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: James I and VI: Scotsman on the English Throne

[cahn]

Because Raleigh was a good looking guy and otherwise James would have fallen for him (Cecil)

Wait, was Raleigh bi? This is another bit that we never learned in school!

which Raleigh had already experience with because back in the day when he'd married Elizabeth's lady in waiting Bess Throckmorton, Elizabeth had put him and Bess into the Tower for a short while, too.

Oh, yeah, I did know about this (it being gossipy :) )

I don't remember at all what I knew about Raleigh's death, though! Surely I must have known something, but none of that sounds familiar, so maybe I didn't, hm.

but even if he hadn't, James would have done it. Two strikes and you're out, so to speak, and he'd been lenient to Raleigh the first time around anyway.

I mean... this sounds extremely plausible :P

Re: James I and VI: Scotsman on the English Throne

[selenak]

Wait, was Raleigh bi?

Not that I've heard. The point in this version of the story aren't his own intentions - especially since he's the good guy in this version - but that Robert Cecil, handicapped himself (i.e. a hunchback as the expression went), saw in handsome Raleigh (who'd been dashing and charming enough to impress Elizabeth, after all) someone who could be competition once James came to England and thus badmouthed him in advance in his secret letters.

BTW, as far as I recall, this story hails from Raleigh's younger son's defensive biography of his father, written many decades later, not from any actual letters, by Cecil or otherwise. But it's the story which shows up in historical fiction. Anyway, I checked, and it seems a Virginia website gives a good overview of his life and death.