Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 45

[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) )

Comments

Re: Charlemagne and Irene

[mildred_of_midgard]

Also, there's always the chance that she did not intend to do more than blind her son

cahn, just in case: the Byzantines had a thing where you couldn't have a disability or disfigurement if you were going to rule (I believe the ancient Irish also had this?), so blinding your rivals or slitting their noses or what-have-you was an A+ way to eliminate them from the succession without having to live with the fact that you'd killed them.

Of course, in the days before antibiotics...you have to hope for the best with those festering wounds. (I am reminded of Fritz' friend/pet academic La Mettrie, who overate, got bled, and died of what we think was septic shock from unclean bleeding equipment.)

Re: Charlemagne and Irene

[cahn]

Ohhhhh right! I knew that but it was definitely in my passive memory so I didn't make the connection :)

(I am reminded of Fritz' friend/pet academic La Mettrie, who overate, got bled, and died of what we think was septic shock from unclean bleeding equipment.)

I think I forgot salon thought it was septic shock -- I do remember he died suddenly after claiming there was no harm in getting bled and doing so, from when I wrote the Voltaire fandom AU...

Re: Charlemagne and Irene

[mildred_of_midgard]

Well, "salon" = me in this case, and you agreed it made sense: symptoms and tentative diagnosis.

We could be wrong!