Not to mention: unlike Katte, Peter has no useful connections in England or France, he doesn't know G1's former mistress or French Count Rottembourg. Involving Peter in the active planing at all also carries the risk of the mail to and from Wesel being read.
I meant to say, Wilhelmine, when trying to talk Fritz out of escaping in her memoirs, has Fritz say:
Katt is in my interest: he is attached to me, and will follow me to the farthest corner of the globe, if I chuse. Keith will also join me.
I've always imagined that one reason Fritz wants his boyfriends with him when he goes to England is not just because now they can have sex Katte has connections, but because he needs people around him he can trust. He'll be stranded in a foreign court where, family or no, everyone has their own agenda (and Parliament has a large say in things). I can't imagine he wouldn't want a trusted confidant with him, and even if he already has Katte, two trusted confidants for spying, message carrying, delegation, etc. would be even better.
But then there's this, which we've discussed: Peter probably wanted to get the fuck out of Prussia asap. There is no way he liked FW's Prussia. And, he was personal page! I imagine that was in no way a pleasant job, between the short temper and the close oversight (reading very difficult, must be done at night, very dangerous), etc. I imagine Peter was veeeery sympathetic to Fritz's desire to GTFO as long as he could go too. (I think that was another reason he jumped at the chance on August 6th.)
He seems to have enjoyed his 10 years outside of Prussia, though of course we have Formey's skewed toward the positive account. Still, the guy who wanted to be educated but wasn't, stayed up late at night reading in the Hague, spent a few years at Trinity in Dublin, hung out in learned circles in London, and then spent a lot of time in Portugal studying languages, and came back to join the Academy of Sciences, proooobably liked exile quite a bit better than being FW's page, or even being in the Prussian army in one of the least prestigious regiments.
So it's probable that Peter was the most gung-ho about the escape attempt, the only one in 1729 who wanted to go with Fritz as opposed to just help him out, and quite possibly even in 1730, the only one who Fritz could be sure *would* go, when Katte was evidently dragging his feet so much he had to be lied to.
So if I were Fritz, in July/August 1730, who'd probably spent all of 1729 talking with Peter about how great it was going to be in England together, I'd include Peter in the actual escape too. He's not only ideally situated (except for all the long-distance communication), but he's probably the only one who'll be disappointed if he doesn't get to desert with me!
This is my headcanon, and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, it seems to be close to canon that Peter was planning to go with Fritz in 1729, and it's likely that he was the only one at the time.
I'm glad you made it, Peter. <3 I'm sorry about literally everything else.
I can't imagine he wouldn't want a trusted confidant with him, and even if he already has Katte, two trusted confidants for spying, message carrying, delegation, etc. would be even better.
Quite true, and I agree that Peter is likely to have been gung-ho from the start, and thus could be relied upon to go through with it. And there's this: if he doesn't desert, then, as a younger son of a not that important family, he has zero protection from an angry FW if FW should choose to hold him responsible once Fritz and Katte have made their successful escape. Which, if Peter got transfered to Wesel on suspicion because of an anonymous tip in the first place, he's almost bound to. At the very least, what happened to Spaen in rl would have happened to Peter. Probably worse, for as Spaen himself said, if Katte doesn't die, FW still is going to want a blood sacrifice.
Speaking of Spaen: I have to confess that before reading Nicolai, I didn't remember him. Though admittedly I only remembered Ingersleben because of [Bad username or unknown identity: prinzsorgenfrei"]'s tea cups art and because he got blamed for chaperoning Fritz with Doris Ritter. So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Otoh, if he really was a good friend, then we have an interesting "road not taken" for Peter, because Spaen, too, goes abroad into foreign service, only he stays abroad, and has his life and career there. Of course Peter ended up having a good life in Prussia, too, but early on, in 1741, say, before his marriage and with the difference betweeen Crown Prince Fritz and King Fritz being glaringly obvious even in absentia, there must have been times when he thought: Should have stayed in Portugal.
Of course, both of them had a fate infinitely preferable to Doris Ritter's. :(
MacDonogh gives the escape attempt in some detail, so while I couldn't have given you all the Spaen detail off the top of my head, I did remember him and Ingersleben.
On Spaen:
In the course of the hearing, [Fritz] carelessly implicated Robert [sic!] Keith, Katte and Lieutenant von Spaen. The last two were arrested as a result.
The prince’s friends the subalterns Spaen and Ingersleben were rounded up and thrown into prison. So too was poor Doris Ritter.
[The court martial's] job was to try Frederick, Katte, Ingersleben, Spaen and Lieutenant Keith. The different members of the court martial delivered their verdicts according to rank on 27 and 28 October. Ingersleben’s offence of running between Frederick and Doris Ritter was considered minor. Suggestions for Ingersleben’s punishment ranged from six weeks’ confinement to quarters (major-generals) to six months’ fortress detention (majors and colonels). Spaen was privy to certain secrets. He merited a stiffer sentence: to be dismissed from his regiment and incarcerated for anything up to six years.
Peter Keith had well and truly deserted. Here the verdicts were consistent with Prussian law. In his garrison the drum should be beaten three times. If Keith did not appear, he should be declared ‘unspeakable’, his sword broken, and his image hanged in effigy.
On 1 November the king wrote from Wusterhausen to confirm the court’s sentences on Spaen and Keith, and pardoned Ingersleben. Others who had simply been close to Frederick were banished: the prince’s librarian Jacques, and the brother and sister von Bülow, who had been friends of Frederick. Duhan de Jandun was exiled to Memel. The Freiherr von Montolieu, who had lent Frederick money, wisely fled before he was asked.
Selena wonders:
So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Well, if he said or implied he was on the same level as Keith, I'm going to guess he was exaggerating, based partly on the fact that Wilhelmine didn't see him as a threat! And based partly on the fact that he doesn't seem to have been nearly as involved in the escape as Katte and Keith.
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Re: The Escape Attempt (Nicolai Version)
I meant to say, Wilhelmine, when trying to talk Fritz out of escaping in her memoirs, has Fritz say:
Katt is in my interest: he is attached to me, and will follow me to the farthest corner of the globe, if I chuse. Keith will also join me.
I've always imagined that one reason Fritz wants his boyfriends with him when he goes to England is not just because
now they can have sexKatte has connections, but because he needs people around him he can trust. He'll be stranded in a foreign court where, family or no, everyone has their own agenda (and Parliament has a large say in things). I can't imagine he wouldn't want a trusted confidant with him, and even if he already has Katte, two trusted confidants for spying, message carrying, delegation, etc. would be even better.But then there's this, which we've discussed: Peter probably wanted to get the fuck out of Prussia asap. There is no way he liked FW's Prussia. And, he was personal page! I imagine that was in no way a pleasant job, between the short temper and the close oversight (reading very difficult, must be done at night, very dangerous), etc. I imagine Peter was veeeery sympathetic to Fritz's desire to GTFO as long as he could go too. (I think that was another reason he jumped at the chance on August 6th.)
He seems to have enjoyed his 10 years outside of Prussia, though of course we have Formey's skewed toward the positive account. Still, the guy who wanted to be educated but wasn't, stayed up late at night reading in the Hague, spent a few years at Trinity in Dublin, hung out in learned circles in London, and then spent a lot of time in Portugal studying languages, and came back to join the Academy of Sciences, proooobably liked exile quite a bit better than being FW's page, or even being in the Prussian army in one of the least prestigious regiments.
So it's probable that Peter was the most gung-ho about the escape attempt, the only one in 1729 who wanted to go with Fritz as opposed to just help him out, and quite possibly even in 1730, the only one who Fritz could be sure *would* go, when Katte was evidently dragging his feet so much he had to be lied to.
So if I were Fritz, in July/August 1730, who'd probably spent all of 1729 talking with Peter about how great it was going to be in England together, I'd include Peter in the actual escape too. He's not only ideally situated (except for all the long-distance communication), but he's probably the only one who'll be disappointed if he doesn't get to desert with me!
This is my headcanon, and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, it seems to be close to canon that Peter was planning to go with Fritz in 1729, and it's likely that he was the only one at the time.
I'm glad you made it, Peter. <3 I'm sorry about literally everything else.
Re: The Escape Attempt (Nicolai Version)
Quite true, and I agree that Peter is likely to have been gung-ho from the start, and thus could be relied upon to go through with it. And there's this: if he doesn't desert, then, as a younger son of a not that important family, he has zero protection from an angry FW if FW should choose to hold him responsible once Fritz and Katte have made their successful escape. Which, if Peter got transfered to Wesel on suspicion because of an anonymous tip in the first place, he's almost bound to. At the very least, what happened to Spaen in rl would have happened to Peter. Probably worse, for as Spaen himself said, if Katte doesn't die, FW still is going to want a blood sacrifice.
Speaking of Spaen: I have to confess that before reading Nicolai, I didn't remember him. Though admittedly I only remembered Ingersleben because of [Bad username or unknown identity: prinzsorgenfrei"]'s tea cups art and because he got blamed for chaperoning Fritz with Doris Ritter. So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Otoh, if he really was a good friend, then we have an interesting "road not taken" for Peter, because Spaen, too, goes abroad into foreign service, only he stays abroad, and has his life and career there. Of course Peter ended up having a good life in Prussia, too, but early on, in 1741, say, before his marriage and with the difference betweeen Crown Prince Fritz and King Fritz being glaringly obvious even in absentia, there must have been times when he thought: Should have stayed in Portugal.
Of course, both of them had a fate infinitely preferable to Doris Ritter's. :(
Re: The Escape Attempt (Nicolai Version)
On Spaen:
In the course of the hearing, [Fritz] carelessly implicated Robert [sic!] Keith, Katte and Lieutenant von Spaen. The last two were arrested as a result.
The prince’s friends the subalterns Spaen and Ingersleben were rounded up and thrown into prison. So too was poor Doris Ritter.
[The court martial's] job was to try Frederick, Katte, Ingersleben, Spaen and Lieutenant Keith. The different members of the court martial delivered their verdicts according to rank on 27 and 28 October. Ingersleben’s offence of running between Frederick and Doris Ritter was considered minor. Suggestions for Ingersleben’s punishment ranged from six weeks’ confinement to quarters (major-generals) to six months’ fortress detention (majors and colonels). Spaen was privy to certain secrets. He merited a stiffer sentence: to be dismissed from his regiment and incarcerated for anything up to six years.
Peter Keith had well and truly deserted. Here the verdicts were consistent with Prussian law. In his garrison the drum should be beaten three times. If Keith did not appear, he should be declared ‘unspeakable’, his sword broken, and his image hanged in effigy.
On 1 November the king wrote from Wusterhausen to confirm the court’s sentences on Spaen and Keith, and pardoned Ingersleben. Others who had simply been close to Frederick were banished: the prince’s librarian Jacques, and the brother and sister von Bülow, who had been friends of Frederick. Duhan de Jandun was exiled to Memel. The Freiherr von Montolieu, who had lent Frederick money, wisely fled before he was asked.
Selena wonders:
So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Well, if he said or implied he was on the same level as Keith, I'm going to guess he was exaggerating, based partly on the fact that Wilhelmine didn't see him as a threat! And based partly on the fact that he doesn't seem to have been nearly as involved in the escape as Katte and Keith.