Ooh, these Schöning reports are confirming so many things that I'd seen in modern sources but didn't know whether to trust!
And then there's this.
The sleep of the King was supposed to consist only of seven hours in the second half of his life; it actually lasted up to eight or nine hours
Seven? I thought it was five to six hours! Hence all the coffee. Never mind eight or nine. This is changing everything. What happened to 3 am in the summer, 4 am in the winter?
Depending on circumstances, he either rose immediately or slept a quarter of an hour, half an hour, sometimes even an hour longer.
Oh, that's what happened to it. :P
Early summer rising is still confirmed, though, thankfully!
I'm delighted by the confirmation of the anecdote of young Fritz's experiment with forgoing sleep, though. :)
The soupers only lasted until the 7 Years War. The King recognized that the stomach didn't digest as quickly when one got older
I seem to remember him saying this in a letter...to Voltaire?
For fanfic writers, MacDonogh reports,
We know the complete menu for one of his last meals, on 5 August 1786: broccoli soup à la Fouqué, beef in breadcrumbs with carrots, chicken with cinnamon and stuffed cucumbers in the English style (Frederick crossed it out and asked for cutlets), little pasties à la Romaine, young roast hake, salmon à la Dessau, chicken fillet à la Pompadour with ox tongues and croquettes, Portuguese cake, green peas, fresh herrings and gherkins.
To "à la Fouqué", he adds a note: "One is tempted to believe that this was with truffles."
Aah, we have MacDonough's source in the library, the 1997 Mitteilungen des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins, 1997, page 236.
He was awoken in the morning in the exact minute he had ordered in the previous evening, and fifteen minutes before that, the fireplace in his bedroom was lighted.He dressed himself while in bed with stockings, trousers and boots, the rest he put on while standing in front of the fire in the fireplace.
Excellent, I'd read that he dressed himself (contrary to most monarchs) and had adopted that as my headcanon, but didn't have a firm source for it. Ditto for not wanting to be seen in the nude.
He also says Fritz felt so safe at Sanssouci that he didn't permit any of the doors being locked.
Ah, this is a nice touch that I didn't know!
Finally, yay for regular mustard confirmation! \o/
Yes, I saw that! I think I'd accidentally turned up the article and not realized it, because I marked the volume as 1996, when it's 1996-1997, and that essay's in the 1997 section!
Then just now when I was hunting for the source of the meal citation through truly convoluted means (I won't even tell you how convoluted), I fiiiiinally found the 1997 one, and went...wait, this is the one we already have! Accidental detective and librarian work, lol forever.
Seven? I thought it was five to six hours! Hence all the coffee. Never mind eight or nine. This is changing everything. What happened to 3 am in the summer, 4 am in the winter?
In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age. Of course he had more energy and stamina (as well als stronger coffee intake) when younger. Don't forget, everyone observed that the 7 Years War rapidly aged him, and Schöning never knew him before.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I knew you'd be happy about the confirmed mustard and anti sleep marathon. :) Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
As I love crossreferences, remember this diary entry by Lehndorff from January 1778:
The health of the King remains a matter of concern. He is often feverish. On the day after Prince Heinrich’s birthday party, an odd accident happened to the King. When he got undressed, people put his waistcoat and everything else pulled off him near the fireplace. The clothing caught fire, and everything was in flames. But since he only has incompetent footmen around himself, the fire remained unnoticed, and it could have spread, if not for another footman who thankfully woke up and quenched the fire. The King is very angry that his tobacco box, several important papers and especially his spectacles did get burned. To indicate the state of wardrobe of this great man, I shall note that on the next day, he did not have an overcoat to wear; they had to send a messenger on horseback to Potsdam in order to get him such a piece of clothing.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
And speaking of Lehndorff's diary entries, a day of the life as Heinrich's guest at Rheinsberg in 1783, which says something about Heinrich's own schedule, looks like this:
March 16th: I leave for Rheinsberg in the most despicable weather and find the Prince alone with young Tauentzien. I still experience five pleasant weeks there. When Tauentzien leaves, I am completely alone with my Prince. He‘s never more charming than when he‘s able to talk about all kind of subjects without having to restrain himself, and then he talks with a fire, a clarity and a logic that one is dazzled. The morning, I spend in my room with reading. At 10, the Prince comes, and we chat. Then I get dressed in order to lunch with his Royal Highness. After lunch, we drive through the countryside. At 4 pm I’m back at home and read, till the Prince calls me at 6. Then I enter his gallery, which he calls his atelier, where he sits down behind his painting and I sit down behind mine. Toussaint reads out loud the journeys to India. Around 10 pm, we sit down for supper, and we never part before midnight. When the weather is nice, I walk a lot through the lovely gardens of Rheinsberg.
Now granted, Heinrich is a gentleman of leisure because he can't be anything else (he's left the army after his most recent fallout with Fritz over the Bavarian war, and there is no other job for a Prussian prince in Fritzian Prussia), and Lehndorff is retired. But both the differences and similarities are still striking.
In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age.
In general, old people sleep *less* (on average), but with his worsening health, I can imagine he's running out of energy to drag himself through a non-stop workday, so yeah, he might need more sleep to keep it up.
Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Yep! I was going to mention this and say that this detail is in a fic we all know and love! <3
I thought we had that from a contemporary who toured his rooms, but not from someone who lived with him, so this is good extra confirmation either way.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
Yes, I was thinking about that anecdote. The first time you shared it, and pointed out that Fritz had footmen undressing him, I either said or thought about saying that I had always learned that Fritz undressed himself, and I assumed that the servants' job was just putting away the clothes (given his messy habits, I doubt he could be bothered). And reading it more closely, with what we learned about him recently, I still think that Fritz was undressing himself and the footmen are putting the coat away...possibly hanging it up to the fireplace to dry, because he's sweated through it. Just like his nightshirt and sheets.
undressed himself standing in front of the fireplace except for boots and pants, put his nightshirt on, dismissed his servants
So either he's letting the clothes fall by the fireplace (because it's winter and these palace rooms are freaking cold) and everyone's leaving them wherever they land, in which case it's his fault for letting the land too close (and not ordering them removed), or else he's undressing himself, the servants (who are still present, because they're not dismissed until the next step, which suggests to me that they're doing *something* after he undresses, although maybe it's just removing candles and/or lamps) are arranging the clothes by the fire to dry, and then it's their fault.
So I give it at least a 50% chance the servants are to blame, and a 100% chance that if it was Fritz's fault, they would have gotten blamed anyway. ;)
cahn, note that getting to change quickly by the fireplace is one major advantage of being a monarch who dresses and undresses yourself. You read stories about French monarchs shivering in freezing bedrooms because dressing them is a prestigious position, so it goes according to rank. So if you've already undressed and someone's about to hand you your shirt, and a higher ranked noble walks in, that courtier has to hand *them* your shirt so *they* can hand it to you, and I think it was Marie Antoinette who complained that one time, by bad luck, nobles kept entering the room in increasing order of rank right after she'd undressed, so her clothes kept getting handed to noble after noble, before anything could actually be put on *her*, so she was naked and freezing!
Like Fritz, I'll dress myself, thanks.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I hadn't caught that, because I'm familiar with meat and fish prepared à la Pompadour being a thing, so I assumed that this was just the usual name for it in Europe already in 1786. But yes, it's interesting that it's the name at Fritz's court too! (Considering he had a horse named Lord Bute, etc.)
ETA:
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
Three things.
1. This has always been my headcanon. That's why I've always raised two eyebrows when he starts talking about how women smell.
2. Why do you think he needed that perfume?! He needs "an Italian spring morning right after the rain, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, bergamot, cedrat, lime and the flowers and herbs of [Italy]" to offset all the snuff and sweat, etc.
3. Just how bad he smelled (aside from the snuff, which is a given), I think depends on how often his clothes got laundered. I read about a study a while ago that investigated the whole "People didn't bathe in history!" (disclaimer: radical oversimplification, see also public baths, and sponge baths for people who thought immersion bathing was dangerous (esp in winter)) question, and found that the odor of an unwashed human body for 30 days is orders of magnitude less bad than unlaundered clothes for 30 days, and that the difference correlated with the amount of bacteria that grew on the respective surfaces.
In conclusion: Fritz stank, but d'Argens may have stunk worse. ;) It's the 18th century! Put on your perfume and get on with it. In cities like Edinburgh (Auld Reekie), the streets are running with human waste anyway, because all those chamber pots have to be dumped somewhere!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
Date: 2021-02-28 07:37 pm (UTC)And then there's this.
The sleep of the King was supposed to consist only of seven hours in the second half of his life; it actually lasted up to eight or nine hours
Seven? I thought it was five to six hours! Hence all the coffee. Never mind eight or nine. This is changing everything. What happened to 3 am in the summer, 4 am in the winter?
Depending on circumstances, he either rose immediately or slept a quarter of an hour, half an hour, sometimes even an hour longer.
Oh, that's what happened to it. :P
Early summer rising is still confirmed, though, thankfully!
I'm delighted by the confirmation of the anecdote of young Fritz's experiment with forgoing sleep, though. :)
The soupers only lasted until the 7 Years War. The King recognized that the stomach didn't digest as quickly when one got older
I seem to remember him saying this in a letter...to Voltaire?
For fanfic writers, MacDonogh reports,
We know the complete menu for one of his last meals, on 5 August 1786: broccoli soup à la Fouqué, beef in breadcrumbs with carrots, chicken with cinnamon and stuffed cucumbers in the English style (Frederick crossed it out and asked for cutlets), little pasties à la Romaine, young roast hake, salmon à la Dessau, chicken fillet à la Pompadour with ox tongues and croquettes, Portuguese cake, green peas, fresh herrings and gherkins.
To "à la Fouqué", he adds a note: "One is tempted to believe that this was with truffles."
Aah, we have MacDonough's source in the library, the 1997 Mitteilungen des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins, 1997, page 236.
He was awoken in the morning in the exact minute he had ordered in the previous evening, and fifteen minutes before that, the fireplace in his bedroom was lighted.He dressed himself while in bed with stockings, trousers and boots, the rest he put on while standing in front of the fire in the fireplace.
Excellent, I'd read that he dressed himself (contrary to most monarchs) and had adopted that as my headcanon, but didn't have a firm source for it. Ditto for not wanting to be seen in the nude.
He also says Fritz felt so safe at Sanssouci that he didn't permit any of the doors being locked.
Ah, this is a nice touch that I didn't know!
Finally, yay for regular mustard confirmation! \o/
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
Date: 2021-02-28 08:29 pm (UTC)Which, as I just saw, is the exact essay you were looking for in this comment! And yes, it does mention the mustard, too, as MacDonough says.
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
Date: 2021-02-28 08:32 pm (UTC)Then just now when I was hunting for the source of the meal citation through truly convoluted means (I won't even tell you how convoluted), I fiiiiinally found the 1997 one, and went...wait, this is the one we already have! Accidental detective and librarian work, lol forever.
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
Date: 2021-03-01 08:17 am (UTC)In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age. Of course he had more energy and stamina (as well als stronger coffee intake) when younger. Don't forget, everyone observed that the 7 Years War rapidly aged him, and Schöning never knew him before.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I knew you'd be happy about the confirmed mustard and anti sleep marathon. :) Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
As I love crossreferences, remember this diary entry by Lehndorff from January 1778:
The health of the King remains a matter of concern. He is often feverish. On the day after Prince Heinrich’s birthday party, an odd accident happened to the King. When he got undressed, people put his waistcoat and everything else pulled off him near the fireplace. The clothing caught fire, and everything was in flames. But since he only has incompetent footmen around himself, the fire remained unnoticed, and it could have spread, if not for another footman who thankfully woke up and quenched the fire. The King is very angry that his tobacco box, several important papers and especially his spectacles did get burned. To indicate the state of wardrobe of this great man, I shall note that on the next day, he did not have an overcoat to wear; they had to send a messenger on horseback to Potsdam in order to get him such a piece of clothing.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
And speaking of Lehndorff's diary entries, a day of the life as Heinrich's guest at Rheinsberg in 1783, which says something about Heinrich's own schedule, looks like this:
March 16th: I leave for Rheinsberg in the most despicable weather and find the Prince alone with young Tauentzien. I still experience five pleasant weeks there. When Tauentzien leaves, I am completely alone with my Prince. He‘s never more charming than when he‘s able to talk about all kind of subjects without having to restrain himself, and then he talks with a fire, a clarity and a logic that one is dazzled. The morning, I spend in my room with reading. At 10, the Prince comes, and we chat. Then I get dressed in order to lunch with his Royal Highness. After lunch, we drive through the countryside. At 4 pm I’m back at home and read, till the Prince calls me at 6. Then I enter his gallery, which he calls his atelier, where he sits down behind his painting and I sit down behind mine. Toussaint reads out loud the journeys to India. Around 10 pm, we sit down for supper, and we never part before midnight. When the weather is nice, I walk a lot through the lovely gardens of Rheinsberg.
Now granted, Heinrich is a gentleman of leisure because he can't be anything else (he's left the army after his most recent fallout with Fritz over the Bavarian war, and there is no other job for a Prussian prince in Fritzian Prussia), and Lehndorff is retired. But both the differences and similarities are still striking.
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
Date: 2021-03-01 09:43 pm (UTC)In general, old people sleep *less* (on average), but with his worsening health, I can imagine he's running out of energy to drag himself through a non-stop workday, so yeah, he might need more sleep to keep it up.
Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Yep! I was going to mention this and say that this detail is in a fic we all know and love! <3
I thought we had that from a contemporary who toured his rooms, but not from someone who lived with him, so this is good extra confirmation either way.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
Yes, I was thinking about that anecdote. The first time you shared it, and pointed out that Fritz had footmen undressing him, I either said or thought about saying that I had always learned that Fritz undressed himself, and I assumed that the servants' job was just putting away the clothes (given his messy habits, I doubt he could be bothered). And reading it more closely, with what we learned about him recently, I still think that Fritz was undressing himself and the footmen are putting the coat away...possibly hanging it up to the fireplace to dry, because he's sweated through it. Just like his nightshirt and sheets.
undressed himself standing in front of the fireplace except for boots and pants, put his nightshirt on, dismissed his servants
So either he's letting the clothes fall by the fireplace (because it's winter and these palace rooms are freaking cold) and everyone's leaving them wherever they land, in which case it's his fault for letting the land too close (and not ordering them removed), or else he's undressing himself, the servants (who are still present, because they're not dismissed until the next step, which suggests to me that they're doing *something* after he undresses, although maybe it's just removing candles and/or lamps) are arranging the clothes by the fire to dry, and then it's their fault.
So I give it at least a 50% chance the servants are to blame, and a 100% chance that if it was Fritz's fault, they would have gotten blamed anyway. ;)
Like Fritz, I'll dress myself, thanks.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I hadn't caught that, because I'm familiar with meat and fish prepared à la Pompadour being a thing, so I assumed that this was just the usual name for it in Europe already in 1786. But yes, it's interesting that it's the name at Fritz's court too! (Considering he had a horse named Lord Bute, etc.)
ETA:
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
Three things.
1. This has always been my headcanon. That's why I've always raised two eyebrows when he starts talking about how women smell.
2. Why do you think he needed that perfume?! He needs "an Italian spring morning right after the rain, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, bergamot, cedrat, lime and the flowers and herbs of [Italy]" to offset all the snuff and sweat, etc.
3. Just how bad he smelled (aside from the snuff, which is a given), I think depends on how often his clothes got laundered. I read about a study a while ago that investigated the whole "People didn't bathe in history!" (disclaimer: radical oversimplification, see also public baths, and sponge baths for people who thought immersion bathing was dangerous (esp in winter)) question, and found that the odor of an unwashed human body for 30 days is orders of magnitude less bad than unlaundered clothes for 30 days, and that the difference correlated with the amount of bacteria that grew on the respective surfaces.
In conclusion: Fritz stank, but d'Argens may have stunk worse. ;) It's the 18th century! Put on your perfume and get on with it. In cities like Edinburgh (Auld Reekie), the streets are running with human waste anyway, because all those chamber pots have to be dumped somewhere!