While reading Orieux, I made a few notes on minor points to bring up.
1. Classics reference alert: I don't know if this made it into your abridged copy, cahn, but the Philippiques attributed to Voltaire, that were an attack on Philippe II d'Orleans, Regent, son of gay Philippe (have you got that connection in your head now, or should we keep repeating it?), are an allusion to the attacks by Demosthenes on Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Demosthenes kept warning the Athenians to resist the temptation to cozy up to the increasingly threatening Philip, and instead to unite with the other city-states of Greece to fight Macedon before it became too powerful. He claimed that Philip, whatever alliances or promises he made now, would turn on Athens as soon as it was in his best interests to do so.
The original Philippics became so well-known that Cicero's polemics against Marc Antony were also called the Philippics, even though Antony's name wasn't Philip. ;) Educated contemporaries would have absolutely made the connection between Philippe the Regent and Philip of Macedon when they read the Philippiques.
2. Orieux says that Voltaire's remains were stolen, as was proven when his grave was dug up in the 19th century. Every semi-reliable source I could find when googling this says that there was a rumor going around to this effect, until his grave was dug up in the 19th century and his remains were found to still be there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. So I talked about the whole war chariot thing in one of my posts. At the start of the Seven Years' War, before Fritz gets his butt kicked at Kolin and starts talking suicide, and Voltaire is still not speaking to him, he designs a whole war chariot (Kriegswagen), based on his reading of ancient history, that he wants the French to use to try to defeat the Prussians!
To tell the truth, he would have liked to see Friedrich's defeat and hoist the flag for it. At this time Voltaire was doing an astonishing occupation: he invented a war chariot to destroy the Prussian army. It is not a matter of poetic reverie: the plans are drawn up, the machine exists on paper. Of course, it's of literary origin: from a description of the war chariots of Assuerus [Xerxes], he was inspired with the idea of his modern war machine. He presents his plan to Monsieur de Florian, a talented officer who studies it and presents it to the minister. Richelieu is interested in it for a moment - or pretends to be. Briefly, while the offices leaf through the plan and it changes files, the Austrian infantry annihilates the Prussian army near Kolin. And the paper car is returned to Voltaire-Assuerus. Which does not prevent Monsieur de Florian's and other officers' reports from being serious. They even built a small model that Voltaire was enthusiastic about.
Then Fritz starts talking suicide, Wilhelmine sends out a cry for help, Voltaire "wiped away [Fritz's] tears from afar that [he] no longer want[ed] to wipe up close" (thanks for this awesome quote, felis), Fritz kicks French butt at Rossbach, there's no more talk of war chariots...
Until Catherine! Once his new fan is on the throne and waging wars of conquest against the Ottomans, Voltaire is all gung ho:
When she went to war against the Turks, there was no torture that Voltaire did not wish the Sultan to undergo. Everything should belong to "his Käthe", and above all the Balkan countries! She should just grab them! "Semiramis" as liberator from Sophocles' fatherland, what an intoxicating plan! Let her take Istanbul, bring Constantinople back to life and make it her capital! Nothing was too big or too beautiful for his Käthe. He regretted being seventy, otherwise ... he indicates that he would fight for her.
One remembers his war machines, his Assyrian war chariots, which the artillery colonel Monsieur de Florian replicated at his suggestion, but were then rejected after closer examination by the war minister. This rejection of Versailles had hurt him. He did not hide the fact that the French defeats in the Seven Years' War stemmed from the lack of his chariots/wagons in the French army. Now he offered his war machines to Catherine II. He did so with a passion and tenacity to which Her Imperial Majesty finally ... gave a very evasive answer. He didn't want to see that she was politely rejecting him. He pretended that her letter opened negotiations. In his answer to Katharina, he promised her all possible victories over the Great Turk and let his comedic imagination run wild. He already saw himself as the stimulus and tool of the victory of his tsarina. He, who was so adept at reading and interpreting the language of the court, let himself be blinded by the limelight because he played in front of an incomparable spectator: Catherine II, Empress of all the Russias. Everyone has their own whimsy, even the sensible François Arouet. And so his chariots, which had been defeated in Versailles, were defeated for the second time in Saint Petersburg. But this defeat remained a secret.
Lol, Voltaire. I found a whole scholarly article on Voltaire and his attitudes toward war, which basically concludes, "Yeah, it's complicated."
4. So remember how Fritz was convinced Voltaire was going to refute everything on his deathbed? While we can see in hindsight how it really turned out, Fritz wishes you to know that he wasn't totally making this up, either:
During a trip to Saxony a few years before, he had been seized with such severe colic that he thought he was dying, and this time he wasn't lying. He immediately called a priest, confessed, received the sacraments, but recovered; that is the rule. When he regained his senses, he said to his secretary, Monsieur Dièze, who was as confused by the agony as by the sacraments and the resurrection: "My friend, you have seen man's weakness."
5. Remember when Voltaire in 1766 was trying to get Diderot and the other philosophes to go to Cleves, where everything would be awesome because it was Fritzian territory (and yet, as Peter Keith proved, close enough to the Netherlands to escape if you needed to)? Apparently, he actually wrote to Fritz, and Fritz said yes (of course):
He then asked Friedrich to grant him asylum in his principality of Kleve. The king, though surprised, agreed. "This asylum will always be open to you. How could I refuse it to a man who has done so much honor to literature, his fatherland, humanity, in a word, his century?"
THOSE TWO.
6. Speaking of THOSE TWO, Voltaire wants to be allowed to return to Paris, but Versailles is looking askance at him defecting to Prussia, then coming back to France and wanting his old job back. Orieux:
Listen to this; it's really astonishing what [Voltaire] writes:
"If I dared to speak of myself for a moment, then I would say that I've never understood why people are mad at me for my flirtation (Koketterien) with the King of Prussia. If they knew that one day he kissed my hand, as thin as it is, in order to keep me with him, then everyone would forgive me for letting it happen."
We admit, there's nothing anyone can say against this argument. Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
NOT VOLTAIRE, that's for sure. :PPP
7. So this part confused me. When he's introducing the correspondence between Voltaire and Crown Prince Fritz in 1736, Orieux writes, "Friedrich had offered him his house in London to escape to." What house in London? It's 1736, he's just barely acquired Rheinsberg. He could maybe put in a good word with the Prussian resident there, but doesn't that depend on FW?
I'm confused. Can one of you who've read Pleschinski (*cough* it's on my list!) maybe clear this up?
8. Orieux is really a fan of the Arouet ancestors, isn't he? I found it charming, albeit unconvincing.
Thanks for the rec, selenak! This was really worth the struggle with German read. If I ever make it to French, I'm planning on tackling this in the original.
Orieux about Voltaire's remains: Well, remember his version of Voltaire's death is also way behind the one I linked cahn to. Checking out what other biographies of his are available in Germany, I came across this withering critique of his Catherine de' Medici biography, the highlights of which (of the critique, not the book, which I Haven't read) are:
Protestant "Heresy" wtf, Orieux? Pray use a more neutral term. Ditto for Henri III's "unnatural practices", by which you mean gay sex. Also, you're way over the top about the Grande Nation. It needs some chuzpe to present France as being "under siege for the entire 16th century by the HRE". Yeah, no, especially if one looks as to who started most of the wars. Also, writing that Metz, Verdun and Toul may have belonged to the HRE back then but that they were totally French in spirit is just the kind of 19th century nationalist mentality that led to dire things. Why is Eleanor of Austria, sister to Charles V. and second wife of Francis I., presented as a poor dumb goose, when Charles trusted her with several political missions, proving he hardly considered her dumb? And while we're talking Habsburgs, I question your claim that Margaret of Austria had a hate-on for the French ever since Charles VIII ditched her. Given the rest of Margaret's ultra competent life, I don't think so. And your Huguenot numbers are either too little explored or way off!"
Well, my French pal who originally recced Orieux to me did say he was "opinionated" and so he is in the Voltaire biography, too. And yes, one can tell the French perspective there a mile away, too. (And not just because he gets the name of Fritz' wife wrong and seems to have known zilch about Fritz' brothers, just assuming they'd have been like most younger brothers to French monarchs, hence the idea that acting in Voltaire's plays kept them from "scheming" against Fritz.) But most biographers are biased, not always intentionally but as a matter of which sources are available to them; Orieux is just open about his opinions. (And has humor and style.)
Lol, Voltaire. I found a whole scholarly article on Voltaire and his attitudes toward war, which basically concludes, "Yeah, it's complicated."
Indeed. :)
When he regained his senses, he said to his secretary, Monsieur Dièze, who was as confused by the agony as by the sacraments and the resurrection: "My friend, you have seen man's weakness.
:) Mind you, the priests in Saxony, a largely Protestant country where most Catholics were probably Poles because of August III, son of the Strong, was also King of Poland, wouldn't have tried to blackmail him into a giving them a written "hereby I renounce all my works" letter before absolving him anyway, nor would the question of burial have been such an issue as it would be in Paris. Given that many a Saxon was still disgruntled August the Strong and his son had converted to get the Polish crown, coming over high handedly was not something a Catholic priest in Saxonyn could have afforded. (Look, it was the original hotbed of the Lutheran Reformation.)
Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
NOT VOLTAIRE, that's for sure. :PPP
Most def. :) To be fair, Maupertuis, who didn't get his hand kissed, also didn't resist, along with several other French literati and scientists. (And Maupertuis also got cries of "traitor" in 1756.) Did Fritz kiss anyone else's hand once he was King? Well, his mother excepted, and perhaps also Maman Camas. But, you know. Another man's. In public.
House in London: I bet Orieux is confusing something here. As far as I know, he had no house in London, didn't have the money for one, and sure as well would not have been in a position to offer it to anyone as public a person as Voltaire if he did (i.e. Dad would have inevitably found out). As I told you, the bibliography doesn't include any solo Fritz biographies, just "Fritz and..." works. In French. So the mistake might not even have been Orieux'. Maybe one of his sources misread the name of a place in one of Fritz' letters as "London". Between Fritz' handwriting, and Rokoko spelling, that would be entirely possible. It's more likely he could have offered Voltaire a place in a Prussian territory near the French border like Cleves, or in the principalities of one of his married sisters.
Did Fritz kiss anyone else's hand once he was King? Well, his mother excepted, and perhaps also Maman Camas. But, you know. Another man's. In public.
Good question. I'm not sure Voltaire's was in public; do we have sources other than his memoirs and letters on that?
He kissed Heinrich's something in public, we know that. :P
I'm sure he kissed Algarotti at least in private, but where I do not know. :P
Wait, was there any kissing at either meeting with ViennaJoe?
As far as I know, he had no house in London, didn't have the money for one
Not unless those sugar daddies are coming through more than we expect. :P But yeah, FW is the big obstacle here, and I beg leave to doubt FW wants to harbor French literatti who are not Huguenots.
or in the principalities of one of his married sisters.
Wait, was there any kissing at either meeting with ViennaJoe?
Well, in his report letter to Mom ViennaJoe said they embraced, he doesn't mention cheek kissing. (Though there definitely was no hand kissing on either party, I doubt he'd have left it out, because it would have been reported to her by other people.)
His exact phrasing in the letter to MT is: "He descended the stairs for a few steps, I embraced him just as I did Prince Heinrich and the Prince of Prussia." (Who were along for the trip.) The "impromptu" stairs meeting neatly solved a key etiquette question, to wit: as the Emperor, Joseph definitely outranks Fritz, so if not genuflection then at least hand kissing would have been due. Now Joseph, as ever, travelled as Count Falkenstein, so it would have also been correct etiquette for Count Falkenstein to bow to or kiss the hand of Fritz (who as King outranks any count), but ViennaJoe probably knew Mom would never have forgiven him.
This said, "embracing" between monarchs and statesmen imprinted on French culture does associate cheek kissing in me, but I could be wrong.
Good point about Fritz & Heinrich - without looking it up, I think Henckel just writes "kissed him" and speculates it might have been the first kiss ever, but whether cheek, mouth or forehead is not detailed.
Oooh, that I'll believe, given Duhan.
*nods* And there are certainly cities starting with L in Braunschweig territory - Lüneburg, for example. Which has an university and is solidly Protestant.
I'm not sure Voltaire's was in public; do we have sources other than his memoirs and letters on that?
Coming to think of it, no? At least I've not yet read a description quoted that didn't come from Voltaire himself.
I'm not sure Voltaire's was in public; do we have sources other than his memoirs and letters on that?
Coming to think of it, no? At least I've not yet read a description quoted that didn't come from Voltaire himself.
Ah, I just remembered that in addition to the famous meeting in Cleves that Voltaire reports as involving hand-kissing, it's also supposed to have happened at the Sanssouci round table, per Orieux:
[Voltaire] never forgot that king, who one evening after one of his brilliant ideas admiringly rose and kissed his hand.
Yeah, we know you never forgot, Voltaire. :P
Anyway, it's still Voltaire as the source, or at least it looks like it, but this time he's claiming it happened in public.
The Philippiques were in my copy of Orieux, but I didn't get the allusion (and Orieux didn't mention it, in my copy at least).
(Eh, you can keep mentioning it. There are TOO MANY people with the SAME NAME in this fandom, it is always worth telling me how one of them is not the other one of them. Except for Richelieu, I've got them straight now (or at least the two of them most relevant) :P )
I didn't remember the war chariots and I thought I would have -- I checked and I'm pretty sure that passage has been excised in my copy. There's just a passing mention of war chariots when talking about his niece's marriage to Marquis de Florian (who was apparently pro-war-chariots).
Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
Not Voltaire for sure! Haha, yeah, this is an awesome quote -- I had totally made a note of it even before you mentioned it (someday I will post about Voltaire Stuff, but not today), because THESE TWO.
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Voltaire miscellanea
1. Classics reference alert: I don't know if this made it into your abridged copy,
The original Philippics became so well-known that Cicero's polemics against Marc Antony were also called the Philippics, even though Antony's name wasn't Philip. ;) Educated contemporaries would have absolutely made the connection between Philippe the Regent and Philip of Macedon when they read the Philippiques.
2. Orieux says that Voltaire's remains were stolen, as was proven when his grave was dug up in the 19th century. Every semi-reliable source I could find when googling this says that there was a rumor going around to this effect, until his grave was dug up in the 19th century and his remains were found to still be there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. So I talked about the whole war chariot thing in one of my posts. At the start of the Seven Years' War, before Fritz gets his butt kicked at Kolin and starts talking suicide, and Voltaire is still not speaking to him, he designs a whole war chariot (Kriegswagen), based on his reading of ancient history, that he wants the French to use to try to defeat the Prussians!
To tell the truth, he would have liked to see Friedrich's defeat and hoist the flag for it. At this time Voltaire was doing an astonishing occupation: he invented a war chariot to destroy the Prussian army. It is not a matter of poetic reverie: the plans are drawn up, the machine exists on paper. Of course, it's of literary origin: from a description of the war chariots of Assuerus [Xerxes], he was inspired with the idea of his modern war machine. He presents his plan to Monsieur de Florian, a talented officer who studies it and presents it to the minister. Richelieu is interested in it for a moment - or pretends to be. Briefly, while the offices leaf through the plan and it changes files, the Austrian infantry annihilates the Prussian army near Kolin. And the paper car is returned to Voltaire-Assuerus. Which does not prevent Monsieur de Florian's and other officers' reports from being serious. They even built a small model that Voltaire was enthusiastic about.
Then Fritz starts talking suicide, Wilhelmine sends out a cry for help, Voltaire "wiped away [Fritz's] tears from afar that [he] no longer want[ed] to wipe up close" (thanks for this awesome quote,
Until Catherine! Once his new fan is on the throne and waging wars of conquest against the Ottomans, Voltaire is all gung ho:
When she went to war against the Turks, there was no torture that Voltaire did not wish the Sultan to undergo. Everything should belong to "his Käthe", and above all the Balkan countries! She should just grab them! "Semiramis" as liberator from Sophocles' fatherland, what an intoxicating plan! Let her take Istanbul, bring Constantinople back to life and make it her capital! Nothing was too big or too beautiful for his Käthe. He regretted being seventy, otherwise ... he indicates that he would fight for her.
One remembers his war machines, his Assyrian war chariots, which the artillery colonel Monsieur de Florian replicated at his suggestion, but were then rejected after closer examination by the war minister. This rejection of Versailles had hurt him. He did not hide the fact that the French defeats in the Seven Years' War stemmed from the lack of his chariots/wagons in the French army. Now he offered his war machines to Catherine II. He did so with a passion and tenacity to which Her Imperial Majesty finally ... gave a very evasive answer. He didn't want to see that she was politely rejecting him. He pretended that her letter opened negotiations. In his answer to Katharina, he promised her all possible victories over the Great Turk and let his comedic imagination run wild. He already saw himself as the stimulus and tool of the victory of his tsarina. He, who was so adept at reading and interpreting the language of the court, let himself be blinded by the limelight because he played in front of an incomparable spectator: Catherine II, Empress of all the Russias. Everyone has their own whimsy, even the sensible François Arouet. And so his chariots, which had been defeated in Versailles, were defeated for the second time in Saint Petersburg. But this defeat remained a secret.
Lol, Voltaire. I found a whole scholarly article on Voltaire and his attitudes toward war, which basically concludes, "Yeah, it's complicated."
4. So remember how Fritz was convinced Voltaire was going to refute everything on his deathbed? While we can see in hindsight how it really turned out, Fritz wishes you to know that he wasn't totally making this up, either:
During a trip to Saxony a few years before, he had been seized with such severe colic that he thought he was dying, and this time he wasn't lying. He immediately called a priest, confessed, received the sacraments, but recovered; that is the rule. When he regained his senses, he said to his secretary, Monsieur Dièze, who was as confused by the agony as by the sacraments and the resurrection: "My friend, you have seen man's weakness."
5. Remember when Voltaire in 1766 was trying to get Diderot and the other philosophes to go to Cleves, where everything would be awesome because it was Fritzian territory (and yet, as Peter Keith proved, close enough to the Netherlands to escape if you needed to)? Apparently, he actually wrote to Fritz, and Fritz said yes (of course):
He then asked Friedrich to grant him asylum in his principality of Kleve. The king, though surprised, agreed. "This asylum will always be open to you. How could I refuse it to a man who has done so much honor to literature, his fatherland, humanity, in a word, his century?"
THOSE TWO.
6. Speaking of THOSE TWO, Voltaire wants to be allowed to return to Paris, but Versailles is looking askance at him defecting to Prussia, then coming back to France and wanting his old job back. Orieux:
Listen to this; it's really astonishing what [Voltaire] writes:
"If I dared to speak of myself for a moment, then I would say that I've never understood why people are mad at me for my flirtation (Koketterien) with the King of Prussia. If they knew that one day he kissed my hand, as thin as it is, in order to keep me with him, then everyone would forgive me for letting it happen."
We admit, there's nothing anyone can say against this argument. Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
NOT VOLTAIRE, that's for sure. :PPP
7. So this part confused me. When he's introducing the correspondence between Voltaire and Crown Prince Fritz in 1736, Orieux writes, "Friedrich had offered him his house in London to escape to." What house in London? It's 1736, he's just barely acquired Rheinsberg. He could maybe put in a good word with the Prussian resident there, but doesn't that depend on FW?
I'm confused. Can one of you who've read Pleschinski (*cough* it's on my list!) maybe clear this up?
8. Orieux is really a fan of the Arouet ancestors, isn't he? I found it charming, albeit unconvincing.
Thanks for the rec,
struggle with Germanread. If I ever make it to French, I'm planning on tackling this in the original.Re: Voltaire miscellanea
Protestant "Heresy" wtf, Orieux? Pray use a more neutral term. Ditto for Henri III's "unnatural practices", by which you mean gay sex. Also, you're way over the top about the Grande Nation. It needs some chuzpe to present France as being "under siege for the entire 16th century by the HRE". Yeah, no, especially if one looks as to who started most of the wars. Also, writing that Metz, Verdun and Toul may have belonged to the HRE back then but that they were totally French in spirit is just the kind of 19th century nationalist mentality that led to dire things. Why is Eleanor of Austria, sister to Charles V. and second wife of Francis I., presented as a poor dumb goose, when Charles trusted her with several political missions, proving he hardly considered her dumb? And while we're talking Habsburgs, I question your claim that Margaret of Austria had a hate-on for the French ever since Charles VIII ditched her. Given the rest of Margaret's ultra competent life, I don't think so. And your Huguenot numbers are either too little explored or way off!"
Well, my French pal who originally recced Orieux to me did say he was "opinionated" and so he is in the Voltaire biography, too. And yes, one can tell the French perspective there a mile away, too. (And not just because he gets the name of Fritz' wife wrong and seems to have known zilch about Fritz' brothers, just assuming they'd have been like most younger brothers to French monarchs, hence the idea that acting in Voltaire's plays kept them from "scheming" against Fritz.) But most biographers are biased, not always intentionally but as a matter of which sources are available to them; Orieux is just open about his opinions. (And has humor and style.)
Lol, Voltaire. I found a whole scholarly article on Voltaire and his attitudes toward war, which basically concludes, "Yeah, it's complicated."
Indeed. :)
When he regained his senses, he said to his secretary, Monsieur Dièze, who was as confused by the agony as by the sacraments and the resurrection: "My friend, you have seen man's weakness.
:) Mind you, the priests in Saxony, a largely Protestant country where most Catholics were probably Poles because of August III, son of the Strong, was also King of Poland, wouldn't have tried to blackmail him into a giving them a written "hereby I renounce all my works" letter before absolving him anyway, nor would the question of burial have been such an issue as it would be in Paris. Given that many a Saxon was still disgruntled August the Strong and his son had converted to get the Polish crown, coming over high handedly was not something a Catholic priest in Saxonyn could have afforded. (Look, it was the original hotbed of the Lutheran Reformation.)
Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
NOT VOLTAIRE, that's for sure. :PPP
Most def. :) To be fair, Maupertuis, who didn't get his hand kissed, also didn't resist, along with several other French literati and scientists. (And Maupertuis also got cries of "traitor" in 1756.) Did Fritz kiss anyone else's hand once he was King? Well, his mother excepted, and perhaps also Maman Camas. But, you know. Another man's. In public.
House in London: I bet Orieux is confusing something here. As far as I know, he had no house in London, didn't have the money for one, and sure as well would not have been in a position to offer it to anyone as public a person as Voltaire if he did (i.e. Dad would have inevitably found out). As I told you, the bibliography doesn't include any solo Fritz biographies, just "Fritz and..." works. In French. So the mistake might not even have been Orieux'. Maybe one of his sources misread the name of a place in one of Fritz' letters as "London". Between Fritz' handwriting, and Rokoko spelling, that would be entirely possible. It's more likely he could have offered Voltaire a place in a Prussian territory near the French border like Cleves, or in the principalities of one of his married sisters.
Re: Voltaire miscellanea
Good question. I'm not sure Voltaire's was in public; do we have sources other than his memoirs and letters on that?
He kissed Heinrich's something in public, we know that. :P
I'm sure he kissed Algarotti at least in private, but where I do not know. :P
Wait, was there any kissing at either meeting with ViennaJoe?
As far as I know, he had no house in London, didn't have the money for one
Not unless those sugar daddies are coming through more than we expect. :P But yeah, FW is the big obstacle here, and I beg leave to doubt FW wants to harbor French literatti who are not Huguenots.
or in the principalities of one of his married sisters.
Oooh, that I'll believe, given Duhan.
Re: Voltaire miscellanea
Well, in his report letter to Mom ViennaJoe said they embraced, he doesn't mention cheek kissing. (Though there definitely was no hand kissing on either party, I doubt he'd have left it out, because it would have been reported to her by other people.)
His exact phrasing in the letter to MT is: "He descended the stairs for a few steps, I embraced him just as I did Prince Heinrich and the Prince of Prussia." (Who were along for the trip.) The "impromptu" stairs meeting neatly solved a key etiquette question, to wit: as the Emperor, Joseph definitely outranks Fritz, so if not genuflection then at least hand kissing would have been due. Now Joseph, as ever, travelled as Count Falkenstein, so it would have also been correct etiquette for Count Falkenstein to bow to or kiss the hand of Fritz (who as King outranks any count), but ViennaJoe probably knew Mom would never have forgiven him.
This said, "embracing" between monarchs and statesmen imprinted on French culture does associate cheek kissing in me, but I could be wrong.
Good point about Fritz & Heinrich - without looking it up, I think Henckel just writes "kissed him" and speculates it might have been the first kiss ever, but whether cheek, mouth or forehead is not detailed.
Oooh, that I'll believe, given Duhan.
*nods* And there are certainly cities starting with L in Braunschweig territory - Lüneburg, for example. Which has an university and is solidly Protestant.
I'm not sure Voltaire's was in public; do we have sources other than his memoirs and letters on that?
Coming to think of it, no? At least I've not yet read a description quoted that didn't come from Voltaire himself.
Re: Voltaire miscellanea
Coming to think of it, no? At least I've not yet read a description quoted that didn't come from Voltaire himself.
Ah, I just remembered that in addition to the famous meeting in Cleves that Voltaire reports as involving hand-kissing, it's also supposed to have happened at the Sanssouci round table, per Orieux:
[Voltaire] never forgot that king, who one evening after one of his brilliant ideas admiringly rose and kissed his hand.
Yeah, we know you never forgot, Voltaire. :P
Anyway, it's still Voltaire as the source, or at least it looks like it, but this time he's claiming it happened in public.
Re: Voltaire miscellanea
(Eh, you can keep mentioning it. There are TOO MANY people with the SAME NAME in this fandom, it is always worth telling me how one of them is not the other one of them. Except for Richelieu, I've got them straight now (or at least the two of them most relevant) :P )
I didn't remember the war chariots and I thought I would have -- I checked and I'm pretty sure that passage has been excised in my copy. There's just a passing mention of war chariots when talking about his niece's marriage to Marquis de Florian (who was apparently pro-war-chariots).
Who in this base world could resist a king who kissed one's hand?
Not Voltaire for sure! Haha, yeah, this is an awesome quote -- I had totally made a note of it even before you mentioned it (someday I will post about Voltaire Stuff, but not today), because THESE TWO.