Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 48

[cahn]

Some awesome historical RPF candyheartsex stories for meeeeee (or by me, in one tiny case) with historical characters! I'm just going to note whom the stories are about here. They are all so good!!

Anne Boleyn/Catherine of Aragorn
Frances Howard and Frances Coke (or: James I's court was basically a HOTBED of scandal, omg)

And two that are also historical RPF but also consistent with the Jude Morgan novel The King's Touch, which is an excellent historical novel narrated by James ("Jemmy") Scott, Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son.

Princess Henrietta of England (Charles II's sister and wife of Philippe I duc d'Orleans)
James of Monmouth/William/Mary

Comments

Re: Karl Ernst

[mildred_of_midgard]

Amalie von Keith again. She's just gotten married, she's tried to live very frugally and has been living rent-free for the last two years, but she still hasn't managed to avoid getting 150 Reichstalers in debt for her wedding (and/or married life and setting up a household, I don't remember). She writes to Edzard in despair at how to pay this debt, asking him for money and attaching her marriage certificate (which I thus have a copy of). On the bottom of the last page, there's a note in a different handwriting, reading, "I have not sent Madame Schrodt [her married name] the 150 Reichstaler, so she is not my debtor."

If you ever want to get a sense of how much Peter married up, read this letter and watch Peter's cousin Amalie absolutely *grovel* before Oriane's cousin. I don't think Peter groveled this much when asking Fritz to cover his debt!

Also, the marriage certificate says her full name is Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie, and her father is Anton Ludewig. Now, I found Anton Ludwig in one of the Keith genealogies in the archive, but it's formatted so that I can't tell how he's related! None of Peter's brothers are listed as having a son by this name.

Also, Anton Ludewig, if this genealogy is correct (and these genealogies tend to be very inaccurate), died in 1806, which means that if Amalie was 13 when she was orphaned, she's now 30 when writing these letters to Edzard in 1823. (I had been wondering how old she was.)

Re: Karl Ernst

[selenak]

Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie

Auguste instead of Charlotte or Dorothea is the only suprising part here. I'm still waiting for the Prussian who dares to name their offspring Franz, Joseph, Leopold, Maria or Theresia. ;)

Anyway, poor woman. And yes, having to grovel for one's supper this much reminds me of George Canning's mother and her woes.

Does Peter's short description of his life include how he won Oriane's hand, given how much married upwards? And given this wasn't a case of Fritz intervening, as with the Kattes.

Re: Karl Ernst

[mildred_of_midgard]

Haha. She's not the only Auguste in the family tree! Speaking of more unusual names, I think I've mentioned Peter also had a sister named Ori(g)ana, which is also his wife's name (ETA: and her family is from East Frisia). Let's not forget that we have a Scottish family that settled in Pomerania, with Amalie's branch ending up in Silesia, none of which is Brandenburg.

But yes, I don't see any of those Habsburg names at a glance, at least in the later generations! (Peter has a (half?) brother named Franz, but EC had a brother named Franz as well, and that's all well before FS and MT became the dastardly foes of the Most Glorious King, trying to kidnap what he had rightfully stolen.)

Does Peter's short description of his life include how he won Oriane's hand, given how much married upwards?

It does not! I, as his biographer, naturally assume he was just *that* lovable. :P (Maybe Oriane, like Knobelsdorff, appreciated English directness. Honestly, I think her mother was probably the direct type, although I have no hard proof.)

ETA: Note, though, that she may have been socially well above him, but she was not an heiress, and she and her mother were counting on him to be the breadwinner. If Fritz *had* intervened, it probably would have been to marry Peter off to someone with more money.