
Proto-internet trolls: Struensee and press freedom in 18th century Denmark - Pausanias
https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2018/06/johann-friedrich-struensee.html
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kingofhdds
The piece is interesting, but author's conclusions left very strange
aftertaste. So there was a king with psychiatric problems, and his doctor who,
abusing influence over his patient, usurped powers, and made a kid with the
queen. And when aforementioned doctor decreed freedom of press, people of
Denmark immediately started to express their dissatisfaction with the weird
political situation. And the author calls it depressing, not constructive, and
them proto-internet-trolls. Seriously?

~~~
nowarninglabel
I believe the subtle point is that Struensee did these actions for the good of
the people, only for the people to then use these new tools against him.

I'm not sure we know of Struensee's motivations, but we can see that he
advocated for and temporarily obtained some outcomes that can be seen as
almost universally good for the people.

Regardless, maybe one takeaway can be, just because you have given your life
towards something good for others, don't expect to be thanked.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Giving the people freedom of the press was good for the people? Probably.
Having a kid with the queen was good for the people? Probably not.

So, was the criticism for giving them freedom of the press? Or for having the
kid with the queen? Or was it for using his position as a doctor to put
himself in political power in the first place?

~~~
oh_sigh
Having a kid with the queen seems neutral, especially if the alternative is
for a severely mentally ill man to be the father.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
The queen having kids that didn't come from the king is capable of setting off
a civil war once the king dies and someone has to succeed him. That's not
neutral for the people.

~~~
oh_sigh
What was important at that time was that the child be a recognized heir to the
king and queen. Actual birth father is mostly irrelevant.

~~~
vict00ms
> Soon, not only had the doctor risen to become the King’s most trusted
> advisor in the Danish court, he had also become Queen Caroline Matilda’s
> lover – which fast became common knowledge.

Perhaps if it had not become common knowledge it would have remained
irrelevant. I think your argument has fallen flat and you should reconsider
your opinion before further entrenching yourself.

~~~
oh_sigh
No, it has not fallen flat. Something being common knowledge, and yet still
held to be irrelevant was exactly my point. You are free to peruse information
about Louis Auguste if you'd like

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Louise_Auguste_of_Den...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Louise_Auguste_of_Denmark)

> Though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, it is
> widely accepted that her biological father was Johann Friedrich Struensee,
> the king’s royal physician and de facto regent of the country at the time of
> her birth.[1] She was referred to sometimes as "la petite Struensee"; __this
> did not, however, have any effect on her position.[2] __

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mongol
The book referenced, Swedish title "Livläkarens besök", is one of the best I
have read. Reviews do not seem to agree entirely through. On Amazon:
[https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Physicians-Visit-Olov-
Enquist/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Physicians-Visit-Olov-
Enquist/dp/1585671967)

~~~
dmlorenzetti
Enquist is one of my favorite authors, and Royal Physician's Visit among the
many reasons why. That said, I have almost stopped recommending his work to
others, as it seems to be hit-and-miss.

Nobody I know hates his work, but nobody takes to him quite the way I have.
Royal Physician is fairly conventional in structure and tone, but Enquist's
more personal work -- the work that feels like it comes from his deep interior
life, like Downfall, and Captain Nemo's Library -- seem even harder for a lot
of people to get into.

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peter303
These played a role during the Enlightment, American and European revolutions.
A person of strong political views and middle class means could write, publish
and distribute an anonymous political pamphlet. Establishment governments
often didnt like this and hunt down and destroyed them.

~~~
all2
This is, in part, why the USA constitution calls out freedom of the press
(right after freedom of speech).

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FlowNote
The printing press was subsidized by the Catholic Church as a way of reducing
costs and increasing spread of their primary asset: the Bible.

They didn't realize this would drive down startup costs of presses by creating
more press techniques and technicians looking to acquire new customers. With
Church backing, the bar-to-entry for spreading information dropped until
anyone could spread information, including anti-Church factions such as the
Protestants. This did not end up well for the Church.

The same is true for America, their obsession with spreading democracy, and
the transistor AKA the American Printing Press.

Once information propagation becomes cheap, noise floods everything, and
trolling is the only effective way to create lasting context.

