Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 46

[cahn]

Background: The kids' school has a topic for "Unit" every trimester that a lot of their work (reading, writing, some math) revolves around. These topics range from time/geographic periods ('Colonial America') to geography ('Asia') to science ('Space') to social science ('Business and Economics'). (I have some issues with this way of doing things, but that's a whole separate post.) Anyway, for Reasons, they have had to come up with a new topic this year, and E's 7/8 class is doing "World Fairs" as their new topic.

Me: I know E's teacher is all about World Fairs and I know she is great and will do a good job. But I feel like if we had a different teacher who wasn't so into World Fairs, they wouldn't do such a good job and another topic would be better.
Me: Like... the Enlightenment!
D: Heh, you could teach that! But you'd have to restrain yourself from making everything about Frederick the Great.
Me: But that's the thing! Everyone does relate to each other in this time period! Voltaire -- and his partner Émilie du Châtelet, who was heavily involved in the discourse of conservation of energy and momentum -- well, I've told you Voltaire had a thing with Fritz -- and then there's Empress Maria Theresa, who went to war with him a few times -- and Catherine the Great --
D, meditatively: You know --
Me: *am innocently not warned even though this is the same tone of voice that is often followed by, say, a bad pun*
D: -- it's impressive how everyone from this 'the Great' family is so famous!
Me: *splutters*
D, thoughtfully: But of course there's probably selection bias, as the ones who aren't famous don't get mentioned. You never see 'Bob the Great' in the history books...
Me: *splutters more*

Comments

Re: Lady Grange: Her story

[selenak]

That claim (that Lady Mary keeps her sister as mad for the money) was something used against her in the vicious custody fight she had with her dastardly in laws, and inevitably her other enemies picked up on it, Which ignores Frances and Mary were both heiresses (and that was why Mar had married Frances to begin with), and Edward Wortley-Montagu was no financial slouch himself, i.e. as opposed to those dastardly brothers, Mary not only wouldn't lock up a sane woman as insane but had no financial motivation to. Like you, I'm entirely unsurprised Grange sides with his brother!

Apparently his political downfall was caused only by his firm belief in witchcraft and passionate desire for legislation to seek out and punish witches, which made him an embarrassment to everyone in the mid 1700s.

Good grief. It would be. Also, to the utter disbelief of many, the last witch on German territory was executed in the 18th century, so I hope Grange didn't get a poor woman killed for real.

Anyway, the whole thing reminds me that one reason why Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman in White resonated so much with readers was that it was even in the 19th century so damn easy get a woman institutionalized as mad. :( :( :(

Re: Lady Grange: Her story

[mildred_of_midgard]

Also, to the utter disbelief of many, the last witch on German territory was executed in the 18th century,

Yep, Germany, and Switzerland I think, were amazingly late. Yeah, Wikipedia has Anna Göldi being executed in 1782 in Switzerland. I am reminded of Swiss women not getting full voting rights until 1971.

so I hope Grange didn't get a poor woman killed for real.

To my own surprise, I correctly remembered off the top of my head the year of the last witch execution in Britain: 1727. In 1735, the Witchcraft Act made it "a crime for a person to claim that any human being had magical powers or was guilty of practising witchcraft." That was the law Lord Grange embarrassed himself and his supporters by vehemently opposing.

I don't *think* he had the power to cause executions in or before 1727, so I think the poor women were safe in that respect...but still. This guy.

even in the 19th century so damn easy get a woman institutionalized as mad. :( :( :(

Yep, was thinking the same thing. :(