18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 35

[cahn]

In the previous post Charles II found AITA:

Look, I, m, believe in live and let live. (And in not going on my travels again. Had enough of that to last a life time.) Why can't everyone else around me be more chill? Instead, my wife refuses to employ my girlfriend, my girlfriend won't budge and accept another office, my brother is set on a course to piss off everyone (he WILL go on his travels again), and my oldest kid shows signs of wanting my job which is just not on, sorry to say. And don't get me started about Mom (thank God she's living abroad). What am I doing wrong? AITA?

Comments

Re: Henri IV and conversion - Richelieu Footnote

[cahn]

he can't afford to piss off the Pope, but if he agrees that Henri is a heretic in disguise, he's a disloyal subject and also can kiss any chance of a French career goodbye. However, apparantly young Armand was up to the task

Man, this seems... super in character.

Suzanne, who was one tough lady, drafted teenage Armand out of his Parisian cadet school (where he was supposed to make a military career) and into the church, where he had to study theology in record time, and then go to Rome to convince the Pope that despite the recent reforms of the Council of Trent, which were designed to prevent among so many other things young men without any experience becoming bishops in name only, reaping the cash but not doing the work, he should be granted the office.

Wooooow. That's awesome.

he forced brother Alphonse to leave his monastery,

Me: Omg, I am absolutely going to ask whether this was Richelieu's revenge on his brother --

and if there is another explanation for this than "payback for destroying teenage Armand's dreams by refusing an ecclesiastical career", I haven't come across it yet.

Me: Orrrrr I guess I don't have to! :)

Richelieu put the fear of God into him, too, and gave strict (and in terms of Nicole, very tender) instructions of how she could be cared for, which were very atypical for a time not known to deal well with people suffering from mental illness.

Now this is great. (And as usual I really like hearing about people who could be really nice and also really ruthless.)