaze at it in summer days in his old age, I must tell you that only shallow people would think he only did this because it appealed to his senses. I mean, sure, our glorious King enjoyed beauty, statues, and summer days, more power to him. But look, you know where that statue was located at Sanssouci before our new King moved it to the Berlin town palace? NEXT TO FRITZ' GRAVE. So what Fritz was actually doing wasn't related to the statue. He was contemplating his grave and his impending death. Because he was deep like that, our philosopher king. That's why he kept resting at this particular spot, so everyone I interviewed tells me."
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 07:03 pm (UTC)Okay, so first of all, this Nicolai sounds super reliable and unbiased, lol forever.
And secondly,
Fritz loved to sit near the beautiful Antinous statue and SEEMINGLY gaze at it in summer days in his old age
It's always great when reality confirms my headcanons, because this was ALREADY MY HEADCANON. :D
And yeah, he's totally thinking about death while he's doing it, but that's largely because he's thinking ABOUT KATTE. Same with Wilhelmine when he goes to sit at her temple. (Didn't we run across something recently--a Camas letter?--where he said he visited her temple regularly and thought about her? I maintain Antinous was the same.)
Algarotti was mostly into the relationship because Fritz was a King
I mean...they definitely hit it off as individuals, but was much of Algarotti's behavior driven by Fritz being king? Imo, totally yes.
Also, wasn't d'Argens the one Fritz got upset with for going back to France for health reasons? But then he had a grave monument built for him? Just like Algarotti? JUST SAYING.
I mean, sure, our glorious King enjoyed beauty, statues, and summer days, more power to him.
Lolol.
I knew this collection would have goodies! Also, judging by what I saw in the table of contents, there are a *lot* of d'Argens anecdotes. Makes sense if d'Argens was one of his main sources.
. La Mettrie: Ugh...secondly, have you read his theories?
Fritz, writing to Wilhelmine, on the manner of his death:
We lost poor La Mettrie. He died for a joke, eating a whole pheasant pâté; after having gotten a terrible indigestion, he dared to be bled, to prove to the German doctors that one could bleed in an indigestion. It did not succeed; he took a violent fever which, having degenerated into putrid fever, prevailed.
I am so far behind on comments. I will try to catch up this weekend, but goodies keep coming in!
More Nicolai
Date: 2021-02-17 10:45 am (UTC)re: reliability, in fairness, Nicolai actually, biased or not, fares pretty well in this regard. (Compared to his contemporaries, not compared to current day standard of research, obviously.) Every volume contains corrections to the previous one based on getting new intel. And not only does he use first hand wintesses - Quintus Icilius, D'Argens, Quanz (whom he knew personally and who is his source for some Fritz and music stories), as well as dozens of veterans from the 7 Years War who tell him war stories -, but he's careful to read everything else published, including English sources, not just French ones. This can cause nearly half a volume of eviscaration of said sources, but he reads them first. BTW, this was fascinating of me in terms of crossover to another interest of mine. Apparently, when Fritzmania exploded in Britain during the 7 Years War, Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote a short article on Fritz on public demand, while admitting that a) he doesn't speak German and b) it's only based on other articles he read about Fritz. As Nicolai says, the article would not have been reprinted and been forgotten if it hadn't been by Dr. Johnson. Once Johnson himself died, everything Johnson sold well, including the two first biographies/anecdote collections - by John Hawkins and Hester Thrale, respectively; Boswell was still working on his magnum opus - and Nicolai read both, which republish the Johnson-on-Fritz stuff due to the closeness of Fritz' death which also heightened interest again. And Mrs. Thrale, now Mrs. Piozzi, also published a book on her travels through the continent, including Prussia. While admitting she doesn't speak German, either, she did read Voltaire. This means Nicolai while saying Mrs. Thrale Piozzi writes entertainingly is busy being indignant that everyone - Johnson, Hawkins, Thrale - gets it so wrong about Fritz (and also FW), good intentions or not, about Prussian customs and law, and what rubbish is this!
You may also recall that Nicolai published Münchow's letter to him, and followed this up later when Minerva published another letter. Where I'm going with this: Nicolai is strongly opinionated and biased as hell, but his collections aren't cheap rip-offs; he does his research, if he finds evidence contradicting something he previously thought to be true, he says so, and he doesn't invent stuff.
But his biggest feud is with Zimmermann, which I dimly recall from Zimmermann's fragments. Now Zimmermann (Cahn, that's the doctor of "broken penis" fame) is mentioned as a friend in volume 1 of Nicolai, but then they have a fallout which Nicolai can't quite explain and Zimmermann turns against Nicolai and trashes him, while Nicolai trashes back. (My own suspicion is that Zimmermann must have been planning to publish and was disgruntled Nicolai got there first.) One big bone of contention is whether or not MT's Dad the Emperor saved Fritz' life in 1730 by having Seckendorff point out that FW can't pass a capital sentence on Fritz, because Fritz is a Reichsfürst of the HRE, and only the diet in Frankfurt could condemn him to death. This is a story which was debated at the time, and which Zimmermann believes, not least because it feeds into his theory that Fritz really wasn't off to escape to France or England but secretly was planning to escape to Austria and marry MT. Nicolai argues that while they can't know for sure because they can't access the state archive, he thinks this is rubbish. Undoubtedly the Emperor, like the other crowned heads of Europe, wrote a letter to FW pleading with him not to kill his son. This was announced in newspapers at the time, and Nicolai has found some articles mentioning it. But he really really doubts that the Emperor pulled out the "FW: you are not allowed to kill your son, a prince of the HRE!" argument. (And as we know, he's correct there.)
Another half a volume rant of Nicolai's triggered by Zimmermann and some other publications is everyone who took Voltaire's sarcastic description of some Sanssouci rooms being full of satyrs after nymphs and that if anyone could have seen the table round gatherings, he'd have assumed philosphers met in a brothel,and ran with it. Nicolai interprets this as Voltaire (and the others) saying that Fritz had painted porn on his walls in Sanssouci, and indignantly defends him against it, saying that sure, Fritz had some beautiful nudes there, but no porn, not ever, never would the King have stood for something like that! (Meanwhile, yours truly has been to Sanssouci and yes, there's a lot of nymphs and satyrs there, enough to my my AP go "are you sure he was gay?" Painted porn, it's not, but then that's not what Voltaire wrote.) This is another bone of contention between Zimmermann and Nicolai, because Zimmermann sees it as part of his no homo theory of Fritz the prostitute client in his younger years who now, with broken penis, can't anymore but still wants to.
A lot of the anecdotes you already know because they made it into later biographies, like the servants having to say Sie/Vous to the dogs ("bellen Sie nicht so laut, Biche! Fressen Sie doch auf, Alkmene!"), or Fritz naming his horses after politicians. There's a lot about the horses, in fact.
And yeah, he's totally thinking about death while he's doing it, but that's largely because he's thinking ABOUT KATTE. Same with Wilhelmine when he goes to sit at her temple. (Didn't we run across something recently--a Camas letter?--where he said he visited her temple regularly and thought about her? I maintain Antinous was the same.)
It's definitely mentioned in a Voltaire letter, but yes, I think also in a Camas letter. I'm with you on Antinous being the same. Nicolai at some other point says that Fritz did come around in his late years to believing in the immortality of the soul, because he hoped to see his sister again.
I mean...they definitely hit it off as individuals, but was much of Algarotti's behavior driven by Fritz being king? Imo, totally yes.
As we agreed with other people as well, it's impossible to have a relationship with someone who is a Crown Prince/A King and completely block that factor out. With Algarotti, who was looking for a job, definitely not. At the same time, the Algarotti essay collection and the Lady Mary biography have informed me Algarotti did root for Fritz during the 7 Years War in writing and in person in Italy (i.e. when with people who aren't Fritz' subjects), even if he wrote an MT poem just in case as well (perhaps a reaction to having written an earlier poem calling the battle of Prague the Prussian Pharsalos, which, not so much?), and while he clearly had decided at some point that living with Fritz was just too much, he still held respect and affection for him. (Another example of Algarotti being not nearly as gigolo like in his relationships as one could think is as I mentioned in my anthology write up that in the original version of his Russia book, he lets all his letters there be addressed to Lord Hervey, despite the fact the Russia book was published long after Hervey's death and a point where Hervey's name wasn't recalled with fondness by anyone of influence . And of course him reopening relationships with Lady Mary at a point when she's an English exile in Italy with not nearly as much money as she used to have.)
Also, wasn't d'Argens the one Fritz got upset with for going back to France for health reasons? But then he had a grave monument built for him? Just like Algarotti? JUST SAYING.
But that's different! D'Argens clearly had REAL health trouble! Algarotti was just faking it! And only one of them befriended Nicolai!
(BTW, I had known this but reading brought it back to me: D'Argens and Nicolai did team up in Fritz' life time to get him to make Moses Mendelsohn (one of the greatest philosophers of his time, the model for Lessing's Nathan the Wise, grandfather of Felix the composer) an Academy member. No dice. However, they did get Fritz to provide Mendelsohn with a Schutzbrief (given the shaky legal status of Jews, very important to have).
Re: More Nicolai
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From:Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 06:17 pm (UTC)ha, thank you for the clarification!
Argh, bleeding!
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 06:16 pm (UTC)*chokes*
I can see why you immediately thought of Mildred! I did too, LOL!
And VOLTAIRE. Need I say more?
I feel like I will forever find hilarious that Fritz/Voltaire had this crackship going that NO ONE understands :D
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 06:18 pm (UTC)Because this was ALREADY my headcanon and I had ALREADY developed entire storylines in my head revolving around Fritz sitting by the Antinous statue and contemplating Katte and death in the last years of his life. :D
History owes me a headcanon or two confirmed, after OBLITERATING so many of my long-cherished ones. :P
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 05:48 pm (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 12:08 pm (UTC)Seconded. The habit of adding appendices which reproduce unpublished sources mentioned in the main text - I'd like it back please!
le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys
Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it
I can easily see Manteuffel getting that from his source(s). Also, since one of the two passports survived in the state archive, somebody must have kept it as a souvenir in the first place, and I can't imagine that AW didn't tell tales about his adventure when he came back, even outside of writing memoirs for his kid (and imaginary fanfiction letters :)).
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 02:23 pm (UTC)Prince Wilhelm is one of the finest figures I have ever seen; he is tall, and in every respect perfectly well proportioned. His hair is brown; he has huge sprightly blue eyes, and all his features are extremely pleasing. Though he does not express himself well (...), his education appears to have been much neglected; and he has a timid and embarrassed air, which is very far from making a striking impression at the first interview.
To wit, that AW's now (that he's the new heir presumptative) when meeting new people is conscious of his lack of education Fritz kept pointing out before both in letters to him and to other people. This is something some of the early envoys also remark on (not to mention the probably Voltaire authored pamphlet exaggarating it to "he didn't learn to read or write until Fritz became King") and contrast with his older brother. Now the interesting thing is that no one else before or after describes AW as shy or tongue bound. Certainly not as a child when interacting with Dad whom everyone else is afraid of, and definitely not by the time Lehndorff gets to know him. And he was working on catching up with his education and using the cultural opportunities he now had (see also the fact he corresponded with Maupertuis). Now, AW's education had been neglected - Ziebura quite plausible speculates that the teachers, with the vivid example of how Duhan fared, probably rather erred on the side of not teaching anything to the King's second son, with the result that AW's on the same level as the four years younger Heinrich in his lessons - but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
...on the other hand, Wilhelmine certainly didn't see him as tongue-tied or shy when she met him on that same trip for the first time as an adult but was very positively impressed according to her memoirs. (And pointedly switches the "my brother" designation to AW while Fritz is now "The King".)
Manteuffel, the Kim Philby of Envoys: Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
Good point. Though it begs the question: would Manteuffel have bothered betraying him to MT? Because he might have decided to bet on Fritz in any case, and certainly no one thought MT had much of a shot once France, Saxony, Bavaria and Spain followed suit. Not to mention MT was out of cash, and Manteuffel might not have considered her as a rightful ruler anyway (because woman, and also cousin Karl Albrecht was the one voted Emperor). More likely Manteuffel would have signaled to Brühl that now was the time to team up with the Prussians in order to enlarge the chance of August III. getting voted Emperor. (Though that was off the table as soon as France decided to back Karl Albrecht, and maybe Manteuffel saw that coming, too.)
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 01:46 pm (UTC)This makes perfect sense. Combine that with your king being someone who values a quick wit and likes to indulge his taste for mockery, and I could see keeping your mouth firmly shut in his presence.
Perhaps Wilhelmine got some one-on-one time with AW in which he was more relaxed than he was in front of Fritz?
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 05:51 pm (UTC)That makes a lot of sense. And it also makes sense that AW could catch up to a great extent
although he'd never be on Heinrich's levelRe: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 05:53 pm (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-21 12:40 am (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-19 10:17 pm (UTC)Now, the passport is interesting, because it's for both "Graf Ferdinand Albrecht v. Schaffgotsch" AND for Algarotti, who doesn't seem to have had a pseudonym after all, no matter what Rödenbeck says.
Interesting! Voltaire even says:
Algaroti, who already had attached himself to [Fritz], was the only one who went unmasked.
Bielfeld doesn't have it, and of course neither does Koser. Preuss does, but is probably relying on Rödenbeck, who doesn't name his source. The two sources he cites (other than the Berlin newspapers he quotes) are Bielfeld and Voltaire, neither of which name Pfuhl, so I can't trace Pfuhl back any earlier than Rödenbeck.
Fritz did get to visit the theatre, and attracted curiosity there as well, because he commented loudly on the performance and gave a lot of money to a girl who was selling lottery tickets. (If that anecdote isn't true after all, it was certainly invented by someone who knew him. :P)
I died laughing. Se non fu vero, fu bene trovato!