When Pirates meet Prussians...
Oct. 28th, 2020 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakSo, remember when I posted about the 18th Century Age of the Enlightenment equivalent to "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" being "Six Degrees of Francesco Algarotti", i.e. the ability to link everyone to Algarotti in six steps or less? (And to someone who either had sex with Algarotti, wanted to have sex with Algarotti, or wrote about other people having sex with Algarotti in even less?)
Well, reading James Boswell's journal of his German travels has brought a fascinating little nugget of information to my attention I hadn't been aware before, and no, dear friends, I can link none other than Captain James Flint (of Black Sails and, backstory wise, Treasure Island fame) to Francesco Algarotti in... let's see... three steps. How so? Well, it turns out that Oglethorpe, who shows up in in the Black Sails finale in a minor but very important role and is among the cast members based on actual historical people, spent some time of his life serving under the alias of "John Tebay", simple soldier, in the Seven Years War, at the side of one James Keith, field marshal, Scottish exile and one of Frederick the Great's most important generals. When James Keith died at the Battle of Hochkirch, he did so in "Tebay"'s arms. (This I knew before, I just wasn't aware that Tebay was really Oglethorpe.) "Tebay" then reported James Keith' death to British ambassador Andrew Mitchell (another Scot, btw); as Britain was practically the only ally Frederick had in this war (having managed to piss off most of the rest of Europe in advance to it), Mitchell actually was on the front lines with either Frederick himself or Frederick's younger brother Heinrich through the entire war, and was unarguably the most successful of the British envoys during Frederick's reign. Mitchell and Frederick had something else in common before the war started, though, or rather, someone: none other than, you guessed it, Francesco Algarotti, who had befriended a younger Mitchell, had been staying with him for a while during his time in England, and had on one occasion when suggesting dinner written to young Mitchell "You shall be the tastiest dish at our supper". (Algarotti also was the recipient of some rather passionate letters and homoerotic banter from Frederick, as well as of a poem imagining him in the throws of orgasm. Since Frederick later inflicted his poetry on Mitchell mid-7 Years War, I like think Mitchell offered to beta-read the orgasm poem for verisimilitude.
Therefore, I give you:
Captain Flint => Oglethorpe =>Andrew Mitchell => Francesco Algarotti.
Note that Oglethorpe is the only guy listed whom we don't know to have had sex with men. And in his wiki entry there's nothing to suggest he didn't, either. Of course, now that I know the connection, I have to wonder about a future I had not envisioned for Flint/McGraw and *spoiler* before, namely: could they have gone with Oglethorpe (during his undercover years) to Prussia? You could do worse as gay men than to move in the realm of the monarch who is as openly gay as it was possible to be and had, as Voltaire once quipped, in his realm "freedom of religion and of the penis". He's also an avid reader (and bad poetry writer) encouraging the arts and sciences, and in the years between the second Silesian and the 7 Years War, there is not only peace but also not yet an alliance with Britain. (More the reverse. Frederick wasn't keen on Uncle George II and vice versa.) (See also the exiled Jacobite Keith brothers as his bffs.)
I mean, I want James and Thomas to have a happy retirement, of course, no matter where, but now I have to wonder about all the crossover possibilities. Clashes about how to interpret Marcus Aurelius! In terms of volcanic temper and terrier like, never giving up even in the most terrible odds like nature, Flint versus Frederick would be epic and evenly matched. (Meanwhile, Thomas has a one night stand with Algarotti, because they so would.)
Also, given that I've seen several Black Sails fanfics where Oglethorpe quails at the first sight of James going Flint on him (or is killed without effort), I have to say that historical record doesn't make it sound likely. (Not to mention that as someone who forbade slavery in Georgia and supported Corsican independence from France, I already could have seen him as someone sympathetic for Thomas and James even before this latest intel.)
Conversely: hadn't thought about a Frederician pirate AU yet, but that would totally work, too. Dad Friedrich Wilhelm as ever provides the ideal jerkass woobie backstory, just now exuding his tyranny and sadistic punishments at sea. (Look, James, the way you and Miranda lost Thomas was terrible, but at least you didn't have to watch him being beheaded.) Maria Theresia is the rival pirate queen who inherits the older pirate empire FW's gang used to be a part of and immediately gets threatened by a coup because she's a woman. Voltaire is the trickster with changing loyalties trying to survive in this murderous environment. And Madame de Pompadour, Reinette, is in the Max position and allying with Maria Theresia against Frederick in the hope of gaining a power status of her own...
Well, reading James Boswell's journal of his German travels has brought a fascinating little nugget of information to my attention I hadn't been aware before, and no, dear friends, I can link none other than Captain James Flint (of Black Sails and, backstory wise, Treasure Island fame) to Francesco Algarotti in... let's see... three steps. How so? Well, it turns out that Oglethorpe, who shows up in in the Black Sails finale in a minor but very important role and is among the cast members based on actual historical people, spent some time of his life serving under the alias of "John Tebay", simple soldier, in the Seven Years War, at the side of one James Keith, field marshal, Scottish exile and one of Frederick the Great's most important generals. When James Keith died at the Battle of Hochkirch, he did so in "Tebay"'s arms. (This I knew before, I just wasn't aware that Tebay was really Oglethorpe.) "Tebay" then reported James Keith' death to British ambassador Andrew Mitchell (another Scot, btw); as Britain was practically the only ally Frederick had in this war (having managed to piss off most of the rest of Europe in advance to it), Mitchell actually was on the front lines with either Frederick himself or Frederick's younger brother Heinrich through the entire war, and was unarguably the most successful of the British envoys during Frederick's reign. Mitchell and Frederick had something else in common before the war started, though, or rather, someone: none other than, you guessed it, Francesco Algarotti, who had befriended a younger Mitchell, had been staying with him for a while during his time in England, and had on one occasion when suggesting dinner written to young Mitchell "You shall be the tastiest dish at our supper". (Algarotti also was the recipient of some rather passionate letters and homoerotic banter from Frederick, as well as of a poem imagining him in the throws of orgasm. Since Frederick later inflicted his poetry on Mitchell mid-7 Years War, I like think Mitchell offered to beta-read the orgasm poem for verisimilitude.
Therefore, I give you:
Captain Flint => Oglethorpe =>Andrew Mitchell => Francesco Algarotti.
Note that Oglethorpe is the only guy listed whom we don't know to have had sex with men. And in his wiki entry there's nothing to suggest he didn't, either. Of course, now that I know the connection, I have to wonder about a future I had not envisioned for Flint/McGraw and *spoiler* before, namely: could they have gone with Oglethorpe (during his undercover years) to Prussia? You could do worse as gay men than to move in the realm of the monarch who is as openly gay as it was possible to be and had, as Voltaire once quipped, in his realm "freedom of religion and of the penis". He's also an avid reader (and bad poetry writer) encouraging the arts and sciences, and in the years between the second Silesian and the 7 Years War, there is not only peace but also not yet an alliance with Britain. (More the reverse. Frederick wasn't keen on Uncle George II and vice versa.) (See also the exiled Jacobite Keith brothers as his bffs.)
I mean, I want James and Thomas to have a happy retirement, of course, no matter where, but now I have to wonder about all the crossover possibilities. Clashes about how to interpret Marcus Aurelius! In terms of volcanic temper and terrier like, never giving up even in the most terrible odds like nature, Flint versus Frederick would be epic and evenly matched. (Meanwhile, Thomas has a one night stand with Algarotti, because they so would.)
Also, given that I've seen several Black Sails fanfics where Oglethorpe quails at the first sight of James going Flint on him (or is killed without effort), I have to say that historical record doesn't make it sound likely. (Not to mention that as someone who forbade slavery in Georgia and supported Corsican independence from France, I already could have seen him as someone sympathetic for Thomas and James even before this latest intel.)
Conversely: hadn't thought about a Frederician pirate AU yet, but that would totally work, too. Dad Friedrich Wilhelm as ever provides the ideal jerkass woobie backstory, just now exuding his tyranny and sadistic punishments at sea. (Look, James, the way you and Miranda lost Thomas was terrible, but at least you didn't have to watch him being beheaded.) Maria Theresia is the rival pirate queen who inherits the older pirate empire FW's gang used to be a part of and immediately gets threatened by a coup because she's a woman. Voltaire is the trickster with changing loyalties trying to survive in this murderous environment. And Madame de Pompadour, Reinette, is in the Max position and allying with Maria Theresia against Frederick in the hope of gaining a power status of her own...
no subject
Date: 2020-10-30 02:42 am (UTC)Anyway! Good job linking everyone to Algarotti!
So far, no one's stumped us with a "six degrees or less" challenge, right?
Voltaire is the trickster with changing loyalties trying to survive in this murderous environment.
Voltaire would make an amaaaaazing pirate! Best of all possible pirates! I mean, there's a reason he maps so well onto Odysseus. Would read that fic.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-30 05:39 am (UTC)The scholarly edition of Boswell's German journal, otoh, not only includes the diary entry where Boswell mentions Alexander Burnet (Mitchell's secretary) telling him the story of John Tebay and telling him about the late James Keith, but also adds the footnote that Boswell later actually became friends with Oglethorpe himself after the later wrote him a personal congratulations letter about Boswell's book on Corsica. Oglethorpe lived for nearly a century, and on several continents, all in all, so he's one of those people who really can surprise you by showing up in completely different contexts than you first put them into.
So far, no one's stumped us with a "six degrees or less" challenge, right?
No, we're good. Algarotti really got around.
Pirate Voltaire, code name Ulysses: yes indeed.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-01 04:10 pm (UTC)This *entirely* fits my impression of the post-Culloden atmosphere. Sigh.
Oglethorpe lived for nearly a century, and on several continents, all in all, so he's one of those people who really can surprise you by showing up in completely different contexts than you first put them into.
Evidently! This fandom has been far more educational than school.
No, we're good. Algarotti really got around.
Plus, what I was getting at: we've learned a lot in the last year or so! Remember when we didn't even know who Algarotti was? :)