cahn

Unfortunately, there was then at Berlin a King who pursued one policy only, who deceived his enemies, but not his servants, and who lied without scruple, but never without necessity.

(from The King's Secret - by Duke de Broglie, grand-nephew of the subject of the book, Comte de Broglie, and grandfather of the physicist) )

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From:

selenak

How bad was the situation for Lorraine in the War of the Polish Succession? This relevant because while FS's mother, named Elisabeth Charlotte after her own mother, was heartbroken that he gave up his duchy for marrying MT (both parts of this were bad for her, the loss of Lorraine and the Habsburg marriage, because being the daughter of a gay Bourbon and an ex Protestant Palatinate princess herself, she loathed the Habsburgs and Austria), all biographers make a good case that keeping his duchy and giving up the marriage instead raelly would not have been an alternative at this point:

France has stationed 4000 men in Lorraine. The demands of the occupying forces became ever more impudent. Not only did they demand them to be supported, cared for and supplied with candles, wood for burning, straw and other horse foodder; France also demanded Lorraine formers to do the transports of troop supplies to the Rhine border. After strong rainfalls which had started on July 4th 1734, many parts of the country were under water. The harvest was nearly destroyed. Similar natural disasters occured in 1735. The result were terrible harvests and famine. Then there was the additional cost of the still stationed in Lorraine soldiers which now amounted to more than 500.000, - pounds per year and which thus demanded 18% of the overall state household. Despite this catastrophic situation, the Duke (FS) was resolved to get high a compensation for his country as possible.

This is from Renate Zedinger's biography. For all that it's really hostile to the French, btw, it has a preface by a French historian which, only slightly paraphrased, has this bit:

"So, in traditional French history, FS isn't popular because being from Lorraine, he's seen as a French prince who betrayed his country by voluntarily submitting and enabling the Habsburgs and Team Austria. But now that I've read Renate's biography, I see he had his reasons!"

R.Z., inwardly: ALSO HE WAS NOT A FRENCH PRINCE!

Dirk from "History of the Germans": France/Lorraine/Germany = it's complicated as permanent relationship status

If you think the problem of Julian (still used by the Russians) vs Georgian Calender is making 18th century history even more complicated, here's another issue. When FS takes over Tuscany, he also imports a new calendar AND way to count the hours of the day:

The actual arrival in Florence probably took place not before January 21st 1739. There aren't any detailed documents about these last few hours and in any case the documented dates invite misunderstandings, since the year started in Tuscany on March 23rd and thus the larger part of the (FS and MT) visit took place still in the year 1738 by Tuscan reckoning. The hours, too, were then counted "all'italiana", from the first hour after the evening Ave Maria twenty four hours to the Ave Maria of the next day; since the Ave Maria was, however, prayed differently according to the seasons, misunderstandings were preprogrammed. This changed because starting on March 30th 1739 the counting "alla francese" was introduced, twelve hours starting from noon and twelve hours after midnight. Which is why the only thing certain is that the arrival of the new Grandduke and Grandduchess happened in the afternoon and that they had made a stop at noon in front of the city in the Villa Corsi before that.

Organization of Tuscan administration once FS was Emperor:

In Vienna, the Secret Council for Tuscan affairs constisted of Baron Jaquemin, Baron Pfütschner, Count Stainville and Ferdinand de Bortholomei, in addtion to Toussaint, the leader of the Chancellery, who consisted of Molitoris as secretary and with eight chancelry writers. The administration offices of the Tuscan Chancellery were placed in teh Emperor's private palace in Wallnerstraße 3, close to the Hofburg. The workday was tightly orchestrated and led. .The organisation had been established by the Emperor, every report had to be presented to him personally, his was the final decision. But he also paid attention to establish a harmonious working atmosphere in the office, condemned intrigues and jealous schemes and expected anyone working in his chancellery to be fluent in Latin, Italian, German and French, as he noted down in scribbled remarks on the documents in his own words. He also reserved the right to appoint people to their posts to himself, both in Vienna and in Tuscany, and demanded lists with exact descriptions of the candidates before making his choice.

Zedinger and Schreiber: And that's the guy Podewils calls lazy! Yes, he didn't work as much as Fritz did, but then the Fritzian workload was insane, thanks, FW, and MT probably did work more than FS, not least because she had far more territory to administrate, but FS worked - no Louis XV he!

There are also, as mentioned, detailed portraits of the various people from Lorraine doing the work in Tuscany itself, as well as of Lorraine and Flemish scientists and artists FS was a patron to. Some of the artists like Jean-Joseph Charmant worked first in Lorraine, then in Florence, then in Vienna and then when Leopold took over the duchy in Florence again. As proof that the description in Italian booiks of FS just carrying those art works that weren't protected by Anna Luisa away and did nothing for culture in Florence for the people is wrong, Zedinger provides counter examples like:

The collections and libraries were openend for the scholars, researches and students again. In August 1746, (FS) ordered that the libraries Magliabechi and Marucelle were to be separated so they could be made accessible to visitors in different times. Maglicabechi, the Medici's librarian, had bought and collected precious books, handwritings and manuscripts in all of Europe and had thus created one of the largest and most precious libraries. Starting 1747, the Bibliotheca Magliebechiana was open on MOnday, Wednesday and Friday, while the Bibliotheca Marucelliana was accessible to visitors on Tuesday and Thursday. Both are today part of the national library of Florence. Another success was in 1753 the foundatijon of the "Accademia economico-agraria dei Georgofili", form which important economic impulses derived; additionally, the renewal of the Botanic Society in 1739 encouraged scientici interest.

(...) Part of the cultural engagement was the nursing, keeping and preservation of the rich Medici heritage, which demanded constant attention and the according financial supplies. Thus, the art pieces in the Galleria had to be constantly restored. The Capella Medici, the famous tomb section in San Lorenzo, needed a complete and general restoration; when Anna Maria de' Medici had been buried in 1743, its decrepit state had been obvious. THe Reggenza Lorenese, the Lothringian rule of Tuscany was better than the reputation it received by nationalistic Italian historiography in the 19th century.

One individual portrait of the Lorraine artists:

Less mysterious (than that of Vidon) is the career of Gabrielle Bertrand, who had left Lorraine at eight years of age together with her father Francois Bertrand, the later Captain of the Guard at Schönbrunn. Obviously trained in Vienna, she was appointed as drawing mistress to the Arch Duchesses Maria Karoline and Marie Antoinette in 1764. As it had been the custom for centuries, a portrait of the Emperor on his deathbed was made; this was the case in August 1765 for Franz Stephan of Lorrainie, and it was Gabrielle Bertrand who has preserved the scene in the Innsbruck Hofburg for eternity. Gabrielle Bertrand accompagnied Maria Karoline to Naples for her wedding in 1768, where she finished one of her famous paintings. Her depiction of Maria Theresia taking up the business of government again after the death of her husband, she achieved such a good reputation as a portraitist that we as appointed an honorary member of the Academy of Painters in 1771. At this time, she also married the sculptor Wilhelm Beyer. The couple were both especially favored by Maria Theresia and often worked in Schönbrunn

From:

cahn

R.Z., inwardly: ALSO HE WAS NOT A FRENCH PRINCE!

Dirk from "History of the Germans": France/Lorraine/Germany = it's complicated as permanent relationship status

LOL!

and MT probably did work more than FS, not least because she had far more territory to administrate, but FS worked - no Louis XV he!

Go FS! *waves pom-poms*

I also enjoyed the cultural bits, thank you! (Yay libraries!!)

From:

selenak

Another explanation for the "he didn't work" when his financial, cultural and government-commentary activities show he did might simply be that it was unmissable his wife worked. And the only explanation to the majority of contemporaries as to why a female monarch would work when there was a man at her side to do it for her was that he then did not. Also, clearly hers was the final say (hence Diplomatic Revolution, not Raprochement with Prussia and keeping of the English Alliance), which, again, to an 18th century man could only be if FS was incapable of working.

Another way he was different and better from contemporary Louis XV. is that he didn't play the contradictory instructions to your diplomats and officers game. Clearly he disagreed with MT on a couple of issues, and offered alternative ideas, but also clearly (as evidenced by Gotter's transcripts of their New Year's day 1741 conversations) he stuck to her party line instead of trying to sabotage her or secretly do this own thing. In Star Trek terms, basically, he was a good First Officer - offering alternatives to the Captain in the Ready Room away from the public, but once the Captain had decided. doing his best to follow her vision.

From:

cahn

Clearly he disagreed with MT on a couple of issues, and offered alternative ideas, but also clearly (as evidenced by Gotter's transcripts of their New Year's day 1741 conversations) he stuck to her party line instead of trying to sabotage her or secretly do this own thing.

FS is the best!

In Star Trek terms, basically, he was a good First Officer - offering alternatives to the Captain in the Ready Room away from the public, but once the Captain had decided. doing his best to follow her vision.

Okay, I kind of love this analogy. Now I'm imagining a Star Trek-esque SF AU where MT really is the captain of a starship... aaaand I liked FS a lot before, but now I'm having "loyal subordinate" trope-love feelings about him too :PP

(Mildred, just pointing out, his business acumen means he had a different skill set than MT! :P )

From:

mildred_of_midgard

(Mildred, just pointing out, his business acumen means he had a different skill set than MT! :P )

Heee! I can get behind this "MT in space!!" AU. :D It's been a long time since I wrote anything and a longer time since I wrote sci fi, but I will keep this in mind for future fic exchanges. :D

From:

mildred_of_midgard

R.Z., inwardly: ALSO HE WAS NOT A FRENCH PRINCE!

Remember the Struensee biographer* who concluded that MT marrying a "Frenchman" was a sign that relations between France and Austria were already improving and the Diplomatic Revolution was just a continuation of that? And we headdesked a lot.

* Who was not a historian, but a novelist and playwright who decided to write a couple biographies romancees, which are eminently readable but light on scholarship.

If you think the problem of Julian (still used by the Russians)

And the Brits, until 1752, and the Swedes, until 1753!

When FS takes over Tuscany, he also imports a new calendar AND way to count the hours of the day:

Ooh, I had forgotten that, but yeah, it came up in the bio of Giuliano Dami I read.

Huh, interestingly, it doesn't mention the hours, it mentions the first day of the year (March 25 vs Jan 1), and it gives 1750 as the year for the change. So maybe FS made changes at two separate times? 1750 is interesting because Sweden and Britain were making their changes only a couple years later, so I wouldn't be surprised if calendar changes were just in the air circa 1750.

Finally, let us not forget the Swedes, whose king Karl XII decided to split the difference and transition gradually from one to the other, until it became too confusing to have a calendar that was neither Gregorian nor Julian! And then they had to go back to the Julian until they were ready to do what in tech we call a big-bang switchover (because we do this sort of thing all the time, namely having to decide whether it's better to switch abruptly from one technology to another, or have a gradual transition period).