Rottembourg, like Peter Keith, is someone you have to accidentally run across references to in books about other people. In this case, Charles Whitworth, British envoy in the first quarter of the 18th century, whose biography I've just finished reading.
Whitworth and Rottembourg overlapped in Berlin: a couple months in 1716, and then mid 1719 to late 1720. The latter was, if you know your dates, right as the Great Northern War was ending and the peace was being negotiated, so they were not idle. Britain was trying to push a treaty with Sweden and Prussia, and, if I'm recalling correctly, France was acting as guarantor. And FW was dragging his feet on signing it. (This is the treaty where Prussia got most of Swedish Pomerania, but FW was trying to hold out for more stuff and the exact terms of Stettin he wanted.)
Turns out, Whitworth and Rottembourg were, if not BFFs, at least good working buddies:
He was also able to establish cordial relations with Count Conrad Rottembourg, the French ambassador, which lasted for the rest of his diplomatic career.
When FW was dragging his feet:
Whitworth was aware that everything could be lost at this moment. He decided to approach Frederick William personally, with Rottembourg at his side.
The treaty did eventually get signed, with some pushing and backdating by Whitworth.
But not before this happened:
A further complication arose through an almost comic incident in September when Whitworth became aware of a secret negotiation between the Prussian and Russian ministers concerning Poland. Ilgen [Prussian Foreign minister] had sent a servant with two packets to be delivered, one for Rottembourg, the French minister, and the other for Golovkin. The servant, however, delivered the wrong packages with the result that Rottembourg discovered the draft of a proposed Russian-Prussian treaty, intended for Golovkin, which he duly revealed to Whitworth. The proposed Russian-Prussian treaty thus came to nothing and poor Ilgen was left ‘in the agony of his mistake’.
So Rottembourg is totally passing on secrets to his buddy Whitworth, the English diplomat.
Ilgen, btw, is Ariane's mother's (the Baroness who gets a cameo at the beginning of "Lovers lying two and two") father. Remember, Ariane's father Knyphausen is a diplomat and Minister of War, and he marries the daughter of the foreign minister Ilgen. (Peter totally married up.)
And then, a few years later, in 1723-1725, Whitworth and Rottembourg are posted to the Congress of Cambrai together!
On a personal level, Whitworth had excellent relations with Count Rottembourg, the French Plenipotentiary, whom he had known from his mission to Berlin and liked as ‘a man of very great Judgment, and Experience … one of the best heads they have now left in France’. But he also suspected that Rottembourg was kept in the dark as to the true intentions and policies of the French court now there had been a change in leadership. [The Regent died in late 1723 and was replaced by the Duc de Bourbon.]
Unfortunately, nothing happens at Cambrai, because the real negotiation is happening in Paris. Whitworth is extremely frustrated.
But, what this quote about Rottembourg suggests to me that is of interest to my hypothetical fic is that Rottembourg may not have been a stickler/hypersensitive about etiquette by the standards of the time, because there was very little Whitworth could stand less on his missions than unnecessary ceremony. Those informal Brits! Or possibly Rottembourg just had other qualities that made up for it (he was French, after all).
But we'll just say Rottembourg got along with the guy whose letters are constantly like, "Oh my gooooood, I had to enter Cambrai as part of a formal procession, just like I did in Moscow, there is no neeeeed for this. Fucking hell. Now I'm trying to do real work, but nothing is getting done, because everyone's just arguing about precedence. Whyyyyyy." Only more politely. :P
(Also, man after my own heart, clearly. :P)
Whitworth died in 1725, thus ending his chances to work together with Rottembourg.
I'll try to say more about Whitworth on another occasion, but I must sign off now.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Tiny bit of Rottembourg
Date: 2021-06-16 12:01 am (UTC)Whitworth and Rottembourg overlapped in Berlin: a couple months in 1716, and then mid 1719 to late 1720. The latter was, if you know your dates, right as the Great Northern War was ending and the peace was being negotiated, so they were not idle. Britain was trying to push a treaty with Sweden and Prussia, and, if I'm recalling correctly, France was acting as guarantor. And FW was dragging his feet on signing it. (This is the treaty where Prussia got most of Swedish Pomerania, but FW was trying to hold out for more stuff and the exact terms of Stettin he wanted.)
Turns out, Whitworth and Rottembourg were, if not BFFs, at least good working buddies:
He was also able to establish cordial relations with Count Conrad Rottembourg, the French ambassador, which lasted for the rest of his diplomatic career.
When FW was dragging his feet:
Whitworth was aware that everything could be lost at this moment. He decided to approach Frederick William personally, with Rottembourg at his side.
The treaty did eventually get signed, with some pushing and backdating by Whitworth.
But not before this happened:
A further complication arose through an almost comic incident in September when Whitworth became aware of a secret negotiation between the Prussian and Russian ministers concerning Poland. Ilgen [Prussian Foreign minister] had sent a servant with two packets to be delivered, one for Rottembourg, the French minister, and the other for Golovkin. The servant, however, delivered the wrong packages with the result that Rottembourg discovered the draft of a proposed Russian-Prussian treaty, intended for Golovkin, which he duly revealed to Whitworth. The proposed Russian-Prussian treaty thus came to nothing and poor Ilgen was left ‘in the agony of his mistake’.
So Rottembourg is totally passing on secrets to his buddy Whitworth, the English diplomat.
Ilgen, btw, is Ariane's mother's (the Baroness who gets a cameo at the beginning of "Lovers lying two and two") father. Remember, Ariane's father Knyphausen is a diplomat and Minister of War, and he marries the daughter of the foreign minister Ilgen. (Peter totally married up.)
And then, a few years later, in 1723-1725, Whitworth and Rottembourg are posted to the Congress of Cambrai together!
On a personal level, Whitworth had excellent relations with Count Rottembourg, the French Plenipotentiary, whom he had known from his mission to Berlin and liked as ‘a man of very great Judgment, and Experience … one of the best heads they have now left in France’. But he also suspected that Rottembourg was kept in the dark as to the true intentions and policies of the French court now there had been a change in leadership. [The Regent died in late 1723 and was replaced by the Duc de Bourbon.]
Unfortunately, nothing happens at Cambrai, because the real negotiation is happening in Paris. Whitworth is extremely frustrated.
But, what this quote about Rottembourg suggests to me
that is of interest to my hypothetical ficis that Rottembourg may not have been a stickler/hypersensitive about etiquette by the standards of the time, because there was very little Whitworth could stand less on his missions than unnecessary ceremony. Those informal Brits! Or possibly Rottembourg just had other qualities that made up for it (he was French, after all).But we'll just say Rottembourg got along with the guy whose letters are constantly like, "Oh my gooooood, I had to enter Cambrai as part of a formal procession, just like I did in Moscow, there is no neeeeed for this. Fucking hell. Now I'm trying to do real work, but nothing is getting done, because everyone's just arguing about precedence. Whyyyyyy." Only more politely. :P
(Also, man after my own heart, clearly. :P)
Whitworth died in 1725, thus ending his chances to work together with Rottembourg.
I'll try to say more about Whitworth on another occasion, but I must sign off now.