Frederick read and wrote his philosophical and literary works in French and also generally used the language with his closest relatives or friends. Though he had a good command of this language, his writing style was flawed; he had troubles with its orthography and always had to rely on French proofreaders. However, he used German as his working language with his administration and with the army. Frederick disliked the German language and literature, explaining that German authors "pile parenthesis upon parenthesis, and often you find only at the end of an entire page the verb on which depends the meaning of the whole sentence". He discarded many Baroque era authors as uncreative pedants and especially despised German theatre. His main inspirations were ancient philosophers and poets as well as French authors of the 17th century. However, interest in foreign cultures was by no means an exception in Germany at that time. The Habsburg court at Vienna was open to influences from Italy, Spain and France and early Orientalism was taking hold in Europe. Many German rulers sought to emulate the success of Louis XIV of France and adopted French tastes and manners, though often adapted to the German cultural context. In the case of Frederick the Great, his Francophile tendencies might also have been a reaction to the austerity of the family environment created by his father, who had a deep aversion for France and promoted an austere culture for his state.