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cahnLast post, we had (among other things) Danish kings and their favorites; Louis XIV and Philippe d'Orléans; reviews of a very shippy book about Katte, a bad Jacobite novel, and a great book about clothing; a fic about Émilie du Châtelet and Voltaire; and a review of a set of entertaining Youtube history videos about Frederick the Great.
Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-03 11:25 pm (UTC)Right? Maybe he was there to discuss something important with August and it just happened to be wedding time, so they couldn't not invite him.
Still find FW in a mask at a ball a weird mental image, but I guess when in Dresden, do as the Saxons do (but not too much :P).
Anyway, the way Breyer renders Manteuffel's letter to Brühl it sounds like Manteuffel himself isn't sure whether or not such letters exist, and Breyer just thinks that if there were such letters, Brühl would have followed Manteuffel's advice as what to do with them and under no circumstances publisized this as a reason for Hoym's arrest.
Thank you! This is the thing I knew I was missing the nuance of and didn't have time to slow down and figure out.
Hm. Maybe it's worth having another look at the interrogation protocols of Fritz and Katte to see what they said about Hoym and why Fritz thought Hoym would help him escape.
I had a quick look and didn't see an explanation of *why* Hoym, but then it's not only in the godforsaken font but also in convoluted 18th century legalese (I always find reading Hinrichs a little extra difficult), and I didn't have time to read everything slowly, so you might want to take a look yourself. "Hoym" is searchable under "Soym" in the Hinrichs volume, because
this font is ridiculousOCR is not an exact science.What I did find was Hinrichs footnoting this guy as Adolph Magnus von Hoym, saying he was in charge of the post. Wikipedia says our Hoym (Karl Heinrich) had a brother named Adolph Magnus, but he died in 1723. So if both Pichon and Beyrich think it's our Hoym, I think Hinrichs made a misidentification.
That's assuming there are any of those files left. I mean, given the fate of Dresden aftr all these books were written. I note the current Saxon archive is at Leipzig, is what I'm saying.
The gauntlet has been thrown down, and the detective is on the case. :P
First finding is that Rene Hanke has an encouragingly long bibliography of unprinted Brühl correspondence from the 1740s and 1750s that he found in the Dresden archive and consulted for his 2006 book. Google time.
Second finding is that a bunch of Brühl's 1730s correspondence is still searchable on the Saxon archive website.
Woo! Third finding is that a bunch of it (all of it?) is DIGITIZED. [ETA: no, not all. Amongst the not digitized material is "Varia, Briefe verschiedenen Inhalts von verschiedenen Personen an den Staatsminister Grafen von Brühl (u. a. Berliner Nachrichten de anno 1740)". When I saw that, I was like, come ON! What could be more important than Berlin 1740? :P]
Mes amies, I give you
https://archiv.sachsen.de/archiv/bestand.jsp?oid=01.05.01&bestandid=10026&syg_id=264812&_ptabs=%7B%22%23tab-gliederung%22%3A1%7D#gliederung
If you ctrl-f for "Manteuffel", click on the link (say, 1734), and then click the "Digitalisat" tab, you get images of facsimiles!
(I can just see the Dresden archivists thinking, "Better get this online! We had a narrow escape last time.")
And the handwriting is basically legible!
WELL THEN.
OMG, there's a letter from Suhm! There's a whole 3-part volume for "correspondence with people whose names begin with S", and I skimmed through the preview and went, "Wait, do I recognize that handwriting?"
Guys, I can recognize Suhm's handwriting in preview mode! :DDD
...There's a whole bunch of letters from Suhm!
Oh, hey, here's Nicolas Suhm, writing from Berlin in late 1740, giving thanks for the accommodation in allowing him to leave Warsaw quickly, stating that Fritz gave Hedwig and the kids a pension of 1000 ecus, and reporting that Suhm's oldest son had been a Saxon ensign for 4 years and is now asking for leave to go join Fritz.
(Man, I wish Suhm's handwriting was this good. I can make 95% of it out with effort, but the amount of guessing I have to do at the handwriting plus the French means I kept losing track of what he was saying. All I could tell was there was a series of letters corresponding to
Footnote says that Suhm wrote repeated requests to get rehired into Saxon services following this visit which were not (yet) replied in the positive though he was given the hope of getting a pension since clearly he had incredibly useful connections.
I did see a mention of Ruppin! I looked at the surrounding text, but didn't see anything obviously worth the effort of puzzling it out in detail.)
Bookmarked, and I'll come back to this when my French is better*, that will help tremendously!
* Who am I kidding, I'll probably come back to it before then, but it's definitely an extra motivator to improve my French!
Btw, I'm only seeing letters *to* Brühl, in both the Manteuffel and the letter S volume, no letters *from* Brühl so far. Let me see if Beyrich will point me directly to one.
Oh, yeah, now that I read the catalogue more closely, it's mostly letters "to Brühl" or letters from "other person", but the Manteuffel volumes says "correspondence with Manteuffel", and yet I only see Manteuffel letters.
Oh, huh, found one Beyrich mentions, and apparently Brühl does not sign his name.
Anyway, guys, I found the letter from Brühl to Wackerbart-Salmour discussing the reasons for Hoym's arrest! It's in a postscript:
P.S. Le Roi ayant dernièrement écrit de propre main un Ordre ^Secret, au General Miklau de faire arreter et transporter à Koenigstein le Comte de Hoym, et ne doutant pas que cela ne soit execute à l'heure qu'il est, je crois devoir dire confidemment a V. E. que Sa Majeste s'y est determinee parce que le dit Comte a offert ses services au Prince Royal de Prusse apres le mort de son Pere. V.E. en comprend les consequences et je la conjure que cela reste entre nous. [two illegible words I can't read appended.]
The King having recently written in his own hand a Secret Order to General Miklau to have the Count de Hoym arrested and transported to Koenigstein, and not doubting that this will be executed at the present time, I believe I must say confidently to V. E. that His Majesty decided to do so because the said Count offered his services to the Prince Royal of Prussia after the death of his father. V.E. understands the consequences and I implore him that it remain between us.
Interesting!
So now we see why Wikipedia long ago told us that historians believe the charge of impregnating his niece was trumped-up to cover the real charge.
One day I dream of reading through this handwritten-in-French archive like it's printed-in-English. In the meantime, enjoy the postscript.
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-04 02:16 pm (UTC)Still find FW in a mask at a ball a weird mental image, but I guess when in Dresden, do as the Saxons do (but not too much :P).
LOL, well, when I was screencaping Der Thronfolger, I did include a shot of FW in costume during the 1728 Saxony visit - check out my pic spam again.(The direct link to the photo in question is here.) It's carnival, after all. And hey, child!him had to pose as David for that painting Mom commissioned, so it's not like he hadn't done it before. Also I think Wilhelmine mentions it in her report on the Dresden visit (as given to her by Fritz, one assumes). The scene where he wears a carnival costume ends with the (in)famous occasion where he and Fritz gets presented with a naked lady, well, as naked as German tv allowed.
I'm absolutely thrilled all those documents survived Dresden getting flattened by the Royal Air Force. (I assume they were evacuated in time, like Fritz' and FW's dead bodies in their sarcophagi were?) And that the're now digitized.
Guys, I can recognize Suhm's handwriting in preview mode!
You're awesome, but we knew that. :)
So now we see why Wikipedia long ago told us that historians believe the charge of impregnating his niece was trumped-up to cover the real charge.
Yep. I'm still fascinated that Hoym gets arrested for corresponding with Fritz and being earmarked for working with him in the mid 1730s while Suhm, who's definitely corresponding with Fritz and very likely earmarked for working with him as far as the Saxons know gets first entrusted with the super secret Russia negotiations and then gets his wanted leave. Granted, Hoym is in Saxony and thus can easily be arrested, while Suhm is in St. Petersburg, but he's intending to travel via Poland and thus Saxon territory, and presumably if Brühl had distrusted him, he wouldn't have given Nicolas S. leave to meet up with his brother but would have set some soldiers to Warsow to receive him.
Now, mostly I suspect it's due to changed political circumstances. The Hoym stuff goes down either during or directly after the War of the Polish Succession, and if Fritz had become King then and had indeed allied with the French and Stanislas Lescynski, you do not want someone who was for a short time the most powerful minister of Saxony and Poland and knows all the defense stuff and the true state of the army at his disposal. In 1740, Stanislas Lescynski isn't an issue anymore and things are looking relatively good with the French, impending Saxon/French marriage alliance upcoming. Still - the Saxons want to overthrow the Polish constitution and Suhm doesn't just know about this plan, he's brokered it and partly developed it, and one would think THAT is not something Brühl wants to share with the new King in Prussia.
Maybe Suhm was just exuding trustworthiness. :) I mean, even Pichon in his passionate defense admits Hoym could come across as haughty, and an occasion gets mentioned and admitted in the initial 18 charges where he grabs people and shouts in their faces. Whereas Suhm presumably was soft spoken and nice to everyone.
Question: if Fritz actually liked Hoym, as opposed to finding him useful, could this be another reason as to why he had it in so much for Brühl later?
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-04 10:59 pm (UTC)I know! I was thinking of his 1728 visit, and especially the naked lady, when I said "When in Dresden...but not too much." It's still a weird mental image. FW in Saxony is just cognitive dissonance for me, what can I say? ;)
I'm absolutely thrilled all those documents survived Dresden getting flattened by the Royal Air Force.
Meeeee toooooo!
Now, mostly I suspect it's due to changed political circumstances.
Yeah, but as you pointed out, he got entrusted with the St. Petersburg assignment only 2 years later, and that included anti-Prussia negotiations! That's the more surprising part to me. Admittedly by that point, the War of the Polish Succession had mostly been settled in Augustus' favor.
It's possible that by the time it was 1740, he'd proven himself and you're right that they *wanted* him to go spy on Fritz. And I'm willing to believe they did want Lynar back in St. Petersburg, although admittedly that's not the same as letting Suhm go to Prussia as opposed to come back home.
Btw, Fritz and Suhm are pretty explicit in their letters in early 1740 about how Suhm is going to come join him.
February 4, Fritz writes:
I embrace the opportunity...to remind you of me, and to advise you, that in a short time the epocha will arrive, when I shall summon you to perform promises. I hope you are always in the same sentiments in which I have known you, and that you have not forgotten the agreement made the night of our separation.
While I wait for the pleasure of seeing you again, I send you a ring with my portrait, which I beg you will never part with.
Suhm writes a long discursus on how he is touched and also offended that Fritz needs the reassurance that his Diaphane is still faithful to him, and concludes:
...the unalterable sentiments of respect and devotion, which my heart has vowed to you, and which I desire to prove by my services to the last moment of my life; expecting with the warmest impatience, the epocha when I shall be recalled near to your person, never more to be separated from it but by death.
Considering they had to encode all the loans...I kind of think Suhm had at least gotten a verbal nod from Augustus and/or Brühl that he was going to leave as soon as Fritz became king.
It is kind of the exact opposite of Hoym!
OTOH, Suhm was never the most powerful minister, and after 4 years in Russia, he probably didn't know that many secrets about what was going on back home.
Still - the Saxons want to overthrow the Polish constitution and Suhm doesn't just know about this plan, he's brokered it and partly developed it, and one would think THAT is not something Brühl wants to share with the new King in Prussia.
I mean, August the Strong has been trying to overthrow the Polish constitution and partition Poland and has been telling FW and Peter the Great about it and trying to get them on board since...1720 at least, probably 1696. So that part's not a secret. But the specific "let's work with Russia to keep Prussia in line," yeah, that might be a secret. (Though it might not be, the Saxony/Prussia rivalry is kind of a known thing, and how early did the signs of the Fritz/Brühl antagonism begin?)
Re why Suhm was recalled, Fritz or Lynar: probably both.
July 2: Suhm reports that he didn't wait to ask for his dismissal after learning of FW's death, but asked immediately.
August 3: Suhm reports that he's finally gotten his dismissal.
August 23: Ivan VI born.
October (early): Ivan VI is named heir to the throne, with Anna Leopoldovna as regent.
October 28: Anna Ivanovna dies, making Anna Leopoldovna regent.
I don't have a date for exactly when Lynar was appointed envoy, but he arrived in January. I suspect the Saxons knew Anna Ivanova was on her last legs even in July, and so they were more willing to let Suhm go. They didn't have absolute certainty, though, and sickly monarchs have been known to hang on longer than you expect (Carlos II of Spain, Elizaveta, etc.). So the proximate cause was definitely
their desire to spy onFritz.I still suspect Suhm let his bosses know in advance, though, and that's why permission was so forthcoming, and why he and Fritz didn't hesitate to put their plans in plaintext in letters.
Maybe Suhm was just exuding trustworthiness.
I mean, that's my headcanon! (Other than the fact that he never had Hoym's power and access to secrets--he had been a private citizen for 6 years, then 4 years over in St. Petersburg--and the fact that he probably would have made a great spy, if he could be induced to do it (which I agree he probably wouldn't, but I'm sure he would have tried to smooth things over between Saxony and Prussia if opportunities arose, and would have been a useful contact for the Saxons in Prussia), but also, yes, he'd probably proven himself.)
Whereas Suhm presumably was soft spoken and nice to everyone.
Yeah, my headcanon was always that he was outwardly "diplomatic" and quiet, but in his head, a lot of wheels were turning.
Question: if Fritz actually liked Hoym, as opposed to finding him useful, could this be another reason as to why he had it in so much for Brühl later?
It's possible. We should keep an eye out for any signs he liked Hoym. I mean, driving someone you likedto commit suicide *would* be the kind of thing you'd hold a grudge over...
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-05 06:40 am (UTC)Also, thinking about the two cases further, there's a difference between Suhm being open about his friendship with Fritz and his ultimate intention of joining him once FW dies and Hoym conducting a secret correspondence and making a secret pledge (in addition to the differences between the two men's positions and state of knowledge about Saxon interior matters).
Given that Suhm wrote a solid Fritz assessment for Brühl 1739/1740ish (and on time when Brühl asked for it, as opposed to Manteuffel not finishing his), I could see Brühl seeing this as a furhter confirmation in his opinion that Suhm is trustworthy and solidly Saxon, and could be persuaded to continuing furthering Saxon interests (in whichever fashion) while he's with Fritz. (Again, it's not that I think Suhm would have necessarily done that but that Brühl in 1740 had reasons to believe he would based on Suhm's professional conduct in the last four years.)
It's possible. We should keep an eye out for any signs he liked Hoym. I mean, driving someone you likedto commit suicide *would* be the kind of thing you'd hold a grudge over...
Quite. We might be overthinking it and it really was just politics (i.e. blaming Brühl for being diplomatically foiled a few times plus his share in the Diplomatic Revolution plus a convenient scapegoat for the ruin of Saxony), but there was so much targetted viciousness that it's hard not to see it as personal. (Hence Hohenzollern historians feeling the need to explain it by noble Fritz being that indignant that evil favourite Brühl managed to squeeze so much money out of Saxony as to get himself all those palaces and avenging the Saxon people by destroying all the Brühl property.) I mean, I still like your idea that young Brühl might have tipped off FW at Zeithain, too, but in order for Brühl to having been in a position to do so, it would have needed him to be informed of Fritz and Katte approaching Hoym in real time, and if that had been the case, the accusation much later that Hoym kept the information to himself would not have worked. I mean, Hoym could have just said "but you and our King and the King in Prussia talked about this at the time, what do you mean, keeping it secret?!?" and he didn't.) (Pinchon quotes Hoym's defenses, and this wasn't it.)
Reminder
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-05 10:56 am (UTC)Yes, this is very true. That's part of how Suhm exudes trustworthiness, I say! :D
Given that Suhm wrote a solid Fritz assessment for Brühl 1739/1740ish (and on time when Brühl asked for it, as opposed to Manteuffel not finishing his)
Hahaha. Manteuffel: But I had so much to say that I ran out of time!*
* I am reminded of the time I got an A on the Latin historical linguistics qualifying exam in grad school and the guy who knew much more than I did got a B, because he ran out of time to write down everything he knew.
I still like your idea that young Brühl might have tipped off FW at Zeithain
That was Jürgen Luh's idea! He wrote a paper on it, which I reported to salon. I'm not even convinced, I just think it's a possibility.
it would have needed him to be informed of Fritz and Katte approaching Hoym in real time, and if that had been the case, the accusation much later that Hoym kept the information to himself would not have worked.
I'm not sure this is the case. Hoym being accused of not reporting things through official channels is not the same as a third party reporting that they've observed and/or heard rumors of Fritz and Katte acting shady around Hoym's tent. Brühl doesn't need to have told FW "Hoym told me what Fritz and Katte said," he just needs to have said, "Btw, a lot of suspicious activity going on, thought you might like to know."
I mean, everyone already knew Fritz wanted to escape, so putting 2 and 2 together would not have been hard.
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-05 01:18 pm (UTC)Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-06 02:13 pm (UTC)You're awesome, but we knew that. :)
So after downloading the whole volume, it turns out that I am awesome, but in a different way than we thought.
None of the letters in this volume are by our Suhm, all are by Nicolas. It's just that:
1. I was apparently right that Nicolas will break out his best handwriting when making an effort. Which means I think I was right that Hedwig and Peter Keith are doing the same, even though I don't have other handwriting samples in their case.
2. These two Suhm brothers have very similar handwriting when not making an effort. Maybe they had the same tutor growing up! (They were 6 years apart in age, so it's not impossible.)
So what this means is:
1. I don't actually know what Nicolaus was writing about in 1736 that made it look to me like he was repeatedly soliciting a position and there was talk of pensions (and Ruppin!), but it doesn't surprise me there's some overlap in the vocabulary. There is a fair bit of talk about FW (le roi de Prusse).
2. We don't actually have our Suhm's letters.
I might still see what I can do with the Nicolaus letters at some point: there is a lot of talk of Prussia, and maybe it will give us some interesting insights.
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-06 02:17 pm (UTC)- Mildred, obviously
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-06 02:45 pm (UTC)Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-06 05:21 pm (UTC)Enjoy your holidays with your family. :)
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-07 06:03 pm (UTC)Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-10 01:14 pm (UTC)Brühl's original instructions to Suhm: Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden, Loc. 3026, Vo. I.
Suhm's short note from September 15th where he says he had a extrarordinarily successful conversation with Biron but wants to report the content verbally to his brother is alas only paraphrased, not quoted, and thus not footnoted.
Suhm to Brühl about Anna Leopoldovna declaring she'd rather die than marry Anton Ulrich, otoh, is quoted and thus we have:
Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden, Loc. 3026
Suhm's letter from Dec. 18th 1739 where he prophecies the Russians will go after Poland one day and develops his own Realpolitik plan for Poland: Also
Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden, Loc. 3026.
Re: Saxon archives
Date: 2023-04-10 01:29 pm (UTC)Well, the plan is for me to finish reading up on the Danes, then go back to French, then acquire the ability to read handwritten French a whole lot faster. Then it might make sense to check out 7 volumes of Suhm correspondence. Maybe by then they'll have digitized it.
Thanks anyway!
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-04 06:24 pm (UTC)Then in 1737, shortly after Fritz moved into Rheinsberg, Suhm got an assignment to go be Saxon envoy to St. Petersburg. He really didn't want to go. But he convinced himself it was the right thing to do. Fritz really didn't want him to
Given that we now know the Saxon archive proves Suhm tried, repeatedly, not on an impulse but several times, to get back to being assigned as an envoy, as opposed to staying a private citizen with Fritz, shouldn’t one modify this to “he told Fritz he really did not want to go”?
Mind you: wanting to get back into Saxon services doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy his time with Fritz. FW wasn’t really old, and despite his various health problems, for all Suhm knew, FW was going to live a decade or more longer. He had children to care for. I don’t know how his finances were in the mid 1730s, but that pension definitely was less than what he got as an envoy, I assume. He might even have hoped he’d be again appointed as envoy to Prussia, though I doubt that, given FW’s general attitude towards him and the fact the next officlal Saxon envoy got along with FW better. And it’s also possible he didn’t want to live the private citizen life any longer because he wanted to work, and he knew that FW aside, he was good at being an envoy.
In conclusion, I’m not saying that Suhm was like Algarotti, who really did want to leave in the end, but I also think whatever he told Fritz, the fact that he actively campaigned for that assignment means there has to be at least a question mark over his professed reluctance to leave, which could just as well be practised psychology and the awareness it is what you tell Fritz who has very blatant and understandable issues about people he’s attached to leaving…
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-04 07:12 pm (UTC)Now, maybe he actually wanted that particular assignment. But it wasn't uncommon for envoys to complain about the assignments they were given (or that they were sent as envoys at all instead of being given ministerial positions at home). But given that St. Petersburg *was* so remote you wouldn't see anyone back home for a long time (I was pleasantly surprised to see that he did get to see his brother Nicolas at all), given that complaining about the climate was common, and given that Russia was kind of not a prestigious assignment (this is the time of Anna Ivanovna), I'm willing to believe it came as an unpleasant surprise.
Do we know if Suhm
- Wanted an envoy position specifically?
- Wanted St. Petersburg specifically?
Because his brother had a position as minister in Dresden, and I had the impression that Suhm either wanted that (envoys usually do, with some exceptions), or some better envoy assignment, but I'm not the one who read AvB, and I could be wrong.
(One day I will be the one who's read Suhm's letters in the archives. If I download the images, that will help a lot; yesterday I was just browsing on the site to get a sense of what was out there.)
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-05 03:16 pm (UTC)Update: the website is scrapable! I can download whole volumes in one go with my algorithms!
This is beautiful.
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-04 10:31 pm (UTC)Suhm writes on August 6, 1736, from Dresden:
I have made use of the interval to ramble round the country, and renew some old connexions.--How melancholy it is, My Lord, at a certain age, to be reduced to seek an establishment!
Fritz writes back, August 15:
You will be surprised, astonished, perhaps, my dear Diaphane, that I do not pity such a man as you, reduced to seek an establishment. It is your Court I pity, whose eyes are fascinated in such a manner, that they cannot distinguish subjects useful and worthy of being employed, from those who are only distinguished by fortune, or the blind caprices of favour.--How is it possible, (let it be said without flattery) that a person of so much merit, sense, and knowledge, should be neglected, and even forgotten? and what idea can we form of a Court where the Suhms are not respected and fought after?
I can't speak for the Dresden court specifically, but my impression is that envoys rarely had a say in where they were posted. I remember Chesterfield, when he was made ambassador to The Hague (where his staff helped Peter escape), delayed his departure as long as possible because what he'd really wanted was a post at home.
Re finances, earlier in the year (Mar 10), Wilhelmine had written:
I suspect little Diablotin - for this is how we used to call Suhm back in the day, didn't we? - needs his own philosophy dearly; for he isn't popular at court, and in a bad financial position.
and Fritz wrote back (Mar 25):
"The circumstances of Diaphane or Diablotin have been ordered somewhat for the better, so he can dedicate himself more to philosophy now.
Which I assume is the pension: better than nothing but not as good as an "establishment."
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-05 06:18 am (UTC)BTW, Suhm's finances are another argument for him taking all his children and his sister with him when he goes to St. Petersburg, because otherwise, he'd have to pay for the upkeep of an entire household in Berlin in addition to his other expenses - and we know envoy salaries of envoys are notoriously slow to arrive.
Speaking of envoys to St. Petersburg, what was the name again of the English one in whose entourage Algarotti attended the Anna Leopoldovna/Anton Ulrich wedding?
BTW, I brushed up my Horowski, and saw that despite Elizaveta having made a show of kicking out many of the Germans which had accumulated in administration positions during Anna Ivanova's and Anna Leopoldovna's reign at the start of hers, there were will enough left so that speaking German was a major plus for envoys being sent to St. Peterburg (not to mention that of course Peter the not yet III. spoke it better than Russian for the obvious reasons) - and H-W even after his years in Dresden, Berlin and Vienna still did not speak a word of it. (Poniatowski did speak German, which was one of the arguments H-W used for P getting hired as his secretary at British government expenses.) And of course he did not speak Russian, either, and as he apologizes in his letters to Catherine, wasn't the best in French. But sure, Wilhelmine was the one only pretending to be learned.
Anyway: Suhm being fluent in French and of course in German certainly would have been a plus in the Anna Ivanova era, and AvB's argument as to why Brühl picked him for St. Petersburg once Lynar needed replacing (that the openly known Fritz friendship means even paranoid Prussia would not immediately believe Saxony is pursuing anti Prussian policies via Suhm) is plausible enough, but depending how up Suhm was on gossip, he might not have known Lynar did need replacing when asking for a job and thus very unaware St. Petersburg was even an option, so I see your point about the possibility of him being unpleasantly surprised at the nature of his post.
Re: Saxon archivess: Suhm
Date: 2023-04-05 10:15 am (UTC)Yes, and as I recall, the archive catalogue indicated that Hedwig was still trying to get the posthumous backpay owed her brother in the 1740s!
Speaking of envoys to St. Petersburg, what was the name again of the English one in whose entourage Algarotti attended the Anna Leopoldovna/Anton Ulrich wedding?
Lord Baltimore. As I recall, Fritz liked him too.
But sure, Wilhelmine was the one only pretending to be learned.
Hahaha. Look, it's hard to be an Anglophone where the system doesn't teach you languages! (I consider myself learned but unfortunately monolingual.)
depending how up Suhm was on gossip, he might not have known Lynar did need replacing when asking for a job and thus very unaware St. Petersburg was even an option
Matzke, author of the dissertation on Saxon diplomacy, says they didn't even inform Suhm after they gave him the post! Oh, look, checking again, Matzke also says Brühl totally planned to send Lynar back later, which could be what AvB is getting at.