So google chooses "unregistered wife" for what I assume is common law wife?
So I assume? I don't know *any* Finnish, unlike the Indo-European languages where I can usually make some guesses with the help of Google Translate.
Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
No idea! It's in Varnhagen von Ense, "She didn't speak German fluently, but expressed herself excellently in French, read Tacitus in Latin, and generally had educated her mind," but he doesn't cite sources.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
Hm, just when did the Alte Dessauer marry? Was F1 still King, or FW already? If the later, yes, he might have counted on his buddy, but if the former, well, F1 did love his bling and his titles and had Hannover in laws who had a certified grudge against any noble/non-noble marriages.
But of course Old Dessauer was not an exile depending on someone employing him but a prince with his own territory, so the comparison with James Keith might be unfair. If, that is, Elizaveta and Fritz nixed any non-noble marriages.
It was F1. And yes, I was thinking the part where he was prince in his own territory was relevant.
Also, from my glance through Varnhagen von Ense on James' last years in Russia for the other post, it looks like George and James were separated the entire time between when James met Eva and when they ended up in Fritz's service a few years later. So if George was the reason James didn't marry her, it must have been via writing. And in that case, if George had never met her, the disapproval surely stemmed from class reasons.
But we're still speculating it was George. It may have been James who was like, "You make a fine long-term mistress, but you're not marriage material!"
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timeasmymeasure
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 06:11 am (UTC)So I assume? I don't know *any* Finnish, unlike the Indo-European languages where I can usually make some guesses with the help of Google Translate.
Well. I mean, if the Old Dessauer, who was a Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, i.e. from one of the oldest German noble families, could marry his apothocary's daughter, I think high social status alone does not explain it.
I also thought of the Alte Dessauer, and I knew you were going to mention him! George is a possibility--and class may have played a role in his dislike of her--and so are Elizaveta and Fritz. The Alte Dessauer may not have faced the same kind of resistance from above.
I'm curious where the tidbit about Eva having read Tacitus comes from. That's awfully specific instead of a general "liked the ancients", so maybe a letter or something like that?
No idea! It's in Varnhagen von Ense, "She didn't speak German fluently, but expressed herself excellently in French, read Tacitus in Latin, and generally had educated her mind," but he doesn't cite sources.
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 11:42 am (UTC)Hm, just when did the Alte Dessauer marry? Was F1 still King, or FW already? If the later, yes, he might have counted on his buddy, but if the former, well, F1 did love his bling and his titles and had Hannover in laws who had a certified grudge against any noble/non-noble marriages.
But of course Old Dessauer was not an exile depending on someone employing him but a prince with his own territory, so the comparison with James Keith might be unfair. If, that is, Elizaveta and Fritz nixed any non-noble marriages.
Re: James Keith and Eva Merthen
Date: 2025-05-03 01:57 pm (UTC)Also, from my glance through Varnhagen von Ense on James' last years in Russia for the other post, it looks like George and James were separated the entire time between when James met Eva and when they ended up in Fritz's service a few years later. So if George was the reason James didn't marry her, it must have been via writing. And in that case, if George had never met her, the disapproval surely stemmed from class reasons.
But we're still speculating it was George. It may have been James who was like, "You make a fine long-term mistress, but you're not marriage material!"