Remember when I found a source that said Keyserlingk was gay/bi, and then decided it was too unreliable to be worth anything? I've now turned up an unreliable source, Homosexuality and Civilization, that says Valory reported that Fritz and Keyserlingk spent hours together, and that Fritz forbade Keyserlingk to go near the window "as he did not wish him to be seen and talked about."
This source also claims that Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin, which, you know, that's why I called it an unreliable source. However, the Valory part is interesting to me, and the claim has an endnote to a citation, only the page with the endnote isn't in the Google Books preview.
However, Stabi has the book online! When you get a minute, selenak, could you log in and tell me what the source is? In Google books, it's note 23 on page 562 and the main text passage is on page 508, but the pagination in Stabi seems to be slightly different (2003 vs. 2009 publication date, and 648 vs. 623 pages). In any case, it shouldn't be hard to find.
Thanks!
ETA: Oh, and I did of course check Valory's memoirs, since we have them, but either he has a spelling of Keyserlingk that I can't predict (I tried a few), or it's not in there.
I checked, and the source annotation is Asprey, page 83. I take this to mean Robert Asprey: Frederick the Great, the Magnificent Enigma. Which you have read, I think? I have not. So you'll have to check whether Asprey says that Valory said, etc.
Anyway, the "Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin" claim isn't the only mistake in the Fritz chapter. Andreas Lepsch being burned for sodomy in 1730 and Fritz' later statement re: lessening the punishment for sodomy, "lest it gets imitated" ignores what we've found when reading the pamphlet re: Lepsch, that this particular case of sodomy was definitely bestiality, not m/m, as was what Fritz lessened the penalty for. And claiming that Will Durant wrote the most widely read account of Fritz in this or any age (???? goes Voltaire and his memoirs) is so incredibly Anglosaxon/American-centric a claim that I'm still staring in stunned disbelief. Also, not a word of Heinrich, which given the general topic is homosexuality per se in the age of Enlightenment is, shall we say, a bit odd.
I was already saying "argh" when I saw this, because Asprey is usually a dead end when it comes to sources. When he does deign to cite them, he cites the whole book rather than a page number. Which I guess would be better than nothing for us, but still. He doesn't often do even that.
However, in this case, it's a moot point, because not only does Asprey, page 83, not mention Keyserling, I used the search function on my digital copy and none of the references to Keyserling says any such thing.
So, we'll write this one off too, until something else turns up. Thanks for checking!
Anyway, the "Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin" claim isn't the only mistake in the Fritz chapter.
This is nothing less than I would expect, because all of the "homosexuality through the history of the whole world" books I've encountered have a superficial knowledge of the individual periods they're dealing with. They read biographies and have no way of filtering out the inaccurate from the accurate, so they only repeat what's been said. As the acknowledgements of this book even say,
Any history that essays to deal with a dozen cultures over a period of two and a half millennia must necessarily be dependent on the work of others.
That's why I'll never trust a book like this, but only use it as a jumping off point for further research.
And claiming that Will Durant wrote the most widely read account of Fritz in this or any age (???? goes Voltaire and his memoirs) is so incredibly Anglosaxon/American-centric a claim that I'm still staring in stunned disbelief.
I'm actually going to play devil's advocate here: if the author is saying "widely read" rather than "most important," the Durants had certain advantages. They were writing for a reading public that stretched across the globe, during a period of significantly higher literacy rates and public libraries than 1784, when transportation of books overseas was a whole lot easier. So it wouldn't surprise me if you could come up with numbers of sales that were higher for the Durant volumes.
Allow me to doubt that. I'm reasonably well read, and have been interested in history since I was a wee one, and I have never read a single line of either Durant, Will and Ariel, in my life. The only reason why I know who Will Durant was is that I lived in Los Angeles for three months in the 1990s. I just checked, and some of their books were translated into German, but not with one exception by big publishers. And I don't think the German situation is atypical for the Durants in non-English-speaking countries. I can't recall seeing any Durant work in a French bookstore when I visited France, and as a Canadian, he'd have had an advantage there. (BTW, not that I doubt he was translated into French - just not that it reached such a wide audience.) French wiki says the sale of Durant books world wide as of this article is 17 million books, which given there are Indian cities with more inhabitants is really not that much. How are the Spanish translations faring? Are there any in Mandarin or Cantonese? Arabic? In print, today?
Now, I have no doubt Durant outsold, say, Thomas Carlyle or Macauly. Easily. And that in English speaking countries, he was more widely read. But in countries where English is not the primary language?
Re: Dead end - did you check Valory's memoirs for "Césarion", just to be absolutely sure?
Going back to what the book claims Asprey says Valory says - this sounds really unlike both Fritz and Keyslerlingk, who was very much talked about (as was his daughter) in any case. I mean, we're talking about the same guy who writes orgasm poems for Algarotti and the Marwitz letters to torment his younger brother, right? With this idea of discretion? And "don't go near the window" - how would that even work?
ETA: Checking Volz "FtG im Spiegel seiner Zeitgenossen", I found this Keyserlingk relevant quote in a letter from Hille to Grumbkow, Küstrin. 30. September 1731. I had a longer confidential conversation with the Crown Prince. He told me that your excellency has touched on the matter of the marriage with the Princess of Bevern in a letter to Herr von Wolden. (Fritz) would agree to it, despite the Princess being ugly and stupid, as long as the mediation of the Empress would assure him of good conditions. Among other things, I wishes to have Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion, and aske me to write to your Exellency about this. I asked him: "If the Princess is ugly and stupid, will you be able to live with her and love her then?" "No, certainly not," he replied. "And what will you do then?“ "I'll ditch her as soon as I am my own master," he answered. "One has to forgive me for getting out of a tight spot as best I can." To this, I replied that he should be certain neither your Excellency nor another man of honor would go along with something like this. There could be only misfortune as a result if he truly believed that a miserable marriage had no consequences and that it was okay to break one's marital vows. Moreover, he would only cause new distress for himself if he as much as hinted on wanting Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion. I don't know the gentleman in question, but I heard that his character is such that the King will not consider interaction with to improve one's moral character.
You know, I'd read that Hille letter before, but at the time I didn't quite realize how intertwined the mentions of EC and Keyserlingk are here, ha.
And "don't go near the window" - how would that even work?
Yeah, my immediate response was that this sounds strange and also, how would anybody even know about this, if it's all such a secret. But! This whole thread prompted me to read the two reports written by Hofrat König (undercover Saxon envoy in 1740 (how many of those did they have?), you quoted his Fredersdorf description before), which are also included in the "Spiegel" and one of which is all about Keyserlingk, titled "Report on the character of the current Royal Prussian Favourite, Baron von Keyserlingk, and my secret [not really, since a lot of people knew he was visiting, just saying] conversations with him". König says they met when Keyserlingk visited Dresden (unclear when) and became good friends, and he gives quite a few verbatim and paraphrased quotes, even says he got to read some of Fritz' poetry and letters to Keyserlingk (who also read the poetry to him, ha). So he is someone who could have an anecdote like this from Keyserlingk himself, but he mentions no such thing (at least not in the shortened Spiegel version).
What he does mention is quite interesting, though! According to him, even after Fritz was allowed to invite Keyserlingk to Rheinsberg from 1736 on (after FW wanted to keep them apart before "for various reasons" - not vague at all, König!), FW apparently still kept an eye on them and occasionally gave orders that Keyserlingk should return to his regiment already. As a result, they met in secret and Keyserlingk even came to Berlin incognito (as "von Blanckenau") to spend time with Fritz, up until the end of FW's reign, i.e. during the first months of 1740. So given that, there might be some kind of kernel for the anecdote Mildred found.
After Fritz became King, König describes this as the state of affairs: "Not enough that he [Keyserlingk] has to live at the same place as the King all the time; the King also visits him - as often as his busy affairs allow - almost hourly, so to speak, in [Keyserlingk's] own chambers."
K. became seriously ill quite soon after Fritz became King (in his own words: because he was so overwhelmed by his feelings) and when he was on the mend, König visited him and reported that since Fritz himself was sick as well and couldn't walk and visit himself, messengers came to look after Keyserlingk and to tell him to follow Doctor's orders and to take it easy basically every other minute ("messengers" in this case included people like Jordan and Fredersdorf).
König's description of him: He hops, he dances, he jokes, he laughs, he reads, he writes, he works, he accepts visits, he does serious business, he sings now in French, now in Italian, now in German, he plays the flute, he plays the viola da gamba, he composes music [...], he declaims, he writes now German, now French verses, he draws - and all of this with one another, as it comes to him, without ever going insane or getting tired.
Other tidbits:
- Fritz openly praised K. and mentioned that his perpetual cheerfulness and equanimity got him through the desperate moments of the crown prince years (not quite sure if he means pre-1730 mostly or also post).
- As we know Fritz didn't like smoking and hated the smell of it, but K. was allowed, even after Fritz asked him if he wouldn't give it up for him. (Apparently, he didn't do it while Fritz visited, though.)
- K. was bad with money, so Fritz appointed himself his treasurer and was involved "in the tiniest details" of his life.
- On the other hand - or maybe in the same vein - no politics for Keyserlingk, either. I mean, it's entirely possible K. downplayed his chances because König was quite insistent to further the Saxon cause, but it would certainly be very in character that Fritz told K. to live without any worries and not bother with politics. Keyserlingk is also quoted as saying that one has to be very careful and wait for the right moment if one wants to tell Fritz anything, i.e. one shouldn't come to him with ideas and proposals, but wait until Fritz gets to a topic himself, let him talk and then he'd be much more open to hearing other ideas. Which strikes me as completely on point, as does König's observation that Fritz was very keen on asserting his authority at the beginning and never once giving the impression that he'd be led by anyone. [And IMO, especially not by Keyserlingk, whom he praised openly and had as his favourite friend and who obviously was on people's lists as The Favourite.]
- As I said, Keyserlingk apparently showed König some of Fritz' most tender ["allerzärtlichste"] letters. König quotes one which gives Fritz' opinions on Valori and Rudenskjöld we already knew from his letter to Voltaire on the same subject, but he also mentions several instances where Fritz comes across as rather needy (my words, not his!), i.e. telling Keyserlingk that he should reassure him of his love and friendship more. (If they really didn't get to see each other all that often because of FW, that sure makes sense to me, too.) Finally, König calls K. the "most loved favourite" and also says that Fritz is "in good hands" with him (also in terms of Saxon prospects).
I didn't quite realize how intertwined the mentions of EC and Keyserlingk are here, ha.
Same here. But this time around it did stand out how much it's a "do not want her, do want him".
undercover Saxon envoy in 1740 (how many of those did they have?)
Brühl: Clearly not enough, otherwise the Scouring of Saxony to come would have been avoided.
he writes now German, now French verses
He does? Did he show the German ones to Fritz, too?
Anyway, it's clear why Keyserlingk was such an attractive fellow to Fritz, but also why Émilie took one look at him and decided there was no way she'd allow Voltaire to hand over incriminating Pucelle to this guy. I mean, if his idea of discretion is showing Fritz "most tender letters" to the undercover Saxon envoy.... Reminds me of Katte showing everyone the Fritz and Wilhelmine double portrait, though. And is yet another example of why if Katte had been imprisoned instead of beheaded I think King Fritz would have handled him similarly (i.e. would not have let him anywhere near politics) - Fredersdorf really was the big exception there among the boyfriends.
Another thing, though: when did Keyserlingk marry again? Wasn't that in 1740 (since his wedding party saw the premiere of the Fritz written play where Des Champs is made fun of)? Given Fritz was usually less than thrilled when his favourites did that, it's all the more interesting this doesn't seem to have happened here.
says that Fritz is "in good hands" with him (also in terms of Saxon prospects).
I want to know whether Manteuffel ever got to read this report and if so, what his comment to this point was...
He does? Did he show the German ones to Fritz, too?
Heh, exactly my reaction! No mention of it one way or the other, but the fact that he wrote and liked German poetry is mentioned repeatedly, and König himself, according to Volz' footnote, was a poet as well - which might be one of the reasons why he and Keyserlingk became good friends, and also why Keyserlingk showed him Fritz' poetry (he wasn't allowed to copy anything, though).
when did Keyserlingk marry again?
1742! No idea why Fritz didn't object (that we know of) but maybe it was one of those rare instances where he liked the woman, or Keyserlingk managed to reassure him, given this line in his eulogy (written by Mauptertuis by the way, not by Fritz):
It was not a tranquil feeling that he had for the King, it was a real passion in which he found himself. He wanted everyone to see him, know him, and love him. So what care did he not take, as soon as a foreigner appeared at court, to put him within reach of contemplating this monarch! To this love for his Prince was added another motive which was no less noble, the pleasure of rendering service; a pleasure so powerful in M. de Keyserlingk that one can say that he indulged in it without reserve; & that if one can reproach him, it is to have made of it too universal a habit.
(This might also explain why he showed König the letters and repeatedly praised Fritz' virtues and good heart.)
On his marriage: Such a character is assumed [to have] a sensitive heart, and his heart was. He was touched by the charms of the young Countess of Schlieben, daughter of M. le Grand Veneur, & Lady of honor to the Queen; & married her in 1742. It takes all that he found in her, virtue, beauty, talents, to excuse a Philosopher who sacrifices his freedom.
ETA: Guess how I spent my evening? I read some Fritz poetry. :P Because unlike the letters, a couple of odes survived.
There's a lament after Keyserlingk's death, Aux Manes de Césarion, which includes a "our two hearts became one heart" line. (I remember that he also wrote in a letter that they had one soul - I'll have to find that again. I know he also used that expression for Wilhelmine, but I haven't come across any other instance of it besides those two.)
Then there's a pretty lighthearted Epitre from 1741, during the war, where he's looking forward to enjoying the pure freedom of "the intoxication of friendship" at Charlottenburg after his return.
There's a Keyserlingk section as the culmination of the Ode against Flattery, which he sent to Voltaire (among other people) in January 1740, and which is kind of interesting for its take on friendship:
Caesarion, faithful friend, More tender than Pirithous, I find in you the model Of the first of the virtues. [= friendship I assume] May our friendship without weakness Unveil us with boldness our mistakes and our faults, so that the gold that fire prepares purifies, and is separated from lead and the basest metals.
And finally, there's A Césarion, from June 1738 (which unlike the others doesn't have a German translation). It's a looong anti-Berlin/court/religion piece and has things to say about his separation from Keyserlingk, which seem to support König's report that even after 1736, FW kept a lid on their relationship - see the bolded part, where I'm not sure if the demon is a poetic expression or if he means FW. Thoughts?
[...] My mind free from the bonds with which the court chained my hands, [...] Finally escaped from the palace Where the bondage of oppression Held, with its inhuman hand, My freedom in its nets, [...] I can, dear friend, without fear, free and sole master of myself, confide in you how much I love you. For the lively feelings of my heart your heart will serve as an interpreter; [...] But after the pleasure, when I think about it, Pain soon follows: Of a demon jealous of happiness, I feel his malicious influence, It is he who causes your absence, makes it even worse by its length. When this demon full of fury Calms his unwelcome ardor, Will he have the gallantry To leave to your protector, your tutelary seraph, [?] the pleasure, the glory, and the honor to lead you, full of vigor, to find your polar star and inhale the divine odor, the perfumes of our meadow?
Come quickly, for my happiness, to see again this flowery shore, your true and your only country, where, without you, the source of good humor is dried up forever. The iron drawn to the magnet feels a less intense impulse than the impatient desire for a tender and fearful friendship. A thousand evils threaten your days; Slow and painful gout with a homicidal hand digs your grave, accelerating their course. Alas! should the life in my arms be taken away from you? Should you suffer death? No, it is only for common souls To languish in misfortunes; Heaven must watch over your steps. [...]
The ending then sounds like Fritz was preparing to comfort Keyserlingk over a bad love affair - at least that's how I'm reading the final verses, what with the "cruel love" and all:
Come back to taste in my retreat The pleasures that my hand is preparing for you, Come back to pour out in my bosom The sorrow of your secret pain, The laments of your fate; And in the arms of a tender friend, Your heart will be able at least to wait That the ungrateful and cruel love, More flexible, wants to listen to you And to testify to you of the return.
(I also seem to remember a letter he wrote during the journey to Königsberg in 1740, where he mentions that Algarotti is entertaining them and Keyserlingk is talking about marriage or something? ... ah, yes, to AW. He writes that Keyserlingk is thinking about marrying a rich heiress and Fritz and Algarotti are discussing the pros and cons - so a Keyserlingk marriage seems to have been a topic for a while and Fritz didn't seem to mind indeed.)
Guess how I spent my evening? I read some Fritz poetry.
You are a truly noble, self-sacrificial soul. The demon does sound like FW, but it might also just be a metaphor, especially if it's not FW but a love/proposed marriage affair which is been keeping Keyserlingk away. Maybe his first choice of wife didn't want him? (Or her parents didn't.)
Incidentally, Algarotti discussing the pros and cons of marrying a rich heiress with Keyserlingk reminds me that it's interesting Algarotti never took this way out of his job problems. Now granted, given people like Hervey, Hervey's wife and Lady Mary were ready to sponsor him without marriage, he probably saw more cons than pros - he'd have had to support a wife, after all, once her dowry was used up, and possibly children, whereas if he remained single his lovers would always be the ones supporting him - but it's still a road not taken.
The idea of friendship being a true friend not as a flatterer, but as a truth teller: well, that's hardly unique to Fritz and pretty much standard to the period. FW is beating the same drum when claiming all of Fritz' self chosen friends weren't true friends in that sense. And of course Fritz railing, in poetry or prose, against flattery is rich given he ate it up. For understandable reasons given FW's constant battery on his self esteem, but he did, whether from Suhm or Voltaire or, the way it sounds, Keysleringk, because we haven't heard yet an example of Keyserlingk saying something Fritz-critical. (Manteuffel in a more tactful way than FW also made the point when telling his anecdote about Augustus and Maecenas during a trial, and Manteuffel did at least give some non-applauding advice in the conversation about EC (i.e. that AW remains the next in line and thus a potential rallying point and alternate candidate as long as Fritz doesn't reproduce, and that he doesn't have to love EC to reproduce, if people had only sex with each other if they were in love the world would not be populated), but Manteuffel didn't remain a friend. Andrew Mitchell was slightly critical with the poetry when asked and could banter (see jest about God not demanding subsidies), but I don't believe he voiced his more serious critique of Fritz towards Fritz. (And he definitely thought Fritz was way too needy for flattery in his friends.)
Trying to think of friends who did critisize him (that we know of) and remained friends: post Silesian War Voltaire, I guess (with the first definite criticism being that remark during Silesia 1 or 2 on how during his recent illness he had one foot in the Styx and saw all the dead people Fritz and his opponents were sending there); D'Argens in how Fritz acted towards Moses Mendelssohn. Others?
Of course, it's entirely possible friends like, say, George Keith Earl Marischal were critical out of everyone's earshot and without ever mentioning this to people afterwards because they were both tactful and trustworthy and didn't boast, and since there aren't letters documenting it preserved, we don't know. But in general, I suspect that like many a monarch or powerful person, Fritz was aware that flattery was the default but needed to believe he could discern real from faked compliments and valued truth tellers, when what he really valued were people able to make him believe both that they really cared and able to make himself feel good about himself. Which is not exactly the same thing.
Back to Keyserlingk; "do not ask your Dad for him as a companion if you know what's good for you, especially not when you simultanously diss your Dad-chosen bride" was probably good advice on Hille's part, though it has to be said FW's distrust alone isn't really a reliable criterium. I mean, given FW's unerring tendency to pick teachers for his sons, plural, who were teaching just the opposite of what he thought they would.
The demon does sound like FW, but it might also just be a metaphor, especially if it's not FW but a love/proposed marriage affair which is been keeping Keyserlingk away.
Yeah, having looked at the poem, I can read it either way. Fritz and Suhm were definitely capable of doing the "you know who I mean" thing when dissing FW, but it also sounds like a very Fritzian metaphor. I'm not sure.
Incidentally, Algarotti discussing the pros and cons of marrying a rich heiress with Keyserlingk reminds me that it's interesting Algarotti never took this way out of his job problems. Now granted, given people like Hervey, Hervey's wife and Lady Mary were ready to sponsor him without marriage, he probably saw more cons than pros - he'd have had to support a wife, after all, once her dowry was used up, and possibly children, whereas if he remained single his lovers would always be the ones supporting him - but it's still a road not taken.
Yeah, especially since, as I recall from the dissertation, older brother Bonomo was constantly trying to pressure him into marrying for the family's sake. Algarotti held out against the pressure his whole life.
But in general, I suspect that like many a monarch or powerful person, Fritz was aware that flattery was the default but needed to believe he could discern real from faked compliments and valued truth tellers, when what he really valued were people able to make him believe both that they really cared and able to make himself feel good about himself.
Yep, agreed. Also see FW needing to believe he could read minds when he really, really couldn't.
Trying to think of friends who did critisize him (that we know of) and remained friends
There was *one* time Suhm did a veeeery diplomatic and carefully couched "That was stupidly indiscreet, Fritz," and Fritz went, "You're right, my bad!" without a hint of defensiveness. But it does not seem to have been the norm, to say the least. :P
But yeah, positive reinforcement, reassurance, and downright flattery were the way to make headway with him. Thanks, FW!
Heee. I admit, it is remarkably hard not to let your eyes glaze over after a couple of lines.
D'Argens in how Fritz acted towards Moses Mendelssohn
Since I've recently read some excerpts of their correspondence, I can add that there are a couple other times where he's somewhat critical. Not big picture things - he is very supportive of the Seven Years War for example, dissing the French left and right - but stuff like advising Fritz to maybe stop writing pamphlets during the war (he helped him publish the early ones), because there's no way people aren't going to guess who wrote them and this will only be detrimental to him. Advice Fritz seems to have taken, too, because there are no documented pamphlets written after that letter from D'Argens.
As for others, not sure. I haven't read that much of Jordan's letters, so I can't say anything about him and as you said, if the people Fritz valued for their discretion had some critical remarks in private, we'll never know. (I guess we aren't counting family here?)
There's a lament after Keyserlingk's death, Aux Manes de Césarion, which includes a "our two hearts became one heart" line. (I remember that he also wrote in a letter that they had one soul - I'll have to find that again. I know he also used that expression for Wilhelmine, but I haven't come across any other instance of it besides those two.)
Awww, that *is* interesting! I'll keep an eye out for other examples as well. I'm also reminded of this:
Think how unfortunate I am to have lost, almost at the same time, my poor Jordan and my dear Keyserlingk. They were my family, and I think I am now a widower, an orphan
Oh, yes, I certainly remember that letter and the soul quote was from around the same time ... let me go and find it ... okay, so, surprisingly, next to Countess Camas and Duhan, who got the quote above, it was Maupertuis who got multiple letters in a row in which Fritz shared his grief. (Maupertuis had just returned from France and was about to marry.) The quote is from October 6th: I am obliged, my dear Maupertuis, for your good morals; it is not the precepts that embarrass me, but the practice. Keyserling and I had only one soul, it seemed to me that we should die together; all of a sudden I learn that he is no more. [...] (In another letter he also says that while he somewhat expected Jordan's death, Keyserlingk's caught him completely unawares.)
Also, because we were talking about Fritz and friendship, D'Argens got this letter on August 31:
Unfortunately, I am not of your opinion on friendship. I think a true friend is a godsend. Alas! I lost two that I will regret all my life, and whose memory will only end with my duration. You make many eloquent paralogisms. You say that a Carthusian can be happy; I dare to tell you affirmatively that it is not so. A man who cultivates the sciences, and who lives without friends, is a learned werewolf. In short, according to my way of thinking, friendship is essential to our happiness. Whether one thinks the same way or differently, whether one is lively, the other melancholy, it all does not matter to friendship. But the honest man is the first quality which unites souls, and without which there is no intimate union. It seems to me that we have to find our interest in these tight knots that we form, interest of pleasure, of knowledge, of consolation, of utility, etc. This is my feeling.
Brühl: Clearly not enough, otherwise the Scouring of Saxony to come would have been avoided.
Ahahahaaa.
Anyway, it's clear why Keyserlingk was such an attractive fellow to Fritz, but also why Émilie took one look at him and decided there was no way she'd allow Voltaire to hand over incriminating Pucelle to this guy.
Ah, yes, that does make sense. Honestly, based on the descriptions we've seen of Keyserlingk, I wouldn't let him anywhere near my secrets either!
Reminds me of Katte showing everyone the Fritz and Wilhelmine double portrait, though.
I was exactly thinking of Katte! Though specifically of the "charming but giddy" description that Prussian Countess Rothenburg gave him while he was alive. For all that Wilhelmine said that Katte's facial features seemed to forebode his gloomy fate, I think he was probably leaning toward extraverted and cheerful, although probably not as over-the-top as Keyserlingk.
And is yet another example of why if Katte had been imprisoned instead of beheaded I think King Fritz would have handled him similarly (i.e. would not have let him anywhere near politics) - Fredersdorf really was the big exception there among the boyfriends.
Yuup. In my AUs where Katte lives and Fritz becomes king, Fritz gives him literary/artistic/musical responsibilities and keeps him away from politics.
Interestingly, Suhm was apparently going to get the same treatment. New King Fritz, writing to ask Suhm if he wants to leave Saxon service, writes, "So please, my dear Suhm, write to me if you are the man to give up the ministry to lead the thoughtful life of a sage, and if you can find something in my company that compensates you for politics."
No politics for you either, Saxon envoy of conflicting interests.
Another thing, though: when did Keyserlingk marry again? Wasn't that in 1740 (since his wedding party saw the premiere of the Fritz written play where Des Champs is made fun of)? Given Fritz was usually less than thrilled when his favourites did that, it's all the more interesting this doesn't seem to have happened here.
Maybe, if he married in 1742 and died in 1745, he needed a nurse? :P
Also interesting, according to Wikipedia, given how indulgent Fritz would later be:
Their daughter Adelaide Friederike von Keyserling, later Baroness von Alvensleben, was born in 1744. Frederick II not only became her godfather, he is even said to have carried the child in his arms during the baptism.
Maybe, if he married in 1742 and died in 1745, he needed a nurse? :P
LOL. Maybe!
he is even said to have carried the child in his arms during the baptism.
The operative word here being "is said", Wikipedia. I remember one book pointing out that this doesn't work, date wise, since in 1744, he was surely busy fighting Silesia 2 and not in Berlin to carry the baby?
(Reminder: royals were usually absent godfathers and godmothers even when there wasn't war, with someone acting in their stead at the actual ceremony. Usually from the family, which is why Wilhelmine carried baby AW at his baptism and Fritz carried baby Heinrich despite neither of them being the official godparents of their siblings.)
since in 1744, he was surely busy fighting Silesia 2 and not in Berlin to carry the baby?
I thought of that (and noted the "is said"), but I don't have a birth month for her, and the war didn't start until August. Rödenbeck has him not leaving until August 15. In fact, I see Fritz did the same thing that he did right before the Seven Years' War, which was spend August 9 and 10 with SD at Monbijou before heading off to war. I checked AW's birthday, and it is indeed August 9.
So until I have a birth month for her, there's a decent chance he actually was in Berlin/Potsdam/Spandau at the time.
Looking at the fanvid I put together (which turns out to be an excellent, if imperfect, reference work), he was in Silesia for part of March, and taking the waters in Pyrmont in May, but otherwise in the vicinity of Berlin from January to August 15.
Maybe, if he married in 1742 and died in 1745, he needed a nurse? :P
LOL. Maybe!
That reminds me, when Whitworth was in bad health in the last few years of his life, he wrote that he felt bad about how this was affecting his wife, but that she had accepted this 'in the handsomest manner possible, and talks as if a Nurse & a Wife were onely different terms for the same thing.'
Some would say they are, Whitworth, or at least they would say so in Fritz's presence. :P
As a result, they met in secret and Keyserlingk even came to Berlin incognito (as "von Blanckenau") to spend time with Fritz, up until the end of FW's reign, i.e. during the first months of 1740. So given that, there might be some kind of kernel for the anecdote Mildred found.
Aaahhh, that makes sense! Fritz was keeping a lot of things secret from FW during the Rheinsberg years, so yeah, if FW disapproved of Keyserlingk, I could see Fritz having secret meetings with him even without sex. And if Dad's spies are wandering around, I could even see how "Don't go near a window" would work.
messengers came to look after Keyserlingk and to tell him to follow Doctor's orders and to take it easy basically every other minute
Lololol, that is *so* Fritz.
("messengers" in this case included people like Jordan and Fredersdorf).
<3 Fredersdorf.
- Fritz openly praised K. and mentioned that his perpetual cheerfulness and equanimity got him through the desperate moments of the crown prince years (not quite sure if he means pre-1730 mostly or also post).
Aww, wow, that does make sense. I always figured if FW appointed him governor and he became one of the "6 most loved," he must have done something to support Fritz through the pre-1730 years.
Also, he was the one who Fritz described as like the sun breaking through the clouds whenever he appeared (which made me think that was what "Diaphane" meant as well, until you found Diaphane attested as early as 1728, which makes it not impossible but less likely). And teenage Fritz wrote to maybe-boyfriend Borcke around 1728 that he knew he should be making an effort cheer up his sick friend, but he really needed people to cheer *him* up.
So all this makes perfect sense of why Keyserlingk was such a favorite.
(It is, incidentally, very similar to the emotional appeal I think Kaphengst held for Heinrich, outside of any spectacularity in bed.)
- K. was bad with money, so Fritz appointed himself his treasurer and was involved "in the tiniest details" of his life.
ALSO the Fritziest Fritz thing ever, omg. Lol forever.
but it would certainly be very in character that Fritz told K. to live without any worries and not bother with politics.
My impression has always been that Keyserlingk was kept at a serious remove from politics.
i.e. one shouldn't come to him with ideas and proposals, but wait until Fritz gets to a topic himself, let him talk and then he'd be much more open to hearing other ideas. Which strikes me as completely on point
YES THIS.
but he also mentions several instances where Fritz comes across as rather needy (my words, not his!), i.e. telling Keyserlingk that he should reassure him of his love and friendship more.
Awww, Fritz. This is so him (and also so Wilhelmine).
A few other descriptions of Keyserlingk.
Bielfeld, at Rheinsberg:
Baron von K--- is a gentleman of Courland, engaged in the military service of the King of Prussia, and particularly attached to the person of the prince roial. It was some time before I could meet with him , and I had heard so much of him, and was so much prejudiced in his favor, that I burnd with impatience to see him. He enterd the hall like a whirlwind, or like Boreas in the ballet of the Rose. He was just come from hunting, and it appeard odd enough to see him in a night-gown, and with a gun upon his shoulder. He accosted me at once with an air of perfect ease, and his first words appeard to me as if I had been for a long time honord with his particular friendship. He took me by the arm and led me into his chamber; and while he dresd , he repeated scraps of the Henriade, and strings of German verses, and talkd of hounds and horses; cut some cross capers; and practised some steps in the rigadoon a la Balon; then talkd on politics, mathematics, painting, architecture, literary and military matters. I remaind immoveable; listend with a profound silence, and admired every thing, even the happy transitions by which he pasd so rapidly from one subject to another. I seemd however, to perceive that this extreme vivacity could not be altogether natural, and that it did not entirely flow from an abundant resource of genius: and though time has not quite banishd this suspicion, I find nevertheles on a further acquaintance, that baron K--- is a very amiable gentleman, that he has a mind adornd with much pleasing knowledge, that he both talks and writes well, and in vers as well as profe, that he has a humor naturaly gay, and a noble heart. His figur is not very engaging: he is short and thick; has small eyes, a large nose, a wide mouth, and a sallow complexion. He has however, an easyair, a graceful presence, and all that he says or does, is in the manner of a man of birth. By attaching himself to the prince roial, he has contracted his taffe. He loves music, architecture, painting, poetry, &c. but the disciple is still inferior to his master.
Bielfeld on Keyserlingk right after Fritz becomes king:
His apartments are never empty: all his doors are markd with the title of Cesarion, which the king has given him, and of which he seems to me to make a dangerous use. He receives 50 letters of felicitation and busines in a day, and employs several secretaries in writing answers, Imbrued with the waters of Hypocrene, they flow from the end of his pen in a torrent of vers, which however does not always appear to be genuine. He receives every day some litle present from the king , which has the same effect on his mind, as great benefactions have on those of others. He runs about the garden and every part of the palace, with a litle amber flagelet at his buttonhole; he plays upon his base viol, he sings, he laughs, he jokes and rallys. - I was fearful from the beginning, that so violent an agitation would affect his head, and so it has happend. He was seizd yesterday with a violent fever, which confines him to his bed. His secretarys are dismisd; M. Jordan has drawn up a form, which serves as a general answer to all his letters'; and we well hope that tranquility will soon be restored to the mind, and to the dwelling of the amiable Cesarion.
Hypocrene or Hippocrene: in Greek mythology, a spring that was supposed to fill the drinker with poetic inspiration.
Keep in mind that Bielfeld was publishing in the 1760s, and it's widely suspected that while he was purporting to be publishing letters he sent as events unfolded, he was actually writing an after-the-fact book and formatting it as letters.
Wilhelmine, not a fan, writing about FW's choice of governors for Fritz:
Two officers were assigned to the prince...as companions; one was colonel de Rochow, a man of great probity, but of a very narrow capacity; the other, major de Kaiserling, a very honest man too, but very giddy and a great talker, who pretended to be witty, and was nothing but a library in confusion. My brother liked them both very well, but Kaiserling, being the youngest and very dissolute, obtained of course the preference.
And Pöllnitz (copied from Hamilton's Rheinsberg volume, including the ellipses):
[Keyserlingk] was more unruly than a school-boy, and his tongue was amazingly voluble. He talked German, French, Italian, Latin, Polish, and Dutch, and often all these languages in the same conversation...His memory made up for want of cleverness...By his own account he knew everything, yet he was superficial in everything...Nothing could exceed his kindness of heart; he carried it so far as to be everybody's friend, which was the reason people did not set great value on his friendship [Mildred: Other than Fritz, you mean?] Honour and candour were the mainsprings of all his actions. When he died he was universally regretted.
selenak once asked me if Fritz had a "type", since his boyfriends ranged from Peter Keith to Voltaire, and among other things, I wrote:
One thing that comes to mind that they must have had in common, even where we lack direct evidence, is positive reinforcement for Fritz. Hille was saying in 1731 that the way to Fritz's heart was through praise. Catt said the same thing in 17whatever. (He had Fritz say it, but whether Fritz did or not, it's definitely something Catt observed.) So praise, reassurance, and/or kindness.
Remember, Hille wrote, during the Küstrin period,
The best way of gaining his friendship will be to praise him, and not by procuring recruits about ten feet high. He is capable of being deceived in his councillors later, on account of this failing.
And as Selena says downthread:
And of course Fritz railing, in poetry or prose, against flattery is rich given he ate it up. For understandable reasons given FW's constant battery on his self esteem, but he did, whether from Suhm or Voltaire or, the way it sounds, Keysleringk, because we haven't heard yet an example of Keyserlingk saying something Fritz-critical.
This is very true, and exactly what I was going to post. Suhm, Voltaire, and Keyserlingk show us Fritz drinking in praise like water in a desert, and they give us some insights into what other people (like, say, Katte) must have been doing.
who Fritz described as like the sun breaking through the clouds
Oh, yes, that's right. Makes perfect sense. (I actually read a quote in an article written by Luh of all people, he-who-doesn't-think-Fritz-had-friends, that Fritz might have been so drawn to Keyserlingk because his extroverted and freely given affection and lack of restraint was very much the opposite of what Fritz was used to in his youth and family. Which seems plausible to me. Also, if FW had even an inkling of that after the escape attempt, keeping them apart might have been part of his "isolate Fritz and make him think he has no-one" strategy, although it doesn't exactly explain why he still disapproved later on. Unless he got wise re: dissolution, as Wilhelmine calls it, although I still don't know what exactly she means by that, given that she also calls Fritz that at one point.)
Between Bielfeld and König, we can certainly say that Keyserlingk invited descriptions in the form of rapid-fire lists of all the things he was doing within ten minutes. :P And the "friends with everybody" also fits with König's assertion that they were great friends - although, once again, just like with his marriage, he must have managed to make Fritz feel special despite being this way.
Nice to see that Bielfeld confirms König's data re: Keyserlingk's illness after Fritz became king.
Some more info on Keyserlingk's background from his eulogy: His father died when he was nine and his mother was in charge of his education after that. "He was sent to Königsberg, where he made so much progress that at the age of 17, four speeches delivered in the same day, in Greek, Latin, French & German, had him receive a membership of the University. His work was ever more assiduous. Philosophy, Mathematics, Eloquence & Poetry occupied him at the same time, and he succeeded in all of them." He also had great skill in physical activities like dancing. Grand Tour started in 1720 - Germany, Netherlands, two years in Paris - then returned to Berlin and entered Prussian service as a Lieutenant, got a regiment, became governor for Fritz. (I still don't know what exactly FW saw in him, beyond being a soldier.) "Special circumstances [:PP] soon removed him from his Master, and made him return to his regiment. But the absence made him lose nothing; and as soon as the Prince had become King, M. de Keyserlingk found his fortune as advanced as if he had spent his life paying court to him." Passion for Fritz and marriage see above, more poetry writing, then bad health and early death, upon which the King "shed tears on his ashes". :(
What FW originally saw in Keyserlingk: actually, if K was the type of be friendly and charming to everyone, he might have charmed FW as well. Despite being short, not tall. I mean: FW had affective needs, too, and was far from immune to likeable cultured people, as long as they were also military (see Seckendorff, who had an excellent education and was multilingual) and put an emphasis on this in his presence or could adopt a bluff honest fellow type of persona (which Manteuffel somehow managed when with FW despite never having been a soldier and being known as a man of culture). So maybe he just liked the guy, had the impression K liked and honored him (since K had the gift of making everyone believe they were his friends), and thought K would spread that attitude to Fritz. (The liking and honoring FW.).
You can also do what Klepper did and argue that appointing people like Duhan and Keyserlingk wasn‘t unintentional but intentional on FW‘s part in that he wanted to appoint teachers and governors whom Fritz would like, so he would enjoy learning from them. (With the basic idea that the lessons would be how to be a good soldier and a good son first and foremost, of course.). The anthology essay about FW as a father to the younger sibs also says that he had a good hand with teachers for the sons, since AW, Heinrich and Ferdinand loved „Kroiz“ the gay teacher, too, and kept him around after they‘d grown up. And of course the ideal from which he started was that he was to be the beloved fun parent and SD the discipline parent. Maybe the original appointments also were with this in mind.
Now, if there had been any testimony during all the interrogations connecting Keyserlingk to the escape attempt, he would hardly have been just transfered back to his original regiment. But FW was paranoid post August of 1730 in this regard as well as in all other, and he may have suspected without being able to prove anything, much like he never really stopped believing in the Clement plot. His image of himself as tough but fair would have prevented him from outright punishing Keyserlingk, since there had been zero proof of anything. But if the supicion was there, this could have explained why he wasn‘t keen on the friendship being resumed, or at least not to an intense degree.
And hey, let‘s face it, he would not have to suspect any gay element there. I mean, this is the same FW who still won‘t Wilhelmine and Fritz meet more than three times in the eight months she spends in Berlin post marriage, and not at all when Fritz is travelling to the Eugene campaign so they have to arrange a secret meeting via Knobelsdorff. „This person loves Fritz and is loved by him more than me and probably knew what was up before the escape attempt“ could totally have been enough.
„Dissolution“ - I wonder whether it‘s worth checking the original French to see which term Wilhemine used? Because the literal translation might not be the correct one given her Brandenburgian French is not exactly the modern variation For example, when she calls K an honest man, I bet the French text says „honnete homme“, which had a specific 18th century meaning - as when FW says about kid AW that he‘ll become an honnete homme in exactly this phrase despite otherwise speaking German. It‘s not simply someone telling the truth, it‘s a man of integrity/honor/nobility, a gentleman but more so.
My own guess for the meaning of dissolution, again with the parallel to AW‘s governor and to how princes were raised as opposed to princesses in Prussia (and elsewhere), is that it meant the encouragment of bawdy talk and possibly actual sex with lower class people. Yes, FW was the outlier of Kings with explicitly forbidding any bawdy conversations and anything sexual, including masturbation, for his sons as well as daughters, but most of the other courts certainly indulged in the usual gender double standards, i.e. complete chastity in conversation and action for the girls pre marriage, „sowing their oats“ for the boys. And SD certainly was against her daughters viewing bawdy theatre plays according ot the envoys.
What FW originally saw in Keyserlingk: actually, if K was the type of be friendly and charming to everyone, he might have charmed FW as well. Despite being short, not tall. I mean: FW had affective needs, too, and was far from immune to likeable cultured people
I mean, I'd been wondering the same thing as felis for years now, so this makes as much sense as anything.
You can also do what Klepper did and argue that appointing people like Duhan and Keyserlingk wasn‘t unintentional but intentional on FW‘s part in that he wanted to appoint teachers and governors whom Fritz would like, so he would enjoy learning from them.
Hmmm. Duhan maybe, but by the time Keyserlingk came along (1728, I think), was FW trying to make Fritz happy? I feel like we were in straight up "break his will so he only loves and confides in me" and "I know other people put ideas in his head that are not mine" mode. But I'm open to counterarguments.
But FW was paranoid post August of 1730 in this regard as well as in all other, and he may have suspected without being able to prove anything, much like he never really stopped believing in the Clement plot.
Point re: both FW possibly being charmed by Keyserlingk and later having suspicions even though he couldn't prove anything. The Wilhelmine comparison is a good one as well and given that even Kalckstein, who hadn't been responsible for Fritz for over a year and a half when the escape attempt happened, got accusing letters from FW afterwards, I can sure see FW holding a grudge towards Keyserlingk years later, even though he kept him on in his military position.
Another idea I just had: to check if FW had anything to say about the Rochow/Keyserlingk appointment (in early 1729 by the way) in his letters to Old Dessauer and lo! He had, except it's a bit incomprehensible - he reports (in March 1729) that he appointed "Rocho" and "Keiserling" and describes them as follows: "der eine ist cerios der ander salleter / alle beide [haben] verstand" I suspect cerios is supposed to mean "serious" but "salleter"? Even the footnotes are only guessing ("Komparativ of salé?") in this case. If it does mean something along the lines of "spicier [than Rochow]", maybe he did indeed mean to have one more serious and one more gaudy after all.
... oh, hey, and I see that in February, he was still looking for people. He's talking about Kalckstein's future position and then says "but not until I've found someone to be a 'bon amy' with my son". (Also: "Eurer Lieben [which is what he always calls Leopold] be so good and suggest a few people - if I choose one of them, good, if not, it'll stay between us, Kalckstein doesn't know anything yet".)
So it seems that he did intend for Fritz to like them and that he actually chose the right people for it in this case as well.
that Fritz might have been so drawn to Keyserlingk because his extroverted and freely given affection and lack of restraint was very much the opposite of what Fritz was used to in his youth and family. Which seems plausible to me.
Yep, that makes perfect sense to me.
Between Bielfeld and König, we can certainly say that Keyserlingk invited descriptions in the form of rapid-fire lists of all the things he was doing within ten minutes. :P
Definitely! He seems to have made an impression on the people around him.
Nice to see that Bielfeld confirms König's data re: Keyserlingk's illness after Fritz became king.
Yeah, it was neat to see a different take on the same event.
Special circumstances [:PP] soon removed him from his Master
Always the special circumstances, lol! I think that was their "because of reasons." :P
With this idea of discretion? And "don't go near the window" - how would that even work?
I also had many questions about the likelihood of this, and was hoping to find out what Valory actually said!
I don't know the gentleman in question, but I heard that his character is such that the King will not consider interaction with to improve one's moral character.
Considering that FW appointed Keyserlingk, and that in January 1730 was telling him (and Rochow) to sleep every night in the same room with Fritz, that's quite the about-face. Was Keyserlingk implicated in the escape attempt? I don't remember this happening, but it could have. When did FW decide he had a bad character?
As you point out downthread, FW picking the opposite of what he wants is nothing new!
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Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-06-30 06:11 pm (UTC)This source also claims that Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin, which, you know, that's why I called it an unreliable source. However, the Valory part is interesting to me, and the claim has an endnote to a citation, only the page with the endnote isn't in the Google Books preview.
However, Stabi has the book online! When you get a minute,
Thanks!
ETA: Oh, and I did of course check Valory's memoirs, since we have them, but either he has a spelling of Keyserlingk that I can't predict (I tried a few), or it's not in there.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-01 10:28 am (UTC)Anyway, the "Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin" claim isn't the only mistake in the Fritz chapter. Andreas Lepsch being burned for sodomy in 1730 and Fritz' later statement re: lessening the punishment for sodomy, "lest it gets imitated" ignores what we've found when reading the pamphlet re: Lepsch, that this particular case of sodomy was definitely bestiality, not m/m, as was what Fritz lessened the penalty for. And claiming that Will Durant wrote the most widely read account of Fritz in this or any age (???? goes Voltaire and his memoirs) is so incredibly Anglosaxon/American-centric a claim that I'm still staring in stunned disbelief. Also, not a word of Heinrich, which given the general topic is homosexuality per se in the age of Enlightenment is, shall we say, a bit odd.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-01 01:53 pm (UTC)I was already saying "argh" when I saw this, because Asprey is usually a dead end when it comes to sources. When he does deign to cite them, he cites the whole book rather than a page number. Which I guess would be better than nothing for us, but still. He doesn't often do even that.
However, in this case, it's a moot point, because not only does Asprey, page 83, not mention Keyserling, I used the search function on my digital copy and none of the references to Keyserling says any such thing.
So, we'll write this one off too, until something else turns up. Thanks for checking!
Anyway, the "Fritz met Keyserlingk at Küstrin" claim isn't the only mistake in the Fritz chapter.
This is nothing less than I would expect, because all of the "homosexuality through the history of the whole world" books I've encountered have a superficial knowledge of the individual periods they're dealing with. They read biographies and have no way of filtering out the inaccurate from the accurate, so they only repeat what's been said. As the acknowledgements of this book even say,
Any history that essays to deal with a dozen cultures over a period of two and a half millennia must necessarily be dependent on the work of others.
That's why I'll never trust a book like this, but only use it as a jumping off point for further research.
And claiming that Will Durant wrote the most widely read account of Fritz in this or any age (???? goes Voltaire and his memoirs) is so incredibly Anglosaxon/American-centric a claim that I'm still staring in stunned disbelief.
I'm actually going to play devil's advocate here: if the author is saying "widely read" rather than "most important," the Durants had certain advantages. They were writing for a reading public that stretched across the globe, during a period of significantly higher literacy rates and public libraries than 1784, when transportation of books overseas was a whole lot easier. So it wouldn't surprise me if you could come up with numbers of sales that were higher for the Durant volumes.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-01 02:15 pm (UTC)Now, I have no doubt Durant outsold, say, Thomas Carlyle or Macauly. Easily. And that in English speaking countries, he was more widely read. But in countries where English is not the primary language?
Re: Dead end - did you check Valory's memoirs for "Césarion", just to be absolutely sure?
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-01 02:29 pm (UTC)I did not, but I now have, and nothing. A good idea, though!
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-01 03:43 pm (UTC)ETA: Checking Volz "FtG im Spiegel seiner Zeitgenossen", I found this Keyserlingk relevant quote in a letter from Hille to Grumbkow, Küstrin. 30. September 1731.
I had a longer confidential conversation with the Crown Prince. He told me that your excellency has touched on the matter of the marriage with the Princess of Bevern in a letter to Herr von Wolden. (Fritz) would agree to it, despite the Princess being ugly and stupid, as long as the mediation of the Empress would assure him of good conditions. Among other things, I wishes to have Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion, and aske me to write to your Exellency about this. I asked him: "If the Princess is ugly and stupid, will you be able to live with her and love her then?"
"No, certainly not," he replied.
"And what will you do then?“
"I'll ditch her as soon as I am my own master," he answered. "One has to forgive me for getting out of a tight spot as best I can."
To this, I replied that he should be certain neither your Excellency nor another man of honor would go along with something like this. There could be only misfortune as a result if he truly believed that a miserable marriage had no consequences and that it was okay to break one's marital vows. Moreover, he would only cause new distress for himself if he as much as hinted on wanting Herr von Keyserlingk as a companion. I don't know the gentleman in question, but I heard that his character is such that the King will not consider interaction with to improve one's moral character.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-02 03:44 pm (UTC)And "don't go near the window" - how would that even work?
Yeah, my immediate response was that this sounds strange and also, how would anybody even know about this, if it's all such a secret. But! This whole thread prompted me to read the two reports written by Hofrat König (undercover Saxon envoy in 1740 (how many of those did they have?), you quoted his Fredersdorf description before), which are also included in the "Spiegel" and one of which is all about Keyserlingk, titled "Report on the character of the current Royal Prussian Favourite, Baron von Keyserlingk, and my secret [not really, since a lot of people knew he was visiting, just saying] conversations with him". König says they met when Keyserlingk visited Dresden (unclear when) and became good friends, and he gives quite a few verbatim and paraphrased quotes, even says he got to read some of Fritz' poetry and letters to Keyserlingk (who also read the poetry to him, ha). So he is someone who could have an anecdote like this from Keyserlingk himself, but he mentions no such thing (at least not in the shortened Spiegel version).
What he does mention is quite interesting, though! According to him, even after Fritz was allowed to invite Keyserlingk to Rheinsberg from 1736 on (after FW wanted to keep them apart before "for various reasons" - not vague at all, König!), FW apparently still kept an eye on them and occasionally gave orders that Keyserlingk should return to his regiment already. As a result, they met in secret and Keyserlingk even came to Berlin incognito (as "von Blanckenau") to spend time with Fritz, up until the end of FW's reign, i.e. during the first months of 1740. So given that, there might be some kind of kernel for the anecdote Mildred found.
After Fritz became King, König describes this as the state of affairs: "Not enough that he [Keyserlingk] has to live at the same place as the King all the time; the King also visits him - as often as his busy affairs allow - almost hourly, so to speak, in [Keyserlingk's] own chambers."
K. became seriously ill quite soon after Fritz became King (in his own words: because he was so overwhelmed by his feelings) and when he was on the mend, König visited him and reported that since Fritz himself was sick as well and couldn't walk and visit himself, messengers came to look after Keyserlingk and to tell him to follow Doctor's orders and to take it easy basically every other minute ("messengers" in this case included people like Jordan and Fredersdorf).
König's description of him: He hops, he dances, he jokes, he laughs, he reads, he writes, he works, he accepts visits, he does serious business, he sings now in French, now in Italian, now in German, he plays the flute, he plays the viola da gamba, he composes music [...], he declaims, he writes now German, now French verses, he draws - and all of this with one another, as it comes to him, without ever going insane or getting tired.
Other tidbits:
- Fritz openly praised K. and mentioned that his perpetual cheerfulness and equanimity got him through the desperate moments of the crown prince years (not quite sure if he means pre-1730 mostly or also post).
- As we know Fritz didn't like smoking and hated the smell of it, but K. was allowed, even after Fritz asked him if he wouldn't give it up for him. (Apparently, he didn't do it while Fritz visited, though.)
- K. was bad with money, so Fritz appointed himself his treasurer and was involved "in the tiniest details" of his life.
- On the other hand - or maybe in the same vein - no politics for Keyserlingk, either. I mean, it's entirely possible K. downplayed his chances because König was quite insistent to further the Saxon cause, but it would certainly be very in character that Fritz told K. to live without any worries and not bother with politics. Keyserlingk is also quoted as saying that one has to be very careful and wait for the right moment if one wants to tell Fritz anything, i.e. one shouldn't come to him with ideas and proposals, but wait until Fritz gets to a topic himself, let him talk and then he'd be much more open to hearing other ideas. Which strikes me as completely on point, as does König's observation that Fritz was very keen on asserting his authority at the beginning and never once giving the impression that he'd be led by anyone. [And IMO, especially not by Keyserlingk, whom he praised openly and had as his favourite friend and who obviously was on people's lists as The Favourite.]
- As I said, Keyserlingk apparently showed König some of Fritz' most tender ["allerzärtlichste"] letters. König quotes one which gives Fritz' opinions on Valori and Rudenskjöld we already knew from his letter to Voltaire on the same subject, but he also mentions several instances where Fritz comes across as rather needy (my words, not his!), i.e. telling Keyserlingk that he should reassure him of his love and friendship more. (If they really didn't get to see each other all that often because of FW, that sure makes sense to me, too.) Finally, König calls K. the "most loved favourite" and also says that Fritz is "in good hands" with him (also in terms of Saxon prospects).
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-02 04:38 pm (UTC)Same here. But this time around it did stand out how much it's a "do not want her, do want him".
undercover Saxon envoy in 1740 (how many of those did they have?)
Brühl: Clearly not enough, otherwise the Scouring of Saxony to come would have been avoided.
he writes now German, now French verses
He does? Did he show the German ones to Fritz, too?
Anyway, it's clear why Keyserlingk was such an attractive fellow to Fritz, but also why Émilie took one look at him and decided there was no way she'd allow Voltaire to hand over incriminating Pucelle to this guy. I mean, if his idea of discretion is showing Fritz "most tender letters" to the undercover Saxon envoy.... Reminds me of Katte showing everyone the Fritz and Wilhelmine double portrait, though. And is yet another example of why if Katte had been imprisoned instead of beheaded I think King Fritz would have handled him similarly (i.e. would not have let him anywhere near politics) - Fredersdorf really was the big exception there among the boyfriends.
Another thing, though: when did Keyserlingk marry again? Wasn't that in 1740 (since his wedding party saw the premiere of the Fritz written play where Des Champs is made fun of)? Given Fritz was usually less than thrilled when his favourites did that, it's all the more interesting this doesn't seem to have happened here.
says that Fritz is "in good hands" with him (also in terms of Saxon prospects).
I want to know whether Manteuffel ever got to read this report and if so, what his comment to this point was...
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-02 05:01 pm (UTC)Heh, exactly my reaction! No mention of it one way or the other, but the fact that he wrote and liked German poetry is mentioned repeatedly, and König himself, according to Volz' footnote, was a poet as well - which might be one of the reasons why he and Keyserlingk became good friends, and also why Keyserlingk showed him Fritz' poetry (he wasn't allowed to copy anything, though).
when did Keyserlingk marry again?
1742! No idea why Fritz didn't object (that we know of) but maybe it was one of those rare instances where he liked the woman, or Keyserlingk managed to reassure him, given this line in his eulogy (written by Mauptertuis by the way, not by Fritz):
It was not a tranquil feeling that he had for the King, it was a real passion in which he found himself. He wanted everyone to see him, know him, and love him. So what care did he not take, as soon as a foreigner appeared at court, to put him within reach of contemplating this monarch! To this love for his Prince was added another motive which was no less noble, the pleasure of rendering service; a pleasure so powerful in M. de Keyserlingk that one can say that he indulged in it without reserve; & that if one can reproach him, it is to have made of it too universal a habit.
(This might also explain why he showed König the letters and repeatedly praised Fritz' virtues and good heart.)
On his marriage: Such a character is assumed [to have] a sensitive heart, and his heart was. He was touched by the charms of the young Countess of Schlieben, daughter of M. le Grand Veneur, & Lady of honor to the Queen; & married her in 1742. It takes all that he found in her, virtue, beauty, talents, to excuse a Philosopher who sacrifices his freedom.
ETA: Guess how I spent my evening? I read some Fritz poetry. :P Because unlike the letters, a couple of odes survived.
There's a lament after Keyserlingk's death, Aux Manes de Césarion, which includes a "our two hearts became one heart" line. (I remember that he also wrote in a letter that they had one soul - I'll have to find that again. I know he also used that expression for Wilhelmine, but I haven't come across any other instance of it besides those two.)
Then there's a pretty lighthearted Epitre from 1741, during the war, where he's looking forward to enjoying the pure freedom of "the intoxication of friendship" at Charlottenburg after his return.
There's a Keyserlingk section as the culmination of the Ode against Flattery, which he sent to Voltaire (among other people) in January 1740, and which is kind of interesting for its take on friendship:
Caesarion, faithful friend,
More tender than Pirithous,
I find in you the model
Of the first of the virtues. [= friendship I assume]
May our friendship without weakness
Unveil us with boldness
our mistakes and our faults,
so that the gold that fire prepares
purifies, and is separated
from lead and the basest metals.
And finally, there's A Césarion, from June 1738 (which unlike the others doesn't have a German translation). It's a looong anti-Berlin/court/religion piece and has things to say about his separation from Keyserlingk, which seem to support König's report that even after 1736, FW kept a lid on their relationship - see the bolded part, where I'm not sure if the demon is a poetic expression or if he means FW. Thoughts?
[...]
My mind free from the bonds with
which the court chained my hands,
[...]
Finally escaped from the palace
Where the bondage of oppression
Held, with its inhuman hand,
My freedom in its nets,
[...]
I can, dear friend, without fear,
free and sole master of myself,
confide in you how much I love you.
For the lively feelings of my heart
your heart will serve as an interpreter;
[...]
But after the pleasure, when I think about it,
Pain soon follows:
Of a demon jealous of happiness,
I feel his malicious influence,
It is he who causes your absence,
makes it even worse by its length.
When this demon full of fury
Calms his unwelcome ardor,
Will he have the gallantry
To leave to your protector,
your tutelary seraph, [?]
the pleasure, the glory, and the honor
to lead you, full of vigor,
to find your polar star
and inhale the divine odor,
the perfumes of our meadow?
Come quickly, for my happiness,
to see again this flowery shore,
your true and your only country,
where, without you, the source of
good humor is dried up forever.
The iron drawn to the magnet
feels a less intense impulse
than the impatient desire
for a tender and fearful friendship.
A thousand evils threaten your days;
Slow and painful gout
with a homicidal hand digs
your grave, accelerating their course.
Alas! should the life
in my arms be taken away from you?
Should you suffer death?
No, it is only for common souls
To languish in misfortunes;
Heaven must watch over your steps.
[...]
The ending then sounds like Fritz was preparing to comfort Keyserlingk over a bad love affair - at least that's how I'm reading the final verses, what with the "cruel love" and all:
Come back to taste in my retreat
The pleasures that my hand is preparing for you,
Come back to pour out in my bosom
The sorrow of your secret pain,
The laments of your fate;
And in the arms of a tender friend,
Your heart will be able at least to wait
That the ungrateful and cruel love,
More flexible, wants to listen to you
And to testify to you of the return.
(I also seem to remember a letter he wrote during the journey to Königsberg in 1740, where he mentions that Algarotti is entertaining them and Keyserlingk is talking about marriage or something? ... ah, yes, to AW. He writes that Keyserlingk is thinking about marrying a rich heiress and Fritz and Algarotti are discussing the pros and cons - so a Keyserlingk marriage seems to have been a topic for a while and Fritz didn't seem to mind indeed.)
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 01:45 pm (UTC)You are a truly noble, self-sacrificial soul. The demon does sound like FW, but it might also just be a metaphor, especially if it's not FW but a love/proposed marriage affair which is been keeping Keyserlingk away. Maybe his first choice of wife didn't want him? (Or her parents didn't.)
Incidentally, Algarotti discussing the pros and cons of marrying a rich heiress with Keyserlingk reminds me that it's interesting Algarotti never took this way out of his job problems. Now granted, given people like Hervey, Hervey's wife and Lady Mary were ready to sponsor him without marriage, he probably saw more cons than pros - he'd have had to support a wife, after all, once her dowry was used up, and possibly children, whereas if he remained single his lovers would always be the ones supporting him - but it's still a road not taken.
The idea of friendship being a true friend not as a flatterer, but as a truth teller: well, that's hardly unique to Fritz and pretty much standard to the period. FW is beating the same drum when claiming all of Fritz' self chosen friends weren't true friends in that sense. And of course Fritz railing, in poetry or prose, against flattery is rich given he ate it up. For understandable reasons given FW's constant battery on his self esteem, but he did, whether from Suhm or Voltaire or, the way it sounds, Keysleringk, because we haven't heard yet an example of Keyserlingk saying something Fritz-critical. (Manteuffel in a more tactful way than FW also made the point when telling his anecdote about Augustus and Maecenas during a trial, and Manteuffel did at least give some non-applauding advice in the conversation about EC (i.e. that AW remains the next in line and thus a potential rallying point and alternate candidate as long as Fritz doesn't reproduce, and that he doesn't have to love EC to reproduce, if people had only sex with each other if they were in love the world would not be populated), but Manteuffel didn't remain a friend. Andrew Mitchell was slightly critical with the poetry when asked and could banter (see jest about God not demanding subsidies), but I don't believe he voiced his more serious critique of Fritz towards Fritz. (And he definitely thought Fritz was way too needy for flattery in his friends.)
Trying to think of friends who did critisize him (that we know of) and remained friends: post Silesian War Voltaire, I guess (with the first definite criticism being that remark during Silesia 1 or 2 on how during his recent illness he had one foot in the Styx and saw all the dead people Fritz and his opponents were sending there); D'Argens in how Fritz acted towards Moses Mendelssohn. Others?
Of course, it's entirely possible friends like, say, George Keith Earl Marischal were critical out of everyone's earshot and without ever mentioning this to people afterwards because they were both tactful and trustworthy and didn't boast, and since there aren't letters documenting it preserved, we don't know. But in general, I suspect that like many a monarch or powerful person, Fritz was aware that flattery was the default but needed to believe he could discern real from faked compliments and valued truth tellers, when what he really valued were people able to make him believe both that they really cared and able to make himself feel good about himself. Which is not exactly the same thing.
Back to Keyserlingk; "do not ask your Dad for him as a companion if you know what's good for you, especially not when you simultanously diss your Dad-chosen bride" was probably good advice on Hille's part, though it has to be said FW's distrust alone isn't really a reliable criterium. I mean, given FW's unerring tendency to pick teachers for his sons, plural, who were teaching just the opposite of what he thought they would.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 05:47 pm (UTC)Indeed! :D
The demon does sound like FW, but it might also just be a metaphor, especially if it's not FW but a love/proposed marriage affair which is been keeping Keyserlingk away.
Yeah, having looked at the poem, I can read it either way. Fritz and Suhm were definitely capable of doing the "you know who I mean" thing when dissing FW, but it also sounds like a very Fritzian metaphor. I'm not sure.
Incidentally, Algarotti discussing the pros and cons of marrying a rich heiress with Keyserlingk reminds me that it's interesting Algarotti never took this way out of his job problems. Now granted, given people like Hervey, Hervey's wife and Lady Mary were ready to sponsor him without marriage, he probably saw more cons than pros - he'd have had to support a wife, after all, once her dowry was used up, and possibly children, whereas if he remained single his lovers would always be the ones supporting him - but it's still a road not taken.
Yeah, especially since, as I recall from the dissertation, older brother Bonomo was constantly trying to pressure him into marrying for the family's sake. Algarotti held out against the pressure his whole life.
But in general, I suspect that like many a monarch or powerful person, Fritz was aware that flattery was the default but needed to believe he could discern real from faked compliments and valued truth tellers, when what he really valued were people able to make him believe both that they really cared and able to make himself feel good about himself.
Yep, agreed. Also see FW needing to believe he could read minds when he really, really couldn't.
Trying to think of friends who did critisize him (that we know of) and remained friends
There was *one* time Suhm did a veeeery diplomatic and carefully couched "That was stupidly indiscreet, Fritz," and Fritz went, "You're right, my bad!" without a hint of defensiveness. But it does not seem to have been the norm, to say the least. :P
But yeah, positive reinforcement, reassurance, and downright flattery were the way to make headway with him. Thanks, FW!
(Also, "thanks, Fritz!" on behalf of FW2.)
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 06:23 pm (UTC)Heee. I admit, it is remarkably hard not to let your eyes glaze over after a couple of lines.
D'Argens in how Fritz acted towards Moses Mendelssohn
Since I've recently read some excerpts of their correspondence, I can add that there are a couple other times where he's somewhat critical. Not big picture things - he is very supportive of the Seven Years War for example, dissing the French left and right - but stuff like advising Fritz to maybe stop writing pamphlets during the war (he helped him publish the early ones), because there's no way people aren't going to guess who wrote them and this will only be detrimental to him. Advice Fritz seems to have taken, too, because there are no documented pamphlets written after that letter from D'Argens.
As for others, not sure. I haven't read that much of Jordan's letters, so I can't say anything about him and as you said, if the people Fritz valued for their discretion had some critical remarks in private, we'll never know. (I guess we aren't counting family here?)
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-13 05:15 am (UTC)You are a truly noble, self-sacrificial soul.
I have just been reading all of this with delight, but haven't had much to say -- except I feel that I should echo these sentiments :)
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 05:50 pm (UTC)Awww, that *is* interesting! I'll keep an eye out for other examples as well. I'm also reminded of this:
Think how unfortunate I am to have lost, almost at the same time, my poor Jordan and my dear Keyserlingk. They were my family, and I think I am now a widower, an orphan
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 08:03 pm (UTC)Also, because we were talking about Fritz and friendship, D'Argens got this letter on August 31:
Unfortunately, I am not of your opinion on friendship. I think a true friend is a godsend. Alas! I lost two that I will regret all my life, and whose memory will only end with my duration. You make many eloquent paralogisms. You say that a Carthusian can be happy; I dare to tell you affirmatively that it is not so. A man who cultivates the sciences, and who lives without friends, is a learned werewolf. In short, according to my way of thinking, friendship is essential to our happiness. Whether one thinks the same way or differently, whether one is lively, the other melancholy, it all does not matter to friendship. But the honest man is the first quality which unites souls, and without which there is no intimate union. It seems to me that we have to find our interest in these tight knots that we form, interest of pleasure, of knowledge, of consolation, of utility, etc. This is my feeling.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 05:05 pm (UTC)Ahahahaaa.
Anyway, it's clear why Keyserlingk was such an attractive fellow to Fritz, but also why Émilie took one look at him and decided there was no way she'd allow Voltaire to hand over incriminating Pucelle to this guy.
Ah, yes, that does make sense. Honestly, based on the descriptions we've seen of Keyserlingk, I wouldn't let him anywhere near my secrets either!
Reminds me of Katte showing everyone the Fritz and Wilhelmine double portrait, though.
I was exactly thinking of Katte! Though specifically of the "charming but giddy" description that Prussian Countess Rothenburg gave him while he was alive. For all that Wilhelmine said that Katte's facial features seemed to forebode his gloomy fate, I think he was probably leaning toward extraverted and cheerful, although probably not as over-the-top as Keyserlingk.
And is yet another example of why if Katte had been imprisoned instead of beheaded I think King Fritz would have handled him similarly (i.e. would not have let him anywhere near politics) - Fredersdorf really was the big exception there among the boyfriends.
Yuup. In my AUs where Katte lives and Fritz becomes king, Fritz gives him literary/artistic/musical responsibilities and keeps him away from politics.
Interestingly, Suhm was apparently going to get the same treatment. New King Fritz, writing to ask Suhm if he wants to leave Saxon service, writes, "So please, my dear Suhm, write to me if you are the man to give up the ministry to lead the thoughtful life of a sage, and if you can find something in my company that compensates you for politics."
No politics for you either, Saxon envoy of conflicting interests.
Another thing, though: when did Keyserlingk marry again? Wasn't that in 1740 (since his wedding party saw the premiere of the Fritz written play where Des Champs is made fun of)? Given Fritz was usually less than thrilled when his favourites did that, it's all the more interesting this doesn't seem to have happened here.
Maybe, if he married in 1742 and died in 1745, he needed a nurse? :P
Also interesting, according to Wikipedia, given how indulgent Fritz would later be:
Their daughter Adelaide Friederike von Keyserling, later Baroness von Alvensleben, was born in 1744. Frederick II not only became her godfather, he is even said to have carried the child in his arms during the baptism.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 05:20 pm (UTC)LOL. Maybe!
he is even said to have carried the child in his arms during the baptism.
The operative word here being "is said", Wikipedia. I remember one book pointing out that this doesn't work, date wise, since in 1744, he was surely busy fighting Silesia 2 and not in Berlin to carry the baby?
(Reminder: royals were usually absent godfathers and godmothers even when there wasn't war, with someone acting in their stead at the actual ceremony. Usually from the family, which is why Wilhelmine carried baby AW at his baptism and Fritz carried baby Heinrich despite neither of them being the official godparents of their siblings.)
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 05:44 pm (UTC)I thought of that (and noted the "is said"), but I don't have a birth month for her, and the war didn't start until August. Rödenbeck has him not leaving until August 15. In fact, I see Fritz did the same thing that he did right before the Seven Years' War, which was spend August 9 and 10 with SD at Monbijou before heading off to war. I checked AW's birthday, and it is indeed August 9.
So until I have a birth month for her, there's a decent chance he actually was in Berlin/Potsdam/Spandau at the time.
Looking at the fanvid I put together (which turns out to be an excellent, if imperfect, reference work), he was in Silesia for part of March, and taking the waters in Pyrmont in May, but otherwise in the vicinity of Berlin from January to August 15.
Maybe, if he married in 1742 and died in 1745, he needed a nurse? :P
LOL. Maybe!
That reminds me, when Whitworth was in bad health in the last few years of his life, he wrote that he felt bad about how this was affecting his wife, but that she had accepted this 'in the handsomest manner possible, and talks as if a Nurse & a Wife were onely different terms for the same thing.'
Some would say they are, Whitworth, or at least they would say so in Fritz's presence. :P
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
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From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 04:53 pm (UTC)Aaahhh, that makes sense! Fritz was keeping a lot of things secret from FW during the Rheinsberg years, so yeah, if FW disapproved of Keyserlingk, I could see Fritz having secret meetings with him even without sex. And if Dad's spies are wandering around, I could even see how "Don't go near a window" would work.
messengers came to look after Keyserlingk and to tell him to follow Doctor's orders and to take it easy basically every other minute
Lololol, that is *so* Fritz.
("messengers" in this case included people like Jordan and Fredersdorf).
<3 Fredersdorf.
- Fritz openly praised K. and mentioned that his perpetual cheerfulness and equanimity got him through the desperate moments of the crown prince years (not quite sure if he means pre-1730 mostly or also post).
Aww, wow, that does make sense. I always figured if FW appointed him governor and he became one of the "6 most loved," he must have done something to support Fritz through the pre-1730 years.
Also, he was the one who Fritz described as like the sun breaking through the clouds whenever he appeared (which made me think that was what "Diaphane" meant as well, until you found Diaphane attested as early as 1728, which makes it not impossible but less likely). And teenage Fritz wrote to maybe-boyfriend Borcke around 1728 that he knew he should be making an effort cheer up his sick friend, but he really needed people to cheer *him* up.
So all this makes perfect sense of why Keyserlingk was such a favorite.
(It is, incidentally, very similar to the emotional appeal I think Kaphengst held for Heinrich, outside of any spectacularity in bed.)
- K. was bad with money, so Fritz appointed himself his treasurer and was involved "in the tiniest details" of his life.
ALSO the Fritziest Fritz thing ever, omg. Lol forever.
but it would certainly be very in character that Fritz told K. to live without any worries and not bother with politics.
My impression has always been that Keyserlingk was kept at a serious remove from politics.
i.e. one shouldn't come to him with ideas and proposals, but wait until Fritz gets to a topic himself, let him talk and then he'd be much more open to hearing other ideas. Which strikes me as completely on point
YES THIS.
but he also mentions several instances where Fritz comes across as rather needy (my words, not his!), i.e. telling Keyserlingk that he should reassure him of his love and friendship more.
Awww, Fritz. This is so him (and also so Wilhelmine).
A few other descriptions of Keyserlingk.
Bielfeld, at Rheinsberg:
Baron von K--- is a gentleman of Courland, engaged in the military service of the King of Prussia, and particularly attached to the person of the prince roial. It was some time before I could meet with him , and I had heard so much of him, and was so much prejudiced in his favor, that I burnd with impatience to see him. He enterd the hall like a whirlwind, or like Boreas in the ballet of the Rose. He was just come from hunting, and it appeard odd enough to see him in a night-gown, and with a gun upon his shoulder. He accosted me at once with an air of perfect ease, and his first words appeard to me as if I had been for a long time honord with his particular friendship. He took me by the arm and led me into his chamber; and while he dresd , he repeated scraps of the Henriade, and strings of German verses, and talkd of hounds and horses; cut some cross capers; and practised some steps in the rigadoon a la Balon; then talkd on politics, mathematics, painting, architecture, literary and military matters. I remaind immoveable; listend with a profound silence, and admired every thing, even the happy transitions by which he pasd so rapidly from one subject to another. I seemd however, to perceive that this extreme vivacity could not be altogether natural, and that it did not entirely flow from an abundant resource of genius: and though time has not quite banishd this suspicion, I find nevertheles on a further acquaintance, that baron K--- is a very amiable gentleman, that he has a mind adornd with much pleasing knowledge, that he both talks and writes well, and in vers as well as profe, that he has a humor naturaly gay, and a noble heart. His figur is not very engaging: he is short and thick; has small eyes, a large nose, a wide mouth, and a sallow complexion. He has however, an easyair, a graceful presence, and all that he says or does, is in the manner of a man of birth. By attaching himself to the prince roial, he has contracted his taffe. He loves music, architecture, painting, poetry, &c. but the disciple is still inferior to his master.
Bielfeld on Keyserlingk right after Fritz becomes king:
His apartments are never empty: all his doors are markd with the title of Cesarion, which the king has given him, and of which he seems to me to make a dangerous use. He receives 50 letters of felicitation and busines in a day, and employs several secretaries in writing answers, Imbrued with the waters of Hypocrene, they flow from the end of his pen in a torrent of vers, which however does not always appear to be genuine. He receives every day some litle present from the king , which has the same effect on his mind, as great benefactions have on those of others. He runs about the garden and every part of the palace, with a litle amber flagelet at his buttonhole; he plays upon his base viol, he sings, he laughs, he jokes and rallys. - I was fearful from the beginning, that so violent an agitation would affect his head, and so it has happend. He was seizd yesterday with a violent fever, which confines him to his bed. His secretarys are dismisd; M. Jordan has drawn up a form, which serves as a general answer to all his letters'; and we well hope that tranquility will soon be restored to the mind, and to the dwelling of the amiable Cesarion.
Hypocrene or Hippocrene: in Greek mythology, a spring that was supposed to fill the drinker with poetic inspiration.
Keep in mind that Bielfeld was publishing in the 1760s, and it's widely suspected that while he was purporting to be publishing letters he sent as events unfolded, he was actually writing an after-the-fact book and formatting it as letters.
Wilhelmine, not a fan, writing about FW's choice of governors for Fritz:
Two officers were assigned to the prince...as companions; one was colonel de Rochow, a man of great probity, but of a very narrow capacity; the other, major de Kaiserling, a very honest man too, but very giddy and a great talker, who pretended to be witty, and was nothing but a library in confusion. My brother liked them both very well, but Kaiserling, being the youngest and very dissolute, obtained of course the preference.
And Pöllnitz (copied from Hamilton's Rheinsberg volume, including the ellipses):
[Keyserlingk] was more unruly than a school-boy, and his tongue was amazingly voluble. He talked German, French, Italian, Latin, Polish, and Dutch, and often all these languages in the same conversation...His memory made up for want of cleverness...By his own account he knew everything, yet he was superficial in everything...Nothing could exceed his kindness of heart; he carried it so far as to be everybody's friend, which was the reason people did not set great value on his friendship [Mildred: Other than Fritz, you mean?] Honour and candour were the mainsprings of all his actions. When he died he was universally regretted.
One thing that comes to mind that they must have had in common, even where we lack direct evidence, is positive reinforcement for Fritz. Hille was saying in 1731 that the way to Fritz's heart was through praise. Catt said the same thing in 17whatever. (He had Fritz say it, but whether Fritz did or not, it's definitely something Catt observed.) So praise, reassurance, and/or kindness.
Remember, Hille wrote, during the Küstrin period,
The best way of gaining his friendship will be to praise him, and not by procuring recruits about ten feet high. He is capable of being deceived in his councillors later, on account of this failing.
And as Selena says downthread:
And of course Fritz railing, in poetry or prose, against flattery is rich given he ate it up. For understandable reasons given FW's constant battery on his self esteem, but he did, whether from Suhm or Voltaire or, the way it sounds, Keysleringk, because we haven't heard yet an example of Keyserlingk saying something Fritz-critical.
This is very true, and exactly what I was going to post. Suhm, Voltaire, and Keyserlingk show us Fritz drinking in praise like water in a desert, and they give us some insights into what other people (like, say, Katte) must have been doing.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 07:11 pm (UTC)Oh, yes, that's right. Makes perfect sense. (I actually read a quote in an article written by Luh of all people, he-who-doesn't-think-Fritz-had-friends, that Fritz might have been so drawn to Keyserlingk because his extroverted and freely given affection and lack of restraint was very much the opposite of what Fritz was used to in his youth and family. Which seems plausible to me. Also, if FW had even an inkling of that after the escape attempt, keeping them apart might have been part of his "isolate Fritz and make him think he has no-one" strategy, although it doesn't exactly explain why he still disapproved later on. Unless he got wise re: dissolution, as Wilhelmine calls it, although I still don't know what exactly she means by that, given that she also calls Fritz that at one point.)
Between Bielfeld and König, we can certainly say that Keyserlingk invited descriptions in the form of rapid-fire lists of all the things he was doing within ten minutes. :P And the "friends with everybody" also fits with König's assertion that they were great friends - although, once again, just like with his marriage, he must have managed to make Fritz feel special despite being this way.
Nice to see that Bielfeld confirms König's data re: Keyserlingk's illness after Fritz became king.
Some more info on Keyserlingk's background from his eulogy: His father died when he was nine and his mother was in charge of his education after that. "He was sent to Königsberg, where he made so much progress that at the age of 17, four speeches delivered in the same day, in Greek, Latin, French & German, had him receive a membership of the University. His work was ever more assiduous. Philosophy, Mathematics, Eloquence & Poetry occupied him at the same time, and he succeeded in all of them." He also had great skill in physical activities like dancing.
Grand Tour started in 1720 - Germany, Netherlands, two years in Paris - then returned to Berlin and entered Prussian service as a Lieutenant, got a regiment, became governor for Fritz. (I still don't know what exactly FW saw in him, beyond being a soldier.) "Special circumstances [:PP] soon removed him from his Master, and made him return to his regiment. But the absence made him lose nothing; and as soon as the Prince had become King, M. de Keyserlingk found his fortune as advanced as if he had spent his life paying court to him." Passion for Fritz and marriage see above, more poetry writing, then bad health and early death, upon which the King "shed tears on his ashes". :(
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 07:59 pm (UTC)You can also do what Klepper did and argue that appointing people like Duhan and Keyserlingk wasn‘t unintentional but intentional on FW‘s part in that he wanted to appoint teachers and governors whom Fritz would like, so he would enjoy learning from them. (With the basic idea that the lessons would be how to be a good soldier and a good son first and foremost, of course.). The anthology essay about FW as a father to the younger sibs also says that he had a good hand with teachers for the sons, since AW, Heinrich and Ferdinand loved „Kroiz“ the gay teacher, too, and kept him around after they‘d grown up. And of course the ideal from which he started was that he was to be the beloved fun parent and SD the discipline parent. Maybe the original appointments also were with this in mind.
Now, if there had been any testimony during all the interrogations connecting Keyserlingk to the escape attempt, he would hardly have been just transfered back to his original regiment. But FW was paranoid post August of 1730 in this regard as well as in all other, and he may have suspected without being able to prove anything, much like he never really stopped believing in the Clement plot. His image of himself as tough but fair would have prevented him from outright punishing Keyserlingk, since there had been zero proof of anything. But if the supicion was there, this could have explained why he wasn‘t keen on the friendship being resumed, or at least not to an intense degree.
And hey, let‘s face it, he would not have to suspect any gay element there. I mean, this is the same FW who still won‘t Wilhelmine and Fritz meet more than three times in the eight months she spends in Berlin post marriage, and not at all when Fritz is travelling to the Eugene campaign so they have to arrange a secret meeting via Knobelsdorff. „This person loves Fritz and is loved by him more than me and probably knew what was up before the escape attempt“ could totally have been enough.
„Dissolution“ - I wonder whether it‘s worth checking the original French to see which term Wilhemine used? Because the literal translation might not be the correct one given her Brandenburgian French is not exactly the modern variation For example, when she calls K an honest man, I bet the French text says „honnete homme“, which had a specific 18th century meaning - as when FW says about kid AW that he‘ll become an honnete homme in exactly this phrase despite otherwise speaking German. It‘s not simply someone telling the truth, it‘s a man of integrity/honor/nobility, a gentleman but more so.
My own guess for the meaning of dissolution, again with the parallel to AW‘s governor and to how princes were raised as opposed to princesses in Prussia (and elsewhere), is that it meant the encouragment of bawdy talk and possibly actual sex with lower class people. Yes, FW was the outlier of Kings with explicitly forbidding any bawdy conversations and anything sexual, including masturbation, for his sons as well as daughters, but most of the other courts certainly indulged in the usual gender double standards, i.e. complete chastity in conversation and action for the girls pre marriage, „sowing their oats“ for the boys. And SD certainly was against her daughters viewing bawdy theatre plays according ot the envoys.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 08:19 pm (UTC)Honest: You got it.
What FW originally saw in Keyserlingk: actually, if K was the type of be friendly and charming to everyone, he might have charmed FW as well. Despite being short, not tall. I mean: FW had affective needs, too, and was far from immune to likeable cultured people
I mean, I'd been wondering the same thing as
You can also do what Klepper did and argue that appointing people like Duhan and Keyserlingk wasn‘t unintentional but intentional on FW‘s part in that he wanted to appoint teachers and governors whom Fritz would like, so he would enjoy learning from them.
Hmmm. Duhan maybe, but by the time Keyserlingk came along (1728, I think), was FW trying to make Fritz happy? I feel like we were in straight up "break his will so he only loves and confides in me" and "I know other people put ideas in his head that are not mine" mode. But I'm open to counterarguments.
But FW was paranoid post August of 1730 in this regard as well as in all other, and he may have suspected without being able to prove anything, much like he never really stopped believing in the Clement plot.
Yeah, that makes sense too.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-04 12:49 pm (UTC)Another idea I just had: to check if FW had anything to say about the Rochow/Keyserlingk appointment (in early 1729 by the way) in his letters to Old Dessauer and lo! He had, except it's a bit incomprehensible - he reports (in March 1729) that he appointed "Rocho" and "Keiserling" and describes them as follows: "der eine ist cerios der ander salleter / alle beide [haben] verstand" I suspect cerios is supposed to mean "serious" but "salleter"? Even the footnotes are only guessing ("Komparativ of salé?") in this case. If it does mean something along the lines of "spicier [than Rochow]", maybe he did indeed mean to have one more serious and one more gaudy after all.
... oh, hey, and I see that in February, he was still looking for people. He's talking about Kalckstein's future position and then says "but not until I've found someone to be a 'bon amy' with my son". (Also: "Eurer Lieben [which is what he always calls Leopold] be so good and suggest a few people - if I choose one of them, good, if not, it'll stay between us, Kalckstein doesn't know anything yet".)
So it seems that he did intend for Fritz to like them and that he actually chose the right people for it in this case as well.
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
From:Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 08:22 pm (UTC)Yep, that makes perfect sense to me.
Between Bielfeld and König, we can certainly say that Keyserlingk invited descriptions in the form of rapid-fire lists of all the things he was doing within ten minutes. :P
Definitely! He seems to have made an impression on the people around him.
Nice to see that Bielfeld confirms König's data re: Keyserlingk's illness after Fritz became king.
Yeah, it was neat to see a different take on the same event.
Special circumstances [:PP] soon removed him from his Master
Always the special circumstances, lol! I think that was their "because of reasons." :P
Re: Keyserlingk, sensational gossip, and Royal Reader request
Date: 2021-07-03 04:33 pm (UTC)I also had many questions about the likelihood of this, and was hoping to find out what Valory actually said!
I don't know the gentleman in question, but I heard that his character is such that the King will not consider interaction with to improve one's moral character.
Considering that FW appointed Keyserlingk, and that in January 1730 was telling him (and Rochow) to sleep every night in the same room with Fritz, that's quite the about-face. Was Keyserlingk implicated in the escape attempt? I don't remember this happening, but it could have. When did FW decide he had a bad character?
As you point out downthread, FW picking the opposite of what he wants is nothing new!