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: Peter's memoirs - Pre 1730

[mildred_of_midgard]

“Außer der Ehe” would be the phrasing that would made the most sense.

That's what I thought, but it looks so unlike "außer" that I had to throw it out there in case was another possibility I was missing. Thanks for confirming my first reading was correct!

Also, might be worth checking out Lehndorff for von Natzmer gossip.

Ooh, good point!

Or maybe Keith Sr was getting it on with Frau/Fräuleiln von Natzmer when F1 was still King and thus there was no big scandal?

Entirely possible, as even Peter was born in F1's reign, so unless Franz Heinrich was at least a couple years younger, we're talking about F1.

There’s of course the possiblity that the man had more than just two, and he oculd have been called Hans Christoph Franz Heinrich, with everyone laterly born assuming he used “Hans Christoph” but Peter remembering he used “Franz Heinrich”, err, Francois Henri”. (We did encounter wrong assumptions by historians and fanfic writers alike as to which first name among several historical people used before.)

True, but do we have any Prussian cases of 4 names? It's usually 3. The only time I've seen enough names to add up to 4 (Peter Carl Ernst Reinhard) that I can remember, I'm convinced one (Peter) is a mistake. (It is my only indirect evidence that our Peter did go by Peter, though; that someone would conflate him and his son after his death, or that his son would briefly adopt his father's name.)

Another possibility: are we sure it’s Peter’s handwriting with the names “Francois Henri”? Because I remember the whole “lui elle” thing from Lehndorff’s diaries where a descendant tried to heterosexualize his immortal crush until giving up with the striking out and rewriting. Maybe a later owner of this manuscript tried to insert the names for clarification and simply made a mistake?

I thought of that, but not only is it the same handwriting, it looks like the same pen and ink, added at the same time as the manuscript was written. I'm not a paleographer, but it's usually pretty obvious when someone new is writing, or even the same person changes their writing materials mid-letter.

Also, Fritz remembering “even in the first days of his accession, my attachment” - wishful thinking, or am I misremembering?

Eh, depends on how you count.

I mean, just how many weeks did pass until the “come back” letter?

5 weeks, July 7. So at a stretch, I could see "earliest days" meaning "first 40 days", as opposed to 6 months later.

Enough for Peter’s mother to write and ask for one, right?

No, that was because of the secrecy. By the time she wrote on August 23, Fritz had already written twice demanding Peter be found, but that the search be carried out with the utmost secrecy.

“The first days” was what Fritz’ old teacher and Algarotti got, with identical summons.

They definitely got the fastest summons! Even Suhm had to wait 2 weeks.

Though I love the phrasing “to expatriate myself”.

"m'expatrier" :)