Frederick William I

Frederick William I was a monster: a pigheaded bigot who forced his son to spend his childhood on the parade ground and regarded his interest in books and music as a sign of effeminacy.

The Prussian cuirassiers were first so called under Frederick William I., and in the wars of his successor Frederick the Great they bore a conspicuous part.

As a child and adolescent, Frederick suffered at the hands of his father Frederick William I, a bad-tempered, gouty despot nicknamed the “Soldier King” because of his fondness for square-bashing.

Thus, for instance, Frederick William I. forbade the emigration of Prussian peasants under penalty of death.

His father, Frederick William I, beat him relentlessly.