Food as Power/Food as Weakness: Courtly dining between pomp and poison
This paper presents a case of food crisis at the end of the reign of the "Great" Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia (1640-1688) following the death of his son, Ludwig. In an atmosphere already ripe with dynastic rivalry and medical skepticism, the death of an otherwise healthy young prince caused a succession crisis. The shocked and grieving elector called a murder investigation that produced a report of eye-witness accounts about the prince's last week. The prince's death has been mythologized in Prussian historiography, but otherwise, the prince has been forgotten and the investigation's report has remained hidden in the archive. However, the report presents the most detailed account of the minutiae of daily life at court including things like snacking and informal court commensality. This food history presents insights about medical, gender, education, and political history. In the report, the social boundaries fall away and one sees how intimately various members of court moved around each other and how vigilantly they monitored every bite that might bring a shift in the political order.
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This page was last updated on 14 March 2025
