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

David Bergeron: King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire - I

[selenak]

A small but handy volume consisting of a lengthy analysis and then the letters themselves, plus the poem "Phoenix" which many a historian thinks was meant to be about James' first love, Esme Stuart. The other Jamesian writings as well as letters to him are what few letters of his to Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset survive, plus the far better preserved correspondence between him and Buckingham, where we also have Buckingham's letters.

Esme Stuart, whom James made Earl of Lennox, is something of the outlier here, because the other two were young when James was in his 40s and 50s, whereas here James was a teenager (13 or 14, depending on the source) when distant cousin Esmé came into his life, and 16 when Esmé was forcibly taken away from him, while Esmé was a married man in his 30s with wife and kids, all of whom remained in France during his time with James.

As Bergeron points out, the other difference is that due to James' horror show of a childhood - four different regents, very strict and abusive teachers, one dead and one imprisoned parent, both of whom were presented to him as awful, he was a love starved teenager, and Esmé Stuart basically become everything to him. His first love, yes, but also his replacement parent. This intermingling of the erotic and the parent/child is something James later reproduces with Buckingham where he repeatedly in his letters intermingles husband/wife and father/child comparisons and signs himself "your Dad" (thus proving the Dad designation is that old in English) as often as anything else, and not just in the letters he writes to Buckingham and Charles both when they're on tour on their disaster trip to Spain. It's Freudian as hell but understandable under the circumstances.

Esmé, like all of James' later favourites, quickly became hated and resented by the nobility, but the Scottish way of dealing with this wasn't impeachment or pamphlets, it was kidnapping James at knife point and kicking Esmé out of the kingdom. He returned to France where he died not that long thereafter. It's all very heartbreaking from James' pov - and contributed to his life long justified paranoia re: conspiracies against him - , but it's worth bearing in mind Esmé when in power had not been an innocent lamb. He'd gotten rid of the Earl of Morton, the then current Regent, by a very obviously trumped up charge that Morton had been involved in the murder of James' late father, the unlamented Darnley, and had him executed. Given all the political murders in Scotland in that era, it's more a miracle Esmé wasn't killed himself.

Also: the constant turnover of Regents and the fact during James' childhood and youth Scotland had become near ungovernable and that kidnapping the young King at knife point was a thing is important to remember, as the fact that when James, in his late 30s, became King of England, he left behind a Scotland where he had been in the undisputed ruler and where the nobility had stopped their murderous power games illustrates his reputation as a weakling who was totally under his fave's thumb which he had until the 20th century is not deserved. He didn't solve all of Scotland's problems - from a monarchical pov - notably not the ascendency of the Kirk which, far more than the nobles, became THE alternative power in Scotland especially once James was off in England -, but he had done what his mother did not manage, taken a country ridden with murderous feuding and civil war like conditions and deep internal divisions and unified it. That James imagined he could pull off that hat trick again with both England and Ireland and unify all three under his rule had something to do with that.

Back to homoerotic desire. As an example of how homophobia far beyond James' lifetime shaped James' image, Bergeron quotes a disapproving 20th century historian, McElwee, who wrote upon the entry of Robert Carr into James' life: (James began)to treat Carr in public with the same exaggarated, gross affection as in private, and what had already been a little odd in a sixteen year-old-boy when he was worshipping at the shrine of Esmé Stuart, became grotesque in the milddle-aged man. He appeared everywhere with his arm around Carr's neck, constantly kissed and fondled him, lovingly feeling the texture of the expensive suits he chose and bought for him, pinching his scheeks and smoothing his hair. (The sources for this, are the trio of vengeful Stuart memoirists: Anthony Weldon, who was fired by James after talking trash about the Scots in print, Arthur Wilson, who was Bob of Essex' secretary, and Francis Osborne, who was Master of the Horse to the Earl of Pembroke, one of the leaders of the anti Somerset faction.)

In his big write up, Bergeron also quotes amply from Overbury's letters, making a case for Oberbury being seen as competition by James in a way Frances was not. Also, Overbury definitely threatens Somerset in these letters: All I intreet of you is, that you will free me from this place, and that we may part friends Drive me not to extremities, lest I should say something that you and I both repent. And if Carr/Somerset does not comply, then people shall know what words have passed betwixt us heretofore of another Nature than these.

Question: given that Overbury himself claims to have written Carr's first few love letters to Frances before Carr really fell in love with her, what are the chances he wrote some to James as well, and that's one of the things he's threatening to reveal?

Anyway, as I said, most of the James/Somerset letters are gone, courtesy of Francis Bacon, but one written after their enstrangement has already started but before Carr/Somerset got arrested still survives. This is when the anti Somerset alliance has launched George Villiers, future Buckingham, and a panicked Somerset is blocking George Villiers' appointment to the bedchamber and throwing jealous tantrums, which given he himself hasn't shown up for bedchamber duty for a while, James finds most unjust. First he ressures Carr of his continued affection:

I must ingenuously confess ye have deserved more trust and confidence of me than ever man did: in secrecy above all flesh, in feeling and unpartial respect, as well to my honnour in every degree as to my profit.

Then he gets to the problem from his pov: (T)his strange frenzy took you, sp powdered and mixed with strange streams of unqietness, passion, fury and sinsolent pride, and (which is worst of allL) with a settled kind of induced obstinancy as it chokes and obscures all these excellent and good parts that God hath bestowed upon you. For although I confess the greatness of that trust and privay betwixt us will very well allow unto you an infinitely great liberty and freedom of speech unto me, yea even to rebuke me more sharply and bitterly than every my master durst do, yet to invent a new art of railing upon me, nay to borrow the tongue of the devil, that cannot come within the compass of any liberty of friendship. (...) I leave out of this reckoning your long creeping back and withdrawing yourself from lying in my chamber, notwithstanding my many hundred times earnest soliciting you to the contrary, accounting that but as a point of ukindness. Now whether all your great parts and merits be not accompanied with a sour and distateful souce, yourself shall be judge.

Once Carr/Somerset is out of the picture, Buckingham reigns supreme and will do so for the remainder of James' life, not least because he handles the various attempts to dislodge him by dangling a new handsome guy in front of James the way Buckingham himself was dangled to remove Somerset ever so much better. (Reminder, he doesn't throw jealous tantrums, he does nothing about the young men, he goes after their sponsors instead.)

Now, Buckingham's initial attraction was that he must have been sex on legs, as evidenced by the fact far more people than James raved about his physical attractions. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, the guy who went into exile with young Charles the technically II, later came back and was Chancellor until ousted, and who wrote the first defining history of the Civil War, has of course known Buckingham in his time as Charles' favourite, years later, and still describes him as the handsomest man of the kingdom. William Laud, who became Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I. and had started out as Buckingham's chaplain, records a dream about the then Duke of Buckingham coming to his bed. And absolutely no one at the time seems to have been in doubt as to the nature of the relationship between Buckingham and James. Writes one John Oglander, who as opposed to the trio of angry memoirists is actually pro James: (James) loved young men, his favourites, better than women, loving them beyond the love of men to women. I never saw any fond husband make so much or so great a dalliance over his beautiful spouse as I have seen King James over his favourites, especially the Duke of Buckingham.

When Queen Anne agreed to promote him, she supposedly warned the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot, that Buckingham could become a second Somerset but that they'd find it far harder to dislodge him, and Abbot just declared nah, Buckingham is such a nice modest young man, he'll just do as he's told. Of course, Abbot was wrong and Anne was right. She still doesn't seem to have hated Buckingham the way she disliked Carr. It's worth pointing out that this, as well as Charles' affection for Buckingham and even a part of James' feelings (see above re: the intermingling of the erotic with the family) might also have had something to do with the loss of Henry, James' and Anne's oldest son. Anne never got over it. Charles seems to have had a good relationship to his older brother as opposed to resenting him for being the golden boy and fave; when Henry was sick and dying, Charles brought him a bronze horse Henry had liked to play with as a boy, to cheer him up, and Charles still had that horse three decades later when on the run from Parliament. So the charming, dashing George Villiers might have been a bit of an adopted son/brother to deal with the loss of Henry, which was still relatively fresh when he showed up, in addition to everything else.

David Bergeron: King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire - II

[selenak]

But he definitely was sex on legs, and because we have far more letters between him and James, we can tell. There's also the temperamental attraction, because Buckingham in his letters comes across as affectionate, playful and teasing, not jealous or demanding. He never forgets their difference in station, though. There's a lot of master/servant kink going on, and also posing as James' dog. (This isn't just a James but a period thing, you get it in some Elizabethan poetry as well.) And as mentioned elswhere, in the letters when Buckingham is travelling with Charles, James keeps reporting on how "Kate and Mall" (Buckingham's wife and little daughter) are doing, and sounds genuinely fond of them, not seeing them in any way as competition. He also repeatedly mentions Buckingham's miniature portrait he keeps with him ("I am wearing Steenie's picture" - "Steenie" was James' nickname for Buckingham, which Charles later used as well).

The two most famous and explicit passages from Buckingham's letters to James are these:

All the way here I entertained myself your unworthy servant with this dispute, whether you loved me now (my ever dear master, here give me leave to say, a full heart must either vent itself or break and that oftentimes the senses are better expressed in absence and by letter than otherwise; you know full thoughts cause long parentheses) etter than at the time which I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed's head could not be fouond between the masaater and his dog.


"Dear Dad and Gossip,
Though I have received three or four letters from you since that I writ last to you, yet, as Tom Badger says, I am not ehind-hand with you; for I have made a hundred answers to them in my mind, yet none that could satisfy my mind, for kinder letters never servant received from master. And for so great a king to descend so low, as to his humblest slave and servant to communicate himself in a style of such good fellowship, with expressions of more care than servants have of masters, of more tenderness than fathers have of children, of more friendship than between equals, o fmore affection than between lovers in the best kind, man and wife; what can I return? NOthing but silence. For if I speak, I must be saucy, and say thus, or short of what is due: my purveyor, my good fellow, my physician, my maker, my friend, my father, my all. I heartily and humbly thank you for all you do, and all I have.Now, tell me whether I have not done discreetly to be silent all this while? It's time I should be so again, or else commit a fault, in wearying him that never wearies to do me good.

And this one, which is a PS by Buckingham to a letter written by Charles in both their names to James from Spain:

Sir, I have been the willinger to let your son play the Secretary at this time of little need, that you may thereby see the extraordinary care he hath of me, for which I will not intreat you not to love him the worse, nor him that threatens you, that when he once gets hold of your bedpost again, never to quit it. Your Majesty's most humble slave and dog, Steenie.

As for James, here's an example of the mixture of paternal and erotic, complete with concern for the newly pregnant Kate (and a reminder, Anne had suffered through various stillbirths in addition to the seven children she carried to full term, only to lose all but three, so James knows what he's talking about):

My only sweet and dear child, the Lord of Heaven bless thee this morning and thy thing my daughter and the sweet little thing that is in her belly. I pray thee, as thou loves me, make her precisely observe these rules; let her never go in a coach upon the street, nor never go fast in it; let your mother keep all hasty news from coming to her ears; let her not eat too much fruit, and hasten her out of London after we are gone. If though be back by four in the afternoon, it will be a good time. And prepare thee to be a guard to me for keeping my back unbroken with business before my going to the progress. And thus God send me a joyfuil and a happy meeting with my sweet Steenie this evening.

or

And so God bless thee, my sweet Steenie, and send thee a quick and happy return, with my sweet baby, in the arms of thy dear dad and steward.

or

And yet I cannot content myself without sending you this present, praying God that I may have a joyful and comfortable meeting with you and that we may make aat this Christmas a new marriage ever to be kept herafter; for, God so love me, as I desire only to live in this world for your sake, and that I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you than live a sorrowful widow's life without you. And so God bless you, my sweet child and wife, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband, James R.

[aella_irene]

I don't know how many of you have tumblr accounts, but while I didn't manage to post about the Best Hapsburg Ruler tournament in time, the Best Hohenzollern Ruler is still ongoing, as are other tournaments for Bourbons, Romanovs and so-on. The Napoleonic Sexyman Tournament approaches.

[selenak]

LOL about the Kreuzzeitung as an explainer (this was the ultra conservative ultra patriotic paper that was launched after the failed 1848 Revolution). And speaking of 1848, Alas I could see only a bit since I don't have a Tumblr Account, but enough to notice that Wilhelm I. is very much written up in the Kreuzzeitung style, i.e. no mention of the fact that he was in 1848 so hated and unpopular in Berlin as Crown Prince that his palace was attacked (because he was blamed for the fact soldiers had shot over 200 people on March 18th) and he ran all the way to Cousin Victoria in Britain while bitching about his brother the King making concessions to the mob in the aftermath of the March massacre. (A young Bismarck suggested a daring counter revolution scheme to Wilhelm's wife, who had remained in Berlin and thought this Brandenburg Junker confusing himself with James Bond was nuts. She'd always hate him, btw. Even when he made Wilhelm Emperor.)

Who won the Habsburg tournament? ETA: And was this an all Habsburg tournament or did they have separate ones for the Spanish and the Austrian lines?

1764-1772 Foreign policy: Austria: Relations with the Turks

[mildred_of_midgard]

I'm not really equipped to talk about Turkey/the Ottoman Empire per se, but I can talk about how it relates to Austria in this period.

Again our map:



In olden times, the Ottomans, being non-Christians, were THE enemy of the Habsburgs. When Eugene of Savoy defected from France and went to work for Austria, Austria was at war with Turkey and in very real danger. There was a siege of Vienna that became part of the national identity.

Also, even if you weren't a Habsburg with a long history of enmity against the Turks, if you were a European power, you still didn't have a long history of alliances with them. Islamic law had always been interpreted to mean that alliances on an equal basis with unbelievers were right out, and Christians couldn't bring themselves to ally with Muslim Turks either. Turks and Christian European powers would have diplomatic representation at each others' courts, the French were quite happy to bribe them to attack mutual enemy Austria, but there were no formal alliances until the 18th century. In the 18th century, two factors had changed: the Ottoman empire had weakened enough that it was no longer THE main otherized enemy, and the Enlightenment had made raison d'état a more important consideration than religion. In 1740, Sweden became the first European power to form an official alliance with the Ottomans.

To Kaunitz, who was a product of the Enlightenment, there was no question that alliances with the Turks should be made whenever self-interest dictated it. To MT, more conservative, preserving the ancient traditions of the Habsburgs and being a good Catholic were more important, but even she finally came around.

The first alliance between the two countries was proposed by the Turks in late 1768, when they were declaring war on Russia. They proposed that the Ottoman Empire, Austria, and Prussia get together to kick the Russians out of Poland. The Prussians and Austrians declined. Then, in March 1770, the Ottomans proposed that they and Austria should kick the Russians out of Poland and either elect a new Polish king or partition the country between Austria and Poland. That also didn't pan out. The triumvirate decided to push for Austrian mediation between Turkey and Russia.

Then 1770 happened. You may recall that that was the year of Russia's string of victories against the Ottomans, crushing the Ottoman navy, etc.

By the start of 1771, an alarmed Austria was ready to move. They began arming and stationing troops in Hungary, in preparation for war, and they began to revisit those Turkish proposals of alliance.

Kaunitz proposes that the Ottomans give the Austrians money, lots of money, to make military demonstrations that will convince Catherine and Frederick that they're serious about going to war, and then Frederick will pressure Catherine to make peace on acceptable terms.

Kaunitz: We're not going to call it an alliance, though! Also, it's going to be completely secret. If Fritz finds out, it'll just push him closer to Russia. And the other European courts aren't going to like it either.

Turks: Okay. So you want money and territory. We want a firm commitment to military action against Russia.

Kaunitz: Well, um, we're prepared to help you negotiate a peace treaty that will leave you with the smallest possible losses!

Turks: Numbers of men you will commit and timeline?

Thugut, the Austrian ambassador in Constantinople: Kaunitz, don't worry, I got this!

Negotiations: *ensue*

Thugut: *plays hardball*

Thugut: Look what I did! We get land back we lost in the last war, we get "most favored nation" status on the Black Sea, and lots of money. In return, I only committed us to helping out via negotiations or arms–note the 'or'!

MT: This seems unethical. It's like we're tricking the Turks into signing this by hoping they won't notice.

Kaunitz: Exactly! I vote we sign the treaty and promote this A+ diplomat.

MT: I still have reservations, but okay.

MT: *signs treaty, promotes Thugut*

Turkish money: *starts to arrive in Vienna*

Turks: *start to notice the Austrians aren't doing anything diplomatically or militarily*

Turks: *start to smell a rat*

Mid 1771:

Kaunitz: So, I've come to the conclusion that the most productive line of action here would be not to go to war with Catherine and potentially Fritz, but to negotiate with them, especially as they seem to be plotting a land grab. We could get in on this land grab!

Catherine: Okay, let's make a secret agreement. Instead of keeping Wallachia and Moldavia, Russia will give them back to the Turks, and you can join me and Fritz in partitioning Poland.

Kaunitz: Great! That means we don't have to go to war with you in return for a piece of Wallachia, and we can get free territory instead.

MT: What about our agreement with the Turks?

Kaunitz: Look, you know how Fritz said it would be super easy for us to dredge up some old claim in Poland? It'll be super easy for us to find some loopholes in this treaty. We have an A+ diplomat in Constantinople, remember?

MT: You were never intending to keep your word!

Kaunitz: I was hedging my bets, calm down. Now do you want to partition Poland or not?

MT: No, but I guess it's better than partitioning the Ottoman Empire, which was your other idea.

To her, acquisition of territory belonging to a neighbor whom she had formally promised to protect was a violation of honor among states and, worse yet, smacked of the kind of thing Frederick II would do.

MT quote:

We want to act like the Prussians and at the same time retain the appearance of honesty.

Mildred: Yes, your son Joseph will later be very disappointed that partitioning Poland will give people the "mistaken" impression that he's not an honest man.

Turks: *are outraged*

Turks: Thugut, you need to come up with some wording that will make it so we don't have execute all our ministers who arranged this treaty.

Thugut: God, you guys are hardcore. Okay, how about this. "Although Vienna [has] found it impossible to declare war on Russia, it [will] continue to exert every effort in the forthcoming negotiations to keep Moldavia, Walachia, and the Crimea in Ottoman hands. In other words, it [will] fulfill all of its obligations under the articles of the convention, short of war." [Quoted from Roider, Austria and the Eastern Question.]

Turks: That will do.

Thugut: Also, can we keep the money you gave us? As a sign of "trust, friendship, and thanks"?

Turks: What the–?!

Turks: Fine.

Kaunitz: See? A+ diplomat!

Turks: We're starting the negotiations with Russia, though, and we are pointedly EXCLUDING you! Prussia can come.

Kaunitz: Perfect! Since us coming was part of the treaty, that means you're not adhering to your obligations, which absolves us of our responsibility. Plus, no matter how it turns out for you, now it's not our fault!

[Mildred: I enjoy the logic of "We're breaking the treaty." "Fine. Then we don't have to keep our end up, either." "Wonderful, that means neither do we!" Politics.]

Thugut: Though we are in fact pleased with this outcome, technically honor demands that I register a complaint that this is an insult against Austria.

To Thugut's surprise, the grand vizier had replied to this routine statement by emptying "the full pot of his political-logical bile against the inconsistent, now pro-Turkish, now pro-Russian, now pro-Polish, now anti-Polish, now neutral Viennese policy."

Thugut and Kaunitz: We are shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

MT: What did I say about acting like Prussians?

Less successful than its Turkish negotiations for Austria was the outcome of the First Polish Partition. Austria got the most land, but:

The new province had no history as a self-contained entity, nor was it defined by any natural or cultural borders; it was purely and simply the product of political deal-making. It was named Galicia and Lodomeria in reference to supposedly ancient Hungarian claims to the principalities of Halych and Vladimir, claims that the court librarian Franz Adam Kollár had reconstructed from archival evidence to give the annexation a veneer of historical tradition and legality.

This is why, in the last post, I had MT predicting and Kaunitz admitting with hindsight that this was a bad move even by the standards of realpolitik.

Re: 1764-1772 Foreign policy: Austria: Relations with the Turks

[selenak]

It was, but it meant that Billy Wilder, Paul Celan and Rose Ausländer were all born as Austrian citizens. A plus cultural contribution to the world in the film directing and poetry department! (Billy Wilder's hometown, Paul Celan's and Rose Ausländer's hometown (nicknamed "Little Vienna", no less).

More seriously, that was a great write up. Listening to the History of Byzantium podcast where the Turks are the up and coming power makes for a great contrast. (Also, the Byzantine Emperors while fighting with them also made deals with them, much to the confusion and disgust of the Western European Crusaders, who didn't get that if you live next door to someone you have diplomatic relations as well as war like ones and a constant swap over of population and employees.)

ETA: cahn, re: the changed Austrian attitude towards the Turks in general, see also the 1782 Entführung aus dem Serail, which takes advantage of, as Catarina tells Salieri in the movie, anything Turkish having become very fashionable. :)

Endearments

[mildred_of_midgard]

Thank you for this!

This intermingling of the erotic and the parent/child is something James later reproduces with Buckingham where he repeatedly in his letters intermingles husband/wife and father/child comparisons and signs himself "your Dad" (thus proving the Dad designation is that old in English) as often as anything else, and not just in the letters he writes to Buckingham and Charles both when they're on tour on their disaster trip to Spain. It's Freudian as hell but understandable under the circumstances.

Also thank you for repeating this and thus reminding me that I meant to tell cahn that Catherine and Potemkin also mingled husband/wife and parent/child comparisons. Catherine addresesd him as "Father and husband" a lot in her letters, and she was 10 years older than he was! He called her "Matushka", but that's the technical, deferential term for the czarina in Russian, so jury still out on Freudian implications. :P

However, as time went on, Potemkin spent more and more of his time on campaign (often in the Crimea) and Catherine was all "I have NEEDS!", she started taking younger lovers. Without giving up Potemkin. She would have one official lover (maîtresse en titre, as it were) in addition to Potemkin, and she would be having sex with him but also channeling her maternal needs* into him. And they all definitely used language wherein Catherine was the mother, Potemkin was the father, and Current Lover was their child.

Meanwhile, Potemkin was having sex on the side too, including with his nieces.

* Remember that Elizaveta took Paul away from Catherine at birth, and mother and son never bonded. And Paul identified with his murdered father and blamed his mother for his death. So she had a lot of unmet needs to channel there.

Oh, speaking of endearments, one thing I meant to report when I wrote up August III was this bit. Between the unclear pronoun references and the fact that my reading is not what I would expect, I'm not 100% sure of my reading, so can you double check me, selenak?

Friedrich Christians Briefe beweisen eine ungewöhnliche Anhänglichkeit und Liebe zum Vater, der eher verschlossen war und sich scheute, seinen Gefühlen Ausdruck zu geben. Die in seinen Briefen oft geäußerte Bitte, Friedrich Christian möge auf seine Gesundheit achten, machen den Eindruck einer Convenance. Gleiche Fürsorge brachte er den jüngeren Kindern entgegen, später auch der Frau Friedrich Christians, Maria Antonia, die er, wie es zwischen dem Ehepaar üblich war, mit "Alte" anredete. Maria Antonia nahm diese Bezeichnung von einem polnischen Lied, das sie in einem Brief an ihren Mann zitierte und ihn im Postskriptum "stary“ (Alter) nannte und mit "Twoja stara" (Deine Alte ) unter schrieb.

My reading is that Friedrich Christian and Maria Antonia, the married couple, refer to each other as "Alter"/"Alte", and Friedrich August (i.e. August III), starts also using "Alte" for his daughter-in-law Maria Antonia. But that seems weird, so am I wrong about August III using it, and only the married couple were using it? [ETA: The last time I got so confused by pronouns in this book that I had to ask you to check my reading, it turned out the author was thoroughly confused and stating historically impossible things, so that's why I was confused. There was no reading that made sense.]

In any case, I was reminded of MT using this nickname for FS. We speculated it was because he was several years older than her, but it might have just been a period-typical nickname for married couples? (Friedrich Christian and Maria Antonia are less than 2 years apart.)

[mildred_of_midgard]

Lol! Thank you for sharing. I am reminded of should you fight them: prussian monarch edition. Which made selanak indignant on behalf of poor Friedrich III.

Why is almost everyone named Friedrich, Wilhelm, or Friedrich Wilhelm?
...There are other names?

Ha!

[aella_irene]

They seem very...traditional. There is much refusal to discuss Fritz's sexuality, though I think it is in 'we doth protest too much' mode.

The Habsburg tournament was won by Maria Theresa, in a final against Max of Mexico, which I'm still very angry about.

[selenak]

Max of Mexico? How did he get into the finale? I mean, he's tragic and sympathetic and all that, but as a ruler, being deposed and shot by the revolution sort of is a judgment of its own...

Anyway, MT is not a bad choice, but I do want to know whether any Habsburgs predating the 18th century were an option? And did it have to be a ruling monarch or were regents also allowed, in which case I'm nominating my girl Margaret of Austria (since there were several Margarets of Austria, I mean Charles V's aunt and Maximilian I's daughter), and both Mary of Hungary and Margaret of Parma while I'm at it, and I know Mildred would go for Leopold the competent middle child, reformer of Tuscany and short lived Emperor, Joseph's younger brother, as part of the competition.

Re: Endearments

[selenak]

My reading is that Friedrich Christian and Maria Antonia, the married couple, refer to each other as "Alter"/"Alte", and Friedrich August (i.e. August III), starts also using "Alte" for his daughter-in-law Maria Antonia.

Nope, it's confusingly phrased, but my reading is the last "er" in the crucial sentence refers to Friedrrich Christian, not August III.

We speculated it was because he was several years older than her, but it might have just been a period-typical nickname for married couples?

Could be, since MT and FS aren't likely to know Polish songs. But "meine Alte"/"mein Alter" was much later used between married couples as well, though in that case the association would be lower class streetwise couples.

Re: Catherine and Potemkin, yes, in this case the Russian habit has to be considered - I remember all those novels and movies with "Mütterchen" for the Czarina and "Väterchen" for the Czar, so while Catherine never made Potemkin the Czar, she could have transfered this.

Re: Endearments

[mildred_of_midgard]

Nope, it's confusingly phrased, but my reading is the last "er" in the crucial sentence refers to Friedrrich Christian, not August III.

Okay, thank you! I wasn't sure if you could actually have "er" switch referent in the same sentence like that--usually German authors I read go out of their way to not do that because it's confusing! (This translator confused me a number of times with pronouns, I think it's a feature of him specifically.)

But "meine Alte"/"mein Alter" was much later used between married couples as well, though in that case the association would be lower class streetwise couples.

Interesting!

[mildred_of_midgard]

Yeah, I vote Leopold!

Haha, I have to share the final post in the MT-Max showdown:

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, etc. reigned 1740-1780

The empress who reformed the empire while having a ton of children at the same time.

Maximilian , Emperor of Mexico, reign: 1864-1867

The last emperor of Mexico who supported liberal reform against the desires of Mexican conservatives.

Propaganda under the cut:

Maria Theresa:

From anon:

- chucked into ruling at age 23. while pregnant

- no prep!!!! Prussia invades Silesia!!! Ministers fucking around for their own provincial interests instead of for the Whole !!!!! and she has to somehow cope with all of this ....

- ALL WHILE being pregnant with Joseph (II) and we know that guy was just as ornery in utero as he was irl

- she's everything! He (Francis) is just ....Ken.

- YAS QUEEN rediversify that gene pool

- originally reluctant to participate in the 1st partition of poland (who wants galicia let's be real)

Maximilian

From: anon

- He loved plants

- He was a sassy man

- He had good taste

- He learned Nahuatl

- He’s cute (I mean look at him)

- He said “gay rights”

- He banned child labour in Mexico

- He gave many rights back to indigenous people

- Bro was wronged by France (haven’t we all?)

- He’s baby

- Got executed, come on, give him this guys 🥺

- He loved to design gardens and collect insects which makes me think he would've loved playing animal crossing

- An outspoken liberal in a period where the monarchy was still quite conservative.

- Vice-Admiral of the Navy who initiated scientific projects and exploration.

- Aesthetic girlie. Collected flowers, painted, wrote poetry, and kept a journal. He would have loved Tumblr.

- (Probably) gay or bisexual.

- Allegedly slapped Franz Joseph for refusing to allow Lombardy to have an elective body.

- Sisi's favorite brother-in-law (and not in a romantic way, fuck you Netflix)

- Refused to take the Mexican crown until a plebiscite had been held because he wanted to be invited by the Mexican people.

- Gave up all of his Austrian titles to go to Mexico because he believed he had made a promise to them.

- Also, his wife was amazing and capable and the amount of pure misogyny that certain historians and biographers have thrown at her is ridiculous. I know this isn't a Carlota poll, but she'd want Max to win.

- Netflix did him unbelievably dirty. Please give him this.

Did you know my man Max repatriated many pieces of Mexica artefacts?

He told Austria to cough up 3 main things that he thought were rightfully Mexican.

1. The Chimalli

2. A codex

3. A letter from Cortez to the chocolate man people seem to call Charles

The Austrians took their time but eventually gave back something

Emphasis mine because I laughed out loud.

[aella_irene]

My question exactly! Max beat Rudolf II in the semi-finals, despite Rudolf having romped home over Fran Joseph, and Margaret. Does this link work for you? It is the bracket, and you can see who was CRUELLY ROBBED.

[aella_irene]

I was so angry about Max, who failed at so many basic elements of rulership...

[mildred_of_midgard]

But he would have enjoyed playing Animal Crossing!

...Priorities, I guess.

[mildred_of_midgard]

So Rudolph II makes it to the semi-finals, and Leopold II doesn't even get to be in the bracket?? It's a cruel, cruel world.

Løvenørn letters: Sept 10, 1730

[mildred_of_midgard]

Having worked my way through the first batch of letters (in French), the second batch (in German, all formalities, nothing to report), we are back to French letters. "Fritz, c'est le Prince," is still to come, but for now, enjoy Løvenørn feeling sorry for Doris Ritter:

After my previous relation, I just learned |: something that modesty would not have allowed me to include, even if I had known it before :| that the King had the girl in question from Potsdam visited and examined by a midwife and two surgeons, all three of whom swore an oath that this poor creature had not been touched and that she was still a virgin. Despite this, she passed through the hands of the executioner, as you can see from my account. For the two officers, who only bought the garment that the Prince presented to this unfortunate girl, they are condemned to Spandu [sic] for the rest of their days.

The two officers should be Lts. Spaen and Ingersleben (he of the teacups), who were both eventually released from prison. Løvenørn is wrong about Spaen, though; he was implicated in the 1729 and 1730 escape attempts, not just in acting as a go-between for Fritz and Doris.

My main question is whether Løvenørn is an independent source for Doris being found a virgin, or if he's just getting his info directly from Guy-Dickens.

[aella_irene]

I'm not 100% sure how they decided the bracket, given the presence of Napoleon II.

[mildred_of_midgard]

According to MT, being a Habsburg is a dominant gene that is passed through the female line too. :P

But yeah, interesting choices.

[cahn]

My girl MT, yeah! (I do stan for her over Leopold despite all her flaws, sorry Mildred.) But Max of Mexico over Margaret of Parma?? CRUELLY ROBBED INDEED.

[cahn]

she's everything! He (Francis) is just ....Ken.

Thinking about FS in "I'm Just Ken" is just sending me, I gotta admit.

(Mildred: this is Ken from the Barbie movie (I'm linking this vid that's partially a making-of sort of video because I love those kinds of things). All the male singers/dancers in this video, most particularly Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu, are meant to be various instantiations of the Ken doll.)

[mildred_of_midgard]

Though I have not seen the movie (predictably), I have osmosed enough that I was able to make that deduction, thank you! :)

1764-1772 Foreign policy: Prussia

[mildred_of_midgard]

So, by now, we should be pretty familiar with the idea that at the end of the Seven Years' War, circa 1763-1768, Fritz wants:

- Time to recover from the last war.
- That means no more war for a while.
- An alliance between Prussia and Russia.
- No alliances between Prussia and anyone else.
- No alliances between Russia and anyone else.

So basically, Russia/Prussia is his OTP. :P

In 1763, worried about how long Catherine is taking to agree to an alliance with him, and at how she's shopping around for alternatives, Fritz starts inviting the Turks over and making a big show of hosting them with great pomp. This has the desired effect, and a treaty is signed between Russia and Prussia on April 11, 1764, with these terms:

- The two powers guarantee each other's European possessions.
- In the event of attack by a third power, they agree to provide 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.
- Frederick has to support Poniatowski's election as king of Poland.
- They agree to protect the 'dissidents', i.e. the Orthodox and Protestant believers in Poland.

Secret terms:
- Prussia guarantees ducal Holstein to the Grand Duke Paul.
- No changes in the Polish constitution, and agreement to forestall any attempt to make such changes by force of arms if need be.
- In the event of an attack by the Turks on Russia, or by another power beyond the Weser River on Prussian possessions, military assistance can be replaced by a subsidy of 400,000 rubles.
- They agree to preserve the existing balance of political parties in Sweden, and to coordinate their intervention if there was any threat to that.

The treaty was to be valid for eight years.

During the subsequent 8 years, the two rulers did their best to keep Poland weak, though they often had different priorities. While Catherine was going to get the dissidents equal political rights come hell or high water, Fritz was rolling his eyes at her and focusing on crippling the country economically. In 1766, under Poniatowki's leadership, the Sejm actually started passing some measures to stabilize the currency, and to impose a set of nation-wide customs duties to bring in revenue.

But one of the issues with trying to centralize, as most rulers find, is that local provinces start yelling about what we in the US would call "states' rights." Polish Prussia (the part of Poland that will later be acquired by Fritz and Heinrich) starts protesting this measure, and the locals there reach out to Fritz in his capacity as ruler of East Prussia to help them. Fritz obligingly points out that there was a 1657 treaty by which there couldn't be any customs duties in Polish Prussia without coordination with East Prussia. Invoking that, he sets up his *own* customs duties on the Vistula.

Fritz's original goal was to force the Poles to abandon their duties, but this new source of income proved so lucrative that Fritz started offering to lower the amount he was charging and cut Poniatowski in on the proceeds.

Poniatowski refuses, being a man who is busy trying to turn Poland into an independent state, and he turns trustingly to Catherine for help. Frederick, as sure she will take *his* side as Poniatowski is that she'll take *his*, agrees to allow her to mediate.

Catherine, being an unsentimental believer in realpolitik, backs her ally Fritz over her ex-lover and increasingly un-puppetlike puppet king. She makes everybody tear down their customs houses and go back to the status quo (the one that made for a weak Poland).

Catherine: Now both of you stop it! Poniatowski, you have standing orders to try to force pro-dissident legislation through the Sejm, you need to get back to that! None of this trying to make Poland into an economically viable independent country.

Catherine: And Fritz, we have a treaty whose main point, as I see it, is to get the dissidents in Poland equal rights. Stop getting distracted by customs and things.

Poniatowski and Fritz, in unison: But, Mom!

Poniatowski: It is my bounden duty to do right by my country, which I was called by God to rule.

Fritz: I'm trying to undermine the Polish economy!!

Catherine: No more whining, either of you, or I'm turning this car around and nobody gets any legislation! Now, back to my dissidents.

Fritz: Okay, Catherine is getting kind of out of control here. Joseph, wanna meet up?

Kaunitz and MT: No! (1766)

1768:

Catherine: *forces her legislation through, accidentally or on purpose triggering a civil war*

Kaunitz: Okay, Catherine is getting kind of out of control here. Joseph, wanna meet up with Fritz?

Joseph and MT: No!

1769:

Joseph: Fritz, wanna meet up?

MT: No!

Joseph, Kaunitz, and Fritz: Sorry, MT, you're outnumbered this time.

Fritz: Okay, so, peace in Germany, no matter what Britain and France, or Sweden and Russia, or anyone else for that matter, does? Besides, if things go too badly wrong, I do have a gangster side:

If we have serious disagreements with England, we can revenge ourselves on her by seizing the Electorate of Hanover, a territory ill-prepared to defend herself. [This quote actually dates to c. 1767-1768, but Joseph is the source.]

Joseph: You got it. Plans for restraining Catherine?

Fritz: This meeting with you is my plan. Once she sees I'm considering an alliance with you, she'll have to renew our treaty early. Hey, playing hard to get worked in 1763 when I used the Turks!

Catherine: It worked again, damn you, Fritz.

(See the upcoming section on Sweden for the details of this treaty; I'm not going to get too involved in Prussia and Sweden in this section, since there's not a lot new to add compared to what's there.)

Sticking to Russia, 1770 is the year of Russian success against Turkey. Fritz and Joseph get even more worried, and they meet up at Neustadt in September. While they're there, Turkey requests formal mediation from Prussia and Austria.

Catherine wants to dictate her own terms, but her terms are too extreme for Fritz. But her army is on a roll, so she doesn't want to accept his much more moderate terms. And Fritz wants to end the war for two reasons. One, he has to pay subsidies, and those are getting expensive. Two, Austria is acting like they're about to get drawn into joining the Turks and fighting Russia. One of Fritz's hopes in meeting with Joseph and Kaunitz at Neustadt is to be friendly enough with them that they won't attack him if they do fight Russia.

But while the war goes on, Austria does something that unintentionally turns out to be very useful to Fritz and his anti-Polish designs: they bring troops into Poland, ostensibly to establish a cordon sanitaire against the plague, but obviously with the intent of appropriating some territory. This gives Fritz a chance to do the same in 1770. And he starts reviving claims to Pomerelia (part of Poland).

During the 1768-1772 period, the idea of Prussia getting part of Poland is in the air. Fritz emphasizes it in his secret 1768 political testament to his heir. Kaunitz actually proposes it as one of Austria's endless "Well, maybe we could arrange the territories *this* way" ideas. Fritz mentions it to the Austrian ambassador. He tries sounding out the Russians by pretending it was Danish Count Lynar's idea. But nobody takes the bait, and by the time Heinrich shows up in Russia and tells Fritz they're open to it, Fritz is reluctant to jump at the idea, especially for such a small amount of territory. He writes to Heinrich (the quote that I shared with cahn recently):

As to the question of occupying the duchy of Warmia, I ruled that out, as the whole operation is not worth tuppence. The portion is so small that it fails to compensate for the song and dance it will necessarily drum up. On the other hand, Polish Prussia would be worth the trouble, even without Danzig, as then we would have the Vistula and what would be very important, free access to the kingdom [of Prussia] … If you are too eager to snatch at trifles, it gives you a reputation for greed and insatiability which I don't want to have any more than I do already in Europe.

Fritz is clearly thinking along the lines of "Gimme gimme" about Poland, but he needs two conditions to be met:

- Russia won't go to war over it (and preferably Austria, which is why he spends so much time trying to tempt Austria into joining the partition).
- The territory he acquires will be large enough to be worth the bad PR.

So he turns down Heinrich's initial offer, but I think he's waaaaay more interested than Volz gives him credit for, and it's a ploy to get more by playing hard to get (Fritz: willing to play hard to get in the 1760s!).

Even the Comte de Broglie, a contemporary, wrote: "The King of Prussia is anxious that another should commence to dismember her, so that he may have his share."

Okay, I did my best, but it's hard to get a map that covers all of the placenames we're about to talk about. This map will show you Danzig, Marienburg, Pomerelia (not to be confused with Pomerania), and Culm. Ermland is the same as Warmia.

The Vistula runs through Warsaw and empties into the Baltic at Danzig. This is why Danzig is such a great port city that Fritz so eager to have and everyone else is so eager for him not to have.



This one will show you Warmia and Thorn:



And here's a great one-minute video showing the evolution of the map of Poland through the 3 partitions, of which this write-up only covers the first (but selenak is helpfully bringing up implications of the following ones): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=601zBAfXoWE

All of this to illustrate the following quote from MacDonogh:

Frederick decided which cuts of the turkey he would like best: Pomerelia, south of Danzig, the part of Great Poland that lay beyond the Netze, the bishopric of Warmia and the palatinates of Marienburg and Culm. He was also anxious to get his hands on Danzig and Thorn. The Russians, he alleged, had offered him the former, and then had withdrawn the offer, citing their 'guarantees' of Polish liberties. Frederick believed that the 'base perfidious' British had scuttled the acquisition because they did not want to see him master of the Vistula. Frederick reconciled himself with the idea that he would get it in the long run, possibly starving it out by transferring the port trade to Elbing. His sentiments closely followed those he had expressed in the 1768 Testament politique. In September 1773, he acquired 36,300 square kilometres. It was the smallest chunk: the Austrians had taken 81,900 and the Russians, 92,000.

In fact, even after the partition is agreed on in 1772, Prussia, like Austria and Russia, keep finding every excuse throughout the 1770s to snatch up little bits and pieces here and there. Not until the surveyors have marked the exact boundaries in 1777 is Fritz done squeezing out every little bit he can get when no one is looking. He's unable to get Danzig, despite trying very hard, because too many of the major trading powers of Europe are concerned about that (remember Lehndorff later being offended that the inhabitants of Danzig don't want to be Prussian), and it won't be until 1792 and the Second Polish Partition that Prussia gets its grubby hands on Danzig.

But by 1772, Fritz is already taking advantage of his newly acquired Polish territories to...you guessed it...cripple the Polish economy!

One, he systematically bans all Polish grain exports, with an eye toward making it easier to acquire new territory from an even more impoverished Poland. Two, he seizes a Polish customs house on the Vistula and starts levying tolls on up to 50% of the value of cargoes passing through.

That's all a pretty sweet deal for Prussia, which comes out of this the best of all the partitioning powers, despite having the weakest cards to play.

Fritz: See? Watch me play hard to get three times and get what I want three times. I have learned a few things since I was 28.

1764-1772 Foreign policy: Prussia: Lehndorff

[mildred_of_midgard]

I knew Lehndorff would have the goods on Fritz's reception of the Turks in November 1763, and indeed, he delivers!

October. The Turkish ambassador has arrived in Breslau, and great preparations are being made here to receive him. The Minister of State, Count Finck, assures us that the Peace of Dresden did not cause him as much work as determining the ceremonies for this affair. Achmet Effendi will take up residence in the large Vernezobre house, where everything is furnished in scarlet red in Turkish style. Old Baron Pöllnitz will introduce the envoy. Pöllnitz therefore receives a servant in magnificent livery from the king and a wonderful state dress for himself. His Majesty wrote to him on this occasion: "If you write to me, from now on you will use this address: To Mr. Friedrich, famous personal tailor to Baron von Pöllnitz, living in Potsdam in the suburb of Sanssouci."

Lol, Fritz.

November. The Turkish envoy has arrived in Weißensee. Several Berliners were there to see him; one finds that he has the appearance of a venerable old man. People also praise his gentle character, but claim to know that he is filthy with avarice. On November 9th the whole city was in motion because of the entry of the Turkish envoy. A spectacle like this has never been seen in this country. I'm going to Governor von Hülsen where the whole train has to pass. The envoy arrives at 11 a.m. He sits very well on horseback, and all the Turks in his entourage are handsome men. By the way, I don't think the procession is particularly splendid; Of course, it is explained that all the pomp is being saved for the audience with the king. The Turkish music is terrible, the whole demeanor of the people and their appearance could be called Jewish. The ambassador has his nephew with him, who will probably have a more refined demeanor than the others because he has lived for a long time in the grand vizier's house. He asks Mr. v. Printz, the king's adjutant, to introduce him to all societies, so that he can learn European behavior.

18th century anti-Semitism at work.

I finally satisfy my curiosity and visit the Turk. I attend his meal, his prayer and see the form of his receptions. Everything here is so different from our customs and customs and seems so sad to us that we get the impression that these people must feel quite unhappy. But maybe they have the same view of us. The Messenger's nephew is a young man full of fire who shows an eager desire to learn our customs. He has already dined with several people in the city and seems to be enjoying himself quite well in our company. Yesterday we visited him with a whole group of ladies. He chose the most beautiful ones first and gave them the best seats. Then, with the finest grace in the world, he gave us coffee and jam, and he also began to sing and was in a lovely mood.

I am impressed with his "but maybe they have the same view of us." Lehndorff has his moments of insight!

The old Baron Pöllnitz, who is supposed to determine all the etiquette to be observed for the Turkish ambassador's audience with the king, feels completely rejuvenated. He, who was raised in the etiquette and pomp of the court of Frederick I, is completely in his element. The king now and then disturbs his joy by declaring that all the festivities are disgusting to him, and two days before the audience he writes to him that he does not want to have any ceremony, but will simply meet the Turkish ambassador in his usual rooms received . This makes the baron so angry that no one dares approach him. The king finally arrives at 5 o'clock in the afternoon on the 19th, and Count Finck finds an opportune moment to convince the king that the love of oriental splendor requires a celebratory public reception.

Pöllnitz is beside himself with joy and runs straight to the queen to tell her that he has won the victory and that everything will now play out as it should. He immediately informed the entire nobility that everyone had to meet in the White Hall at 10 a.m. on the 20th.

Hahaha, this whole drama is hilarious to me. It must be hard to have formed your taste for ceremony under Grandpa F1 and then have to live through the reigns of FW and Fritz.

On this day at 9 a.m., the gifts that the Ottoman emperor gives the king are brought into the room next to the Ritter hall intended for the audience and are displayed here. The Ritter hall was beautifully decorated. A dais of three steps had been erected under the canopy, which, in keeping with the noble austerity of our court, was covered with an old window curtain made of crimson and covered with gold. On it stood a canapé of solid silver covered with crimson velvet, in front of which was a table covered with the same cloth. The table had been taken from the cathedral, where it is used for communion and baptisms. The king goes into this hall at 9 a.m. accompanied by all the princes. He waited until 12 o'clock when Baron Pöllnitz and Achmet Effendi finally entered the room in front of the hall.

Here the ambassador is given a chair and the emperor's turban is placed on his head. Then the Baron knocks on the door and the High Court Marshal Count Reuss asks what he wants. Pöllnitz replies that the Turkish ambassador is there and is requesting an audience with the king. Now the ambassador is allowed to enter. Instead of bowing three times, as Christian ambassadors do, he raises his right hand three times, then approaches the throne and delivers his speech, closing his eyes. He addresses the king as "Emperor" and calls him the "follower of Jesus, the sectarian of Nazareth." After Count Finck has answered, the envoy quickly climbs the steps of the throne, takes the king's right arm, kisses his shoulder and disappears from the hall with lightning speed.

Pöllnitz now accompanies the envoy back to the hotel with the same ceremony, where a lavish meal is served by the king. The king appointed 24 people, including me, to take part in it, and as luck would have it, I got my place next to Achmet so that I could see exactly how he eats. He leaves the dishes prepared by our chefs untouched and only enjoys those prepared in the local style. You always give him one bowl after the other and he diligently reaches out with his fingers and serves us in the same way. I'm so curious to taste everything; It's disgusting, everything prepared with honey and oil.

He really likes our dessert and has several porcelain bowls taken away. As we rise from the table, his entourage plunders the entire dessert, which seems quite amusing to us. The ambassador then has the coffee served and plays the amiable host.

That same evening the king gives a ball to the queen and then drives back to Potsdam early in the morning. The Hereditary Prince of Braunschweig and the Prince of Prussia stay here for another day and attend the ball at Prince Ferdinand's, where the nephew of the Turkish ambassador is having a great time.

On December 12th, Prince Heinrich arrives in Berlin, quite displeased at having swapped his idyllic Rheinsberg for the noisy Berlin. He also gives the Turks an audience, where he seems quite interested since the matter is completely new to him.

Poor Heinrich. He *just* got to move to Rheinsberg! This is also when he's clinically depressed from PTSD, of course.

The Turks are actively taking part in the carnival festivities that are now beginning. The old envoy always maintains his dignity and has only appeared once in a play. His nephew, on the other hand, young Effendi, is everywhere and is having a great time. In the academy where I took him, he looked at our physics experiments with great interest. These people don't talk much, but they often make pertinent comments. When he sees the color change in the water that the Margrave causes with various essences, he says: "Yes, what's the use of that? It would be better if you could make water instead of giving it colors." Electricity arouses his lively interest. In the evening we are in Dominos at a ball that Prince Henry is giving to the queen and a large part of the nobility. Old Achmet is delighted to see all these beautiful women; he assures us that he has never seen so many from one house.

And thus ends Lehndorff's entry.