Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 47

[cahn]

We haven't had a new post since before December 25, so obligatory Yuletide link to this hilarious story of Frederick the Great babysitting his bratty little brother, with bonus Fritz/Fredersdorf!

Comments

Re: Miscellaneous

[mildred_of_midgard]

Speaking of MT, I remember Selena telling us that a quick death for FS wasn't considered good, in the sense that if it were too fast, he wouldn't be able to have his last confession.

I thought of that too, and my first thought was the same as Selena's, that Carl Ernst being Lutheran probably made a difference. Though I admit I don't know specifically how Lutherans in 1822 felt about dying unconfessed, it does at least make sense as a possible reason.

We do know that when Peter had *his* long, drawn-out death of several weeks between strokes, he used the time to perform religious duties...but I don't know how important that was to him, or if he would much rather have ridden home at 10:30 and died at 11. (And whether Carl Ernst himself, having been old enough to remember his father having that drawn out death, might have been relieved to have been spared six weeks of partial paralysis and difficulty speaking!)

Re: Miscellaneous

[cahn]

Did Protestants even do last rites/last confession in 1822? As far as I know they don't today -- I mean, you might well want your pastor present for spiritual comfort if possible, but I don't think there's a specific ritual that is performed as in Catholicism. I'll ask D tonight.

Re: Miscellaneous

[mildred_of_midgard]

That I don't know either! I understand confession is a thing? But I don't know about deathbed confession. So if they don't and didn't, then I assume being Lutheran has far more to do with thikning a quick death is a good one than it being 1822.

Wikipedia says:

In the Lutheran Churches, last rites are formally known as the Commendation of the Dying, in which the priest "opens in the name of the triune God, includes a prayer, a reading from one of the psalms, a litany of prayer for the one who is dying, [and] recites the Lord’s Prayer". The dying individual is then anointed with oil and receives the sacraments of Holy Absolution and Holy Communion.

But that's the entire section on Lutheran last rites in that article, compared to the 5 paragraphs in the Catholic section and the 6 in the Orthodox section, so I'm guessing it's not nearly as big a deal, and it's okay if you ride home at 10:30 and die at 11! (I'm still guessing that that's what the illegible handwriting says; I reserve the right to revise it later.)

Re: Miscellaneous

[cahn]

Okay, I forgot to ask Dave until tonight (because of everything else going on) but he said immediately, "It's not a sacrament like it in Catholicism." He says he thinks there's a prayer and such, but it's not a holy sacrament, which is consistent with what you found, and also consistent with it not being a big deal to Lutherans and a big deal to Catholics.