the cousin had kept it for her, was put in trial and one of the conditions for not getting burned and getting prison with an option of buying himself out was that he handed over the promise of marriage
Huh. But that would mean that not only did FW make a rich/noble vs. poor difference (which I noted as well and found unsurprising), he also let Saxon politics influence his judgement beyond "exchange Countess for deserters"? Hm.
she saw more battlefield action than he ever did
My thoughts as well. :P
being burned alive (or after a beheading, if FW was feeling merciful) was the standard method of execution for sodomites in a Protestant principality of the 18th century
I guess it's a result of the Carolina, i.e. imperial law with the specified execution method of burning, being the foundation for the Prussian law code at the time.
And 1000 deaths in four years!! That's a lot. (I read a book about the case of Kepler's mother a couple of years ago, which was around the same time, but I didn't remember numbers that high.)
Whyever weren't there any sheep involved?
This actually made me wonder if there were simply more cows and horses around, but then I remembered (at least) Fritz' obsession with having everything manufactured within Prussia, including all the wool coats for his soldiers, so I guess that's not it... Although I honestly don't know what the animal statistics were.
But that would mean that not only did FW make a rich/noble vs. poor difference (which I noted as well and found unsurprising), he also let Saxon politics influence his judgement beyond "exchange Countess for deserters"? Hm.
It's a theory, based on the timing. It's also possible that Flemming when he saw the cousin got arrested simply pounced, which would of course position he had found out via spy that the cousin was the one who had the marriage promise first. Mind you, none of this is mentioned by Thea von S. in her political Manteuffel biography - let's not forget, Le Diable was the Saxon envoy in Berlin at the time -, and she does quote some lines from Manteuffel to Flemming about organizing the handover of the Countess and her transport back to Berlin (which was one of the last things Manteuffel did as envoy before returning to Saxony). (Manteuffel's general attitude in said lines was: Sorry affair, not that I owe her anything, she never promoted me, unlike you, and it has to be done, but well, sorry affair.)
And 1000 deaths in four years!! That's a lot.
And in a 8000 people town, too. There were entire streets standing empty, afterwards.
BTW, inspired by your post, I came across a novel called "Rosenstengel", which turned out to be a very clever Briefroman, one of the few which manages to intertwine two different timelines. (Something that for example the Zeithain author doesn't manage to do well, imo.) The author got the idea when finding out that the guy who first rediscovered the Catherina Link/Anastasius Rosenstengel case in the late 19th century and published about it had been involved in the case of Ludwig II. (he was the junior assistant of Dr. Gudden, though apparantly did not share his bosses opinion on the question of Ludwig's sanity or lack of same). So in the novel, we on the one hand get the 18th century letters from various people encountering "Rosenstengel" at different points of her/his life, and otoh the letters from various 19th century people, including Ludwig II. and young Dr. Franz Müller, in the last year of Ludwig's life when the conspiracy to get him declared insane is on, but also young Franz is discovering the Rosenstengel case and while originally being sent as a medical spy to Ludwig (since his boss Dr. Gudden is charged with collecting material to declare him insane), he when the lonely King very obviously starts to crush on him starts to requite Ludwig's feelings.
He originally tells Ludwig about his discovery to distract him, but it it becomes a way to communicate, too. And is the occasion for a great meta moment; at one point, Ludwig complaints that there are no letters between "Rosenstengel" and his/her wife, and surely the correspondence between the two lovers should be the highlight of the book, and Müller explains that not only did he not find such letters, it's historically unlikely there were any, given that letter culture was just developing and mostly in the noblity and the rich middle class. This leads to Ludwig and Müller writing each other as "Rosenstengel" and her partner in order to provide what can't exist (and of course to express feelings in a masque.
It's also a clever exploration of changing and unchanging attitudes - both eras have homophobia, but the 19th century people think the 18th century pietists and their readiness to go for visionary prophets were nuts while simultanously displaying attitudes no less bonkers to current day readers. And the 19th century treatment of the mentally ill is of course absolutely gruesome (while the two timelines allow the author to point out it used to be even worse).
It is really interesting, but unfortunately I can't rec it to Mildred for German practice because the author does a great job ventriquolizing Rokoko German in the 18th Century sections. That's too tough. (The 19th century sections would be copable, though they do have some chilling sections where two doctors - Müller isn't one of them, but his boss Gudden is - talk about vivisections on animals. (At which point, I guess, a great many readers will wonder who's the crazy one, Ludwig with his Wagner fandom and admittedly out of control money spending, or these guys.)
I can't rec it to Mildred for German practice because the author does a great job ventriquolizing Rokoko German in the 18th Century sections. That's too tough.
Yeeeeeaaah, I can't do that right now. :P Someday!
talk about vivisections on animals
From sex with animals to vivisection of animals in just one week. The universe is clearly out to give you mental images you could have done without. ;)
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Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
Huh. But that would mean that not only did FW make a rich/noble vs. poor difference (which I noted as well and found unsurprising), he also let Saxon politics influence his judgement beyond "exchange Countess for deserters"? Hm.
she saw more battlefield action than he ever did
My thoughts as well. :P
being burned alive (or after a beheading, if FW was feeling merciful) was the standard method of execution for sodomites in a Protestant principality of the 18th century
I guess it's a result of the Carolina, i.e. imperial law with the specified execution method of burning, being the foundation for the Prussian law code at the time.
And 1000 deaths in four years!! That's a lot. (I read a book about the case of Kepler's mother a couple of years ago, which was around the same time, but I didn't remember numbers that high.)
Whyever weren't there any sheep involved?
This actually made me wonder if there were simply more cows and horses around, but then I remembered (at least) Fritz' obsession with having everything manufactured within Prussia, including all the wool coats for his soldiers, so I guess that's not it... Although I honestly don't know what the animal statistics were.
Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
It's a theory, based on the timing. It's also possible that Flemming when he saw the cousin got arrested simply pounced, which would of course position he had found out via spy that the cousin was the one who had the marriage promise first. Mind you, none of this is mentioned by Thea von S. in her political Manteuffel biography - let's not forget, Le Diable was the Saxon envoy in Berlin at the time -, and she does quote some lines from Manteuffel to Flemming about organizing the handover of the Countess and her transport back to Berlin (which was one of the last things Manteuffel did as envoy before returning to Saxony). (Manteuffel's general attitude in said lines was: Sorry affair, not that I owe her anything, she never promoted me, unlike you, and it has to be done, but well, sorry affair.)
And 1000 deaths in four years!! That's a lot.
And in a 8000 people town, too. There were entire streets standing empty, afterwards.
BTW, inspired by your post, I came across a novel called "Rosenstengel", which turned out to be a very clever Briefroman, one of the few which manages to intertwine two different timelines. (Something that for example the Zeithain author doesn't manage to do well, imo.) The author got the idea when finding out that the guy who first rediscovered the Catherina Link/Anastasius Rosenstengel case in the late 19th century and published about it had been involved in the case of Ludwig II. (he was the junior assistant of Dr. Gudden, though apparantly did not share his bosses opinion on the question of Ludwig's sanity or lack of same). So in the novel, we on the one hand get the 18th century letters from various people encountering "Rosenstengel" at different points of her/his life, and otoh the letters from various 19th century people, including Ludwig II. and young Dr. Franz Müller, in the last year of Ludwig's life when the conspiracy to get him declared insane is on, but also young Franz is discovering the Rosenstengel case and while originally being sent as a medical spy to Ludwig (since his boss Dr. Gudden is charged with collecting material to declare him insane), he when the lonely King very obviously starts to crush on him starts to requite Ludwig's feelings.
He originally tells Ludwig about his discovery to distract him, but it it becomes a way to communicate, too. And is the occasion for a great meta moment; at one point, Ludwig complaints that there are no letters between "Rosenstengel" and his/her wife, and surely the correspondence between the two lovers should be the highlight of the book, and Müller explains that not only did he not find such letters, it's historically unlikely there were any, given that letter culture was just developing and mostly in the noblity and the rich middle class. This leads to Ludwig and Müller writing each other as "Rosenstengel" and her partner in order to provide what can't exist (and of course to express feelings in a masque.
It's also a clever exploration of changing and unchanging attitudes - both eras have homophobia, but the 19th century people think the 18th century pietists and their readiness to go for visionary prophets were nuts while simultanously displaying attitudes no less bonkers to current day readers. And the 19th century treatment of the mentally ill is of course absolutely gruesome (while the two timelines allow the author to point out it used to be even worse).
Anyway, I can reccommend the novel!
Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
Re: Sodomy and Death Penalty. (Again.)
Yeeeeeaaah, I can't do that right now. :P Someday!
talk about vivisections on animals
From sex with animals to vivisection of animals in just one week. The universe is clearly out to give you mental images you could have done without. ;)