18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 36

[cahn]

Starting a couple of comments earlier than usual to mention there are a couple of new salon fics! These probably both need canon knowledge.

felis ficlets on siblings!

Siblings (541 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Summary:

Three Fills for the 2022 Three Sentence Ficathon.

Chapter One: Protective Action / Babysitting at Rheinsberg (Frederick/Fredersdorf, William+Henry+Ferdinand)
Chapter Two: Here Be Lions (Wilhelmine)

Unsent Letters fic by me:

Letters for a Dead King (1981 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen (1726-1802)
Characters: Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Love/Hate, Talking To Dead People, Canonical Character Death, Dysfunctional Family
Summary:

Just because one's king and brother is dead doesn't mean one has to stop writing to him.

Comments

Re: Hervey medical woes

[selenak]

A thorough cripple can always trace his gentility as far backward as the Teutonic Order, or a Knight of Malta; and my own mother, whom I look upon as the vehicle of all the ills I ever complained of, could, I believe, quarter the gout upon her pedigree, by the assistance of Howards and Feltons, through at least twenty yards of parchment.

Hervey snark is always tremendously entertaining. I would say "his poor mother", except that his mother was of the offspring-cursing Caroline and FW ilk and said far worse things about him long before this, so you can't blame him for the sentiment.

I don't know if it's statistically significant that the born wealthy got it younger, but I believe it, because they would have been able to afford vast quantities of meat from a younger age.

Good point. I know it was inherited in the older Medici line, and that both Lorenzo il Magnifico and his father Piero the Gouty got it incredibly early (and eventually died of it, so to speak).

Mercury poisoning: I can't remember, when did people finally figure out this was a thing and that you really should not use mercury for anything other than a thermometer?

Re: Hervey medical woes

[mildred_of_midgard]

Mercury poisoning: I can't remember, when did people finally figure out this was a thing and that you really should not use mercury for anything other than a thermometer?

Surprisingly late! Doctors were still prescribing it in the 1920s, and even after they stopped advising ingesting it, my mother, a schoolchild in the 1960s, was being given mercury to handle with her bare hands in science class. I can't blame Hervey for not picking up on the fact that he was poisoned--the erroneous belief in mercury well outlasted the practice of bleeding, which tapered off in the 19th century.

Re: Hervey medical woes

[cahn]

oh hey it's Christmas

My high school chemistry teacher also talked about being given mercury to handle with her bare hands in college! I believe that would also have been in the 1960's.

But at least Hervey realized it wasn't good for him, even though he didn't realize the "this is a poison for everybody" part!

Re: Hervey medical woes

[mildred_of_midgard]

But at least Hervey realized it wasn't good for him, even though he didn't realize the "this is a poison for everybody" part!

Yes, that's good! But since he was writing advice to his children, advising them that mercury is an A+ drug was...argh, you were so close, Hervey! At least maybe he predisposed them to think of mercury as something that *might* disagree with them, and thus perhaps they would be inclined to stop ingesting it sooner, once they noticed the symptoms.

Unlike poor Fredersdorf