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cahnGonna go ahead and make this post even though Yuletide is coming...
But in the meantime, there has been some fic in the fandom posted!
Holding His Space (2503 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, 18th Century CE Frederician RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf/Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Characters: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Protectiveness, Domestic, Character Study
Summary:
Using People (3392 words) by prinzsorgenfrei
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Hans Hermann von Katte
Additional Tags: Fluff, Idiots in Love, reading plays aloud while gazing into each others eyes
Summary:
But in the meantime, there has been some fic in the fandom posted!
Holding His Space (2503 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, 18th Century CE Frederician RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf/Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Characters: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Protectiveness, Domestic, Character Study
Summary:
Five times Fredersdorf has to stay behind - and one time Friedrich doesn't leave.
Using People (3392 words) by prinzsorgenfrei
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Hans Hermann von Katte
Additional Tags: Fluff, Idiots in Love, reading plays aloud while gazing into each others eyes
Summary:
Friedrich had started to talk to him because he had thought of him as a bit of a ditz.
And now here he was. Here he was months later, bundled up in this very same man’s blankets with a cup of hot coffee in front of him, its scent mixing with that of Katte’s French perfume.
_
Fluffy One Shot about one traitorous Crown Prince and the sycophant he accidentally fell for.
Re: More Peter Keith findings
Date: 2022-11-17 07:51 pm (UTC)Ah no, I do not. I did go to
Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-17 11:06 pm (UTC)Cast of Characters
Philip V: King of Spain
Isabella: Queen of Spain
Rottembourg: French envoy to FW's Prussia and then to Philip V's Spain.
Morgenstern: German scholar who worked for FW and wrote a bio of FW.
First mission (October 1727-April 1728)
Rottembourg appears to have escaped before matters peaked in June, but I also don't know exactly when certain symptoms began. What I've got is this:
May 1727 - end of 1727: Philip V severely depressed, unwilling to speak to his ministers. Will listen to reports, but "no sign of hearing other than a gesture now and then or a fleeting smile."
Early 1728: Back in business, but severe attacks. Doesn't see ministers for weeks at a time, and then will only see them at night, and will keep them up until dawn. Audiences with ambassadors are held at midnight.
June is when he starts wanting to abdicate for the second time. (Remember, he abdicated once, gave the throne to his son, and his son died of smallpox after about 7 months.) His wife, Isabella, tries to prevent him. She has all writing implements removed, and keeps a close guard on him. So Philip tries escaping by sneaking out at 5 am, while she's asleep, and flees the palace in his nightshirt. She has the guards stop him, changes the locks, and gives the guards orders not to let him escape, but he tries this several times.
Finally, on June 28, he sneaks some paper while Isabella's in another room for a minute, writes out his abdication, and has his most trusted servant smuggle it into the council. The council session is discussing it when Isabella's messenger arrives, confiscates the piece of paper, and destroys it.
During this summer, and I don't know how early it started and whether some of them would have been affecting Rottembourg by April, but we've got these symptoms:
* Giving audiences to ambassadors either in his nightshirt or almost naked.
* Paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations.
* Biting himself.
* Screaming and/or singing.
* Urinating and defecating in bed.
* Believing he's a frog (July). (Rottembourg's replacement as ambassador arrived in June. Man, I don't envy him.)
* Believing that he's dead.
* Bulimia.
Rottembourg gets the hell out just in time, it seems. But he's back in 1730, which is when things are really crazy, and for a much longer time.
Second mission: (December 1730-April 1734)
During most of this time, the court isn't in Madrid, it's in Andalusia, and it's peripatetic. This is Isabella's idea for how to make Philip's mental health improve: change of scenery.
This means tons of expenses for the ambassadors. Ambassadors were notoriously in arrears for their salaries, and most were rich and the rest supported by their families. Random expenses like "The King decided to move his court" have to be covered out of pocket. So Rottembourg, who was himself very rich, had to sell property to cover these years.
And then there's the part where summer 1730 is when Philip's mental health crashes again. He's severely depressed, bulimic, and consuming vast amounts of poison antidotes (I don't know the details) because of his paranoia. He's convinced that his stools contain blood; when he inspects them and they aren't, he accuses the doctors of concealing the blood. His toenails get so long it's difficult to walk. He won't let anyone do his hair, so it turns into a complete mess. He smells terrible. His only entertainment is fishing...in his garden...at night...from a bowl that his attendants have placed fish in.
But he won't give up power, either. He walks around muttering, "I'm the boss here" (Je suis le maître), and making things difficult to prove it. If you give him a stack of papers to be signed in a certain order, he'll rearrange the papers when you're not looking.
And, of course, he's conducting all business at night. Upon arriving, Rottembourg describes the situation as "incomprehensible", and complains about being kept in meetings until 6 am. Meanwhile, Isabella is trying to conduct a normal life during the day and take care of her husband and help him with state business at night.
June 1731: Rottembourg reports that he shows up for an audience at night, but the queen has collapsed from exhaustion and is fast asleep, and Philip hasn't slept in 48 hours. So Rottembourg waits until 7 am, at which point he's told they can't see him until 5:30 pm.
By July, Philip is getting one hour of sleep a night, his legs are swollen, and everyone's convinced he's going to die.
A year later, after a brief manic episode, he's back to depressed, with no hygiene, and refusing to talk to anyone because he's dead. Also, he's extremely concerned that because he had abdicated, then became king again after his son died, his rule is invalid. By not talking, he can avoid ruling!
In October 1732, he decides he's going to talk, but only to his valet. He then starts explaining how he's going to unite the crowns of France and Spain to his valet...but no one else.
In November, he breaks his streak of not talking to ministers and ambassadors by insisting that he needs to talk to Rottembourg. "The startled count was presented with the spectacle of a king with clothing completely disordered, with a long and filthy beard, and wearing no trousers or shoes, his legs and feet naked."
This is the kind of thing that could make you miss FW forcing you to get drunk!
In conclusion, Rottembourg may well have been quoted as saying, "However bad Berlin was, it was better than Madrid!" (At least there was the SD court in Berlin when FW was away.)
*****
So for this reason, whenever we need to remind
Btw, flipping through his bio recently for the Spain in the War of the Austrian Succession discussion, I am reminded that later in life, around the time of said war, one of his delusions was that a ray of sunlight had pierced his shoulder and penetrated his inner organs.
Again, poor guy.
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-18 08:40 am (UTC)Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-18 08:44 am (UTC)1. He had already abdicated once (this is why he thinks he's not legally king!), but promptly started micromanaging his son from "retirement", being unable to let go*.
2. That son had died after 6 months, not setting a great precedent.
3. His remaining sons were all minors and would have needed a regency (and Isabella would have had to follow him into retirement again, something she was obviously not interested in doing),.
4. Spain had just come out of a major war over the succession and no one was interested in more instability.
So...just an awful situation all around.
* Selena and Cahn, AU where Fritz *does* abdicate like he always talked about, but does this exact thing.
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-18 05:03 pm (UTC)Selena and Cahn, AU where Fritz *does* abdicate like he always talked about, but does this exact thing.
When exactly does he abdicate, though? I feel like that's a factor when it comes to the micromanaging. If he leaves it until very late in the game, future FW2 has already become friends with all the people who'll influence him to keep Heinrich out once Fritz dies in rl. If, otoh, he abdicates while future FW2 is still a teenager (just legally adult), then Heinrich has a good shot at being first minister, and I bet he won't be micromanaged. Though he might have fun telling Fritz he could show up once a year for the annual spring review if he absolutely wants to contribute...
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-19 02:13 am (UTC)Hahaha! To be fair, the other surefire remedy was war--Philip was at his best when he was in an army camp or throwing himself into the middle of a battle and freaking out all his supporters. To quote Horowski:
The birth of the French king's son had catapulted him not only out of his position as direct heir to France, but also back into the depression that a successful war against Morocco had only briefly interrupted. For months the king lay on his bed with a finger in his open mouth, not allowing himself to be shaved or his shirts changed, and refusing to speak, saying he was dead. It was with great difficulty that they were finally able to get him to talk again, but that was of little help because he now didn't want to speak to anyone except his valet, to whom he then (still wearing only a nightshirt) explained his rights to the French throne for hours. However, as soon as he received the news from Poland [of August II's death and the impending war over the Polish succession], Philip V jumped out of bed to have his long beard shaved, as if nothing had happened. He promptly fell back into his hyperactivity mode.
When exactly does he abdicate, though? I feel like that's a factor when it comes to the micromanaging.
Hmm. Well, I feel like it would be fun watching him try anyway. :P
Though he might have fun telling Fritz he could show up once a year for the annual spring review if he absolutely wants to contribute...
See! It would be fun! :D
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-19 05:42 am (UTC)I... yeah, I want this :P
And I would also take FW abdicating, although I don't really see what would cause him to do that?
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-19 08:14 am (UTC)Mind you, there's also the story from Wilhelmine's memoirs that FW shortly before the first Dresden trip had a particularly strong attack of pietism and considered retiring to live a godly life at Wusterhausen, with his daughters managing his household, while Fritz took over government. He talked about it with some pastors, but this idea didn't last, and at any event evidently hanging out with August the Strong later that year cured him of any remnants of it.
Re: Philip "the Frog" V of Spain
Date: 2022-11-22 05:52 am (UTC)