Cimorene

Thanks! I see where she was in the beginning now - I read her first couple of posts on it and followed some links. I haven't read all the threads though. I didn't find the one about peppercorns and mustard, although I did find the one about how bad his planning was and at least one thread where you and Selena talk about Wilhelmine's memoirs.

Also now that I read one of the salon threads about Catherine the Great I realize that I have heard of this guy before albeit only briefly, because I totally watched several history explainer videos about her and read her wikipedia page when the first season of The Great came out, whenever that was.

And I see this guy came to power shortly before the Jacobite rebellion (the invasion that ended with the battle of Culloden, which I see now is called the Jacobite Rising of 1745... if I'd remembered that name the time overlap would've been more obvious...) - I read Waverley quite recently, and it was full of historical details, although Scott's focus is extremely Scotland-specific. There's lots of exciting things happening in the decorative arts in Europe in this period too, though it isn't my favorite. I mean, the birth of Rococo! Meissen porcelain figures! Actually this has inspired me to look up baroque furniture and interiors more. I don't know that much about them outside of (a) Britain and the US and (b) Sweden-Finland.

As for the others, I will probably message you soon.