Editing Frederick William I of Prussia (section)

==Relationship with Frederick II==
[[File:Die Söhne von Friedrich Wilhelm I.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|The sons of Frederick William I and Sophia Dorothea; left to right Frederick, Ferdinand, Augustus William and Henry. Painting by [[Francesco Carlo Rusca]], 1737]]
His eldest surviving son was [[Frederick the Great|Frederick II]] (Fritz), born in 1712. Frederick William wanted him to become a fine soldier. As a small child, Fritz was awakened each morning by the firing of a cannon. At the age of 6, he was given his own regiment of children to drill as cadets, and a year later, he was given a miniature arsenal.

[[File:August II of Poland and Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia.PNG|thumb|upright=.7|Portrait of [[Augustus II the Strong|Augustus II of Poland]] (left) and Frederick William I of Prussia (right), during Frederick William's 1728 visit to Dresden. Painting by [[Louis de Silvestre]], about 1730]]

The love and affection Frederick William had for his heir initially was soon soured due to their increasingly different personalities. Frederick William ordered Fritz to undergo a minimal education, live a simple Protestant lifestyle, and focus on the Army and statesmanship as he had. However, the intellectual Fritz was more interested in music, books and French culture, which were forbidden by his father as decadent and unmanly. As Fritz's defiance for his father's rules increased, Frederick William would frequently beat or humiliate Fritz (he preferred his younger sibling [[Prince Augustus William of Prussia|Augustus William]]). Fritz was beaten for being thrown off a bolting horse and wearing gloves in cold weather. 
[[File:Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia 1700.jpg|left|thumb|Frederick William as crown prince]]
At age 16, Frederick seems to have embarked upon a youthful affair with [[Peter Karl Christoph von Keith]], a 17-year-old [[Page (servant)|page]] of his father. Rumors of the liaison spread in the court, and the "intimacy" between the two boys provoked the comments of his sister, [[Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth|Wilhelmine]], who wrote, "Though I had noticed that he was on more familiar terms with this page than was proper in his position, I did not know how intimate the friendship was."<ref>{{cite book|author=Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth|year=1888|author-link=Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth|translator=Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein|translator-link=Princess Helena of the United Kingdom|title=Memoirs of Wilhelmine, Margravine of Baireuth|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirswilhelmi00wilhgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirswilhelmi00wilhgoog/page/n92 83]|location=New York|publisher=Harper & Brothers}}</ref> Rumors finally reached King Frederick William, who cultivated an ideal of ultramasculinity in his court, and derided his son's supposedly [[Sexuality of Frederick the Great|effeminate tendencies]]. As a result, Keith was dismissed from his service to the king and sent away to a regiment by the Dutch border, while Frederick was sent to the king's hunting lodge at [[Königs Wusterhausen]] in order to "repent of his sin".<ref>"{{cite book|last=Goldsmith|first=Margaret|year=1929|title=Frederick the Great|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nqgAAAAMAAJ|author-link=Margaret Goldsmith|publisher=C. Boni|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8nqgAAAAMAAJ&q=repent 50]}}</ref> 

After the prince attempted to flee to England with his tutor, [[Hans Hermann von Katte]], the enraged king had Katte beheaded before the eyes of the prince, who himself was court-martialled.<ref>Farquhar, Michael (2001). ''A Treasure of Royal Scandals''. New York: Penguin Books. p. 114. {{ISBN|0-7394-2025-9}}.</ref> The king may have thought that Frederick's relationship with Katte was also romantic, a suspicion that may have played a role in Katte receiving a death sentence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitford |first1=Nancy |title=Frederick the Great |date=1984 |publisher=E.P. Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-48147-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0 |language=en |page=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0/page/61 61]}} Page 61 of the 1984 edition is page 55 of the 1970 edition.</ref> In any case, the court declared itself not competent in the case of the crown prince. Whether it was the king's intention to have his son executed as well (as [[Voltaire]] claims<ref>Voltaire, ''Memoirs of the Life of Monsieur de Voltaire'', Translated by Andrew Brown, Hesperus Classics, 2007 [1784], p. 10.</ref>) is not clear. However, the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]] intervened, claiming that a prince could only be tried by the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] itself. Frederick was imprisoned in the Fortress of [[Kostrzyn nad Odrą|Küstrin]] from 2 September to 19 November 1731 and exiled from court until February 1732, during which time he was rigorously schooled in matters of state. After achieving a measure of reconciliation, Frederick William had his son married to Princess [[Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern]], whom Frederick despised, but then grudgingly allowed him to indulge in his musical and literary interests again. He also gifted him a stud farm in East Prussia, and [[Rheinsberg Palace]]. By the time of Frederick William's death in 1740, he and Frederick were on at least reasonable terms with each other.

Although the relationship between Frederick William and Frederick was clearly hostile, Frederick wrote in his memoirs that his father "penetrated and understood great objectives and knew the best interests of his country better than any minister or general."<ref>[[Nancy Mitford|Mitford, Nancy]] (1970). ''Frederick the Great'', New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, p. 15.</ref>