#old fritz
Just because a man canenjoyliberté de conscience et de verge, doesn’t mean he should have sexual relations with a donkey.
After a man in Brandenburg-Prussia was sentenced to death for engaging in inappropriate conduct with a female donkey, Frederick the Great personally annulled the sentence, allegedly (because you can’t quite trust Voltaire’s dramatic recounts of events) reasoning that in his lands one enjoys “liberté de conscience et de verge” / “freedom of both conscience and penis”
Voltaire in general just appeared rather willing to perhaps overstate things to suit the literary tastes of the French public, or else share any and all gossip he came across at court. The slightly dicey references to Frederick’s homosexual exploits to be found in his memoirs either fall into the category of artistic freedom, or we can conclude Voltaire really was willing to publish everyone’s private life for some publicity. Cue affronted German/Prussian writers then doing their utmost to emphasise Frederick’s complete and utter heterosexuality at every possible opportunity.
Everyone has weird family history tidbits, but a supposed ancestor on my father’s side designed some porcelain figures with wobbly heads that Frederick the Great was so amused by he bought ten and put them on display in Sanssouci
