If the duel was in 1728 or 1729 (remind me which one?)
With some help from Lavisse, Koser reminds me that the events that Hervey reports as triggering this almost-duel, the fight between Prussians and Hanoverians over Prussian recruiters being imprisoned in Hanover over their over-enthusiastic acquisition of soldiers for the Prussian army, and the Hanoverians stole some hay that the Prussians mowed, took place in August 1729. And even authors (like Koser and Lavisse) who don't mention anything about single combat that I can see, claim that soldiers were mobilized and the two kings almost went to war, so that does sound like a plausible time for a duel.
If it was that late, then I'm guessing Fritz doesn't need a regent? Assuming the duel takes place in September, he turns 18 in just 4 months. What was the age for not needing a regent in Prussia, though? It was 13 in France and 17 in Sweden (but had been 24 until a hundred years ago--they changed it for Gustavus Adolphus); not sure about Prussia.
Re: What if: FW vs G2 duel goes go through, ends lethally
Ha, and here I thought Hervey was just making something up for comic relief when he mentioned the hay in addition to the soldiers! Kudos, Poirot.
Age for throne ascending: older than FW2 was at the battle of Kunersdorf at any rate, since Fritz was clear on Heinrich becoming regent at that point. Also I seem to recall that when he told Catt that AW dying has ruined his plans for retirement because now he’ll have to stick around till his nephew is off age, he says something like “I still have four/five more years in me” (I don’t remember whether it was four or five, alas). This is from the diary, so presumably he did say it.
Anyway, on the one hand, given that the Kingdom of Prussia was so very new - and in the end never faced a situation where the King was a minor - , I wonder whether they just left it vague, but then again I would be very surprised if micromanaging FW hadn’t had it covered by law even if his Dad did not.
Re: What if: FW vs G2 duel goes go through, ends lethally
Ha, and here I thought Hervey was just making something up for comic relief when he mentioned the hay in addition to the soldiers! Kudos, Poirot.
No, I remembered it from my Lavisse and Koser reading! Fortunately, Lavisse is searchable and gives the exact page number in Koser for his citation, and Koser (bless him) has the date.
Age for throne ascending: older than FW2 was at the battle of Kunersdorf at any rate
He would have been just shy of 15 (September 1744 - August 1759). So it's not 13, at any rate. Probably ~18? Which checks out, because what I remember was that if French Rottembourg had succeeded in getting FW overthrown sometime before he gave up in 1727, SD would have been regent for Fritz. Of course, I don't remember what my source for that is; it's a dim memory that might or might not go back to Lavisse (who at least did heavily rely on the French archives, as well as Koser).
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Re: What if: FW vs G2 duel goes go through, ends lethally
With some help from Lavisse, Koser reminds me that the events that Hervey reports as triggering this almost-duel, the fight between Prussians and Hanoverians over Prussian recruiters being imprisoned in Hanover over their over-enthusiastic acquisition of soldiers for the Prussian army, and the Hanoverians stole some hay that the Prussians mowed, took place in August 1729. And even authors (like Koser and Lavisse) who don't mention anything about single combat that I can see, claim that soldiers were mobilized and the two kings almost went to war, so that does sound like a plausible time for a duel.
If it was that late, then I'm guessing Fritz doesn't need a regent? Assuming the duel takes place in September, he turns 18 in just 4 months. What was the age for not needing a regent in Prussia, though? It was 13 in France and 17 in Sweden (but had been 24 until a hundred years ago--they changed it for Gustavus Adolphus); not sure about Prussia.
Re: What if: FW vs G2 duel goes go through, ends lethally
Age for throne ascending: older than FW2 was at the battle of Kunersdorf at any rate, since Fritz was clear on Heinrich becoming regent at that point. Also I seem to recall that when he told Catt that AW dying has ruined his plans for retirement because now he’ll have to stick around till his nephew is off age, he says something like “I still have four/five more years in me” (I don’t remember whether it was four or five, alas). This is from the diary, so presumably he did say it.
Anyway, on the one hand, given that the Kingdom of Prussia was so very new - and in the end never faced a situation where the King was a minor - , I wonder whether they just left it vague, but then again I would be very surprised if micromanaging FW hadn’t had it covered by law even if his Dad did not.
Re: What if: FW vs G2 duel goes go through, ends lethally
No, I remembered it from my Lavisse and Koser reading! Fortunately, Lavisse is searchable and gives the exact page number in Koser for his citation, and Koser (bless him) has the date.
Age for throne ascending: older than FW2 was at the battle of Kunersdorf at any rate
He would have been just shy of 15 (September 1744 - August 1759). So it's not 13, at any rate. Probably ~18? Which checks out, because what I remember was that if French Rottembourg had succeeded in getting FW overthrown sometime before he gave up in 1727, SD would have been regent for Fritz. Of course, I don't remember what my source for that is; it's a dim memory that might or might not go back to Lavisse (who at least did heavily rely on the French archives, as well as Koser).