Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 42

[cahn]

Last 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.

Comments

Re: Augustus Hervey III: Sex and Antiquities

[cahn]

Any girl who fancied a little social life had a far better time in a convent, where at least she could join in parties, concerts, dacnes, and sing-songs, organised often under the guise of religious celebrations. Also she could be wooed through the grilles by all the young men of the district.

...this is definitely not my picture of a convent!

I also didn't realize that dances in church were a thing!

Re: Augustus Hervey III: Sex and Antiquities

[selenak]

...this is definitely not my picture of a convent!

You haven't read Casanova's memoirs. :) Seriously though, it's not that the 18th century didn't have actual convents where praying and good works in poverty were the order of the day, but if you use convents as a de facto pension for your unmarried daughters regardless of their inclinations, this is a likely result.

BTW, remember that one of Joseph's reforms were to shut down every nunnery or monastery where the nuns and monks weren't engaged in actual social work (i.e. caring for the sick, teaching)?