Frederick the Great was Gay

Maybe.  Whew, these fellows--the Prussian kings--keep coming up in my readings, and I can't get them straight for the life of me.  The deal with Frederick the Great's personal life is that he didn't have kids and wanted to live apart from his wife, only visiting her once per year.  When young he tried to run off with his tutor, he had a secret library of poetry, and he played the flute.
His father, King Frederick William I (a.k.a. the Soldier-King), had abused him and his mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, to a degree.  This woman, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was sister to King George II of England.  She was the granddaughter of Sophia of Hanover and daughter of King George I of England.

Why can't I keep this straight?  Because George I of England's sister, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (aka Figuelotte), was married to King Frederick I of Prussia.  See?  Told you.

Yep, way too many Sophias and Fredericks.  Hence this blog to see if I can straighten them all out.  Shall we resume?

So...
1.  Think of Frederick the Great (a.k.a. Fritz, Frederick der Grosse, Frederick II king in Prussia) as gay.  That should help keep it clear that he wasn't any of the Sophia's spouses, because I remember they all had children.  It was actually rumored that he was gay...
2.  His father, King Frederick William I, was somewhat of a tyrant to his family.  The mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was forbidden to see her children without his presence (as he was afraid she would turn them against him), so poor little Fritz had to hide in the furniture when his father would pop in to his wife's apartments!  Mean old Poppa Soldier-King also beat Fritz when he couldn't manage to stay on a wild horse and scolded him for wearing gloves in cold weather!
3.  Back to Poppa Soldier-King Frederick William I.  He was paranoid, I think--and tough.  His ideals were actually fairly good.  He never started a war.  He introduced primary schools.  He stored grain for bad times and died with a surplus in the royal treasury.  He eliminated mandatory military services (by establishing a tax).  Anyhow, I'm guessing he was probably just a bit crazy--that Soldier-King who never started a war.  Sounds just worried to death, doesn't he?
That said, though, he did mistreat his wife, Sophia Dorothea, which is reminiscent of her mother's own mistreatment.  Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Soldier-King's mother-in-law and his wife's namesake, was called the Prisoner of Ahlden, for very, very good reason. So, both Sophia Dorotheas were restricted and somewhat mistreated by their upset husbands.
4.  On the other hand, Fritz's grandmother, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, daughter of Sophia of Hanover and mother of the Soldier-King, had it rather cushy.  She  ran in intellectual and artistic circles--becoming a disciple and correspondent of the philosopher and mathematician Liebnitz and a patron of music.
Her husband, King Frederick I in Prussia (not to be confused with King Frederick William I in Prussia...sigh), was deeply in love with her and allowed her free reign and a lot of independence.  He, too, was a patron of the arts and sciences (establishing two academies), but Fritz (his grandson) referred to him as 'the mercenary king' for how often he hired his Prussian soldiers out to protect other countries (making his son the Soldier-King's elimination of mandatory military service particularly appreciated, I'm sure!).  Fritz says his grandfather was 'great in small matters and small in great' meaning, I assume, his achievement of having Prussia named as a kingdom (hence he became 'king' in Prussia, though not in his Brandenburg territories) and supporting arts and academies, but his failure to his people in causing their deaths through warfare.
5.  Oh, by the way, our beloved, gay Fritz wrote the Anti-Machiavel.  Though I haven't read it, the name just warms my heart, you know.  In his own day, The Prince by Machiavelli was considered somewhat of a guide for leadership. Unfortunately for many people, Fritz still became an absolutist in the end and didn't follow his father's peaceful path for Prussia. Instead, he gloried in war and was very successful at it. 

That's it for today's history lesson.  Hopefully you'll get somewhat past my previous understanding, which was simply "Fredericks and Sophias abound!"