I'm working my way through Robert Massie's voluminous biography of Peter the Great at the moment. It's truly a pleasure to read; one really does have the sensation of stepping into Peter's world. However, despite willing a Pulitzer prize, the work does seem to have acquired a reputation for inaccuracy; and, even a quarter of the way through, I've come across a couple of claims which cannot be correct. (I don't have the book to hand, but one of these claims involves Peter's sister and regent Sophia taking various ministers as lovers.)

The most outrageous claim so far - outrageous, both in the sense that the action described is deeply immoral, as well as in the sense that it is implausible, at least at first glance - is that one of Augustus II of Poland's many lovers was his illegitimate daughter, the Countess Orzelska. Is there any evidence to back up that claim?

Augustus the Strong is said to have fathered several hundred bastards, but he only recognised a handful as such. Anna Karolina, Countess Orzelska was one of that handful; so it seems that accidental incest can be ruled out. I find it difficult to believe that, if a Christian king deliberately slept with his own daughter, massive controversy would not have ensued, and the outrage would be common knowledge to this day.

I am not a fan of the saying that there is no smoke without fire. However, in this case, it would be odd for a writer of Massie's reputation to conjure such a claim out of nothing. Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?

I'm working my way through Robert Massie's voluminous biography of Peter the Great at the moment. It's truly a pleasure to read; one really does have the sensation of stepping into Peter's world. However, despite winning a Pulitzer prize, the work does seem to have acquired a reputation for inaccuracy; and, even a quarter of the way through, I've come across a couple of claims which cannot be correct. (I don't have the book to hand, but one of these claims involves Peter's sister and regent Sophia taking various ministers as lovers.)

The most outrageous claim so far - outrageous, both in the sense that the action described is deeply immoral, as well as in the sense that it is implausible, at least at first glance - is that one of Augustus II of Poland's many lovers was his illegitimate daughter, the Countess Orzelska. Is there any evidence to back up that claim?

Augustus the Strong is said to have fathered several hundred bastards, but he only recognised a handful as such. Anna Karolina, Countess Orzelska was one of that handful; so it seems that accidental incest can be ruled out. I find it difficult to believe that, if a Christian king deliberately slept with his own daughter, massive controversy would not have ensued, and the outrage would be common knowledge to this day.

I am not a fan of the saying that there is no smoke without fire. However, in this case, it would be odd for a writer of Massie's reputation to conjure such a claim out of nothing. Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?