George I: Travel Pass for Prince Fredrik (later Swedish King Fredrik I), 1716

George I (”Georgius R[ex]”, 1660-1727), King of Great Britain and Ireland and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) (1660-1727):

Travel Pass issued for Prince Friedrich of Hessen-Cassel (later Swedish King Fredrik I) for his journey to Sweden, probably to allow passage through Hanover.

Ink on vellum, in Latin and French, dated May 25, 1716, signed by the king (”Georgius R[ex]”) and by Secretary of State Charles Townshend (1674-1738). The name of the prince occurs thrice but is crossed out or deleted throughout, however it is faintly and partly visible on verso. 43 by 58 cms. Folded several times, somewhat soiled, lacking seal, anotations in pencil to verso.

The Prince participated in the Norwegian campaign of Karl XII already during the spring of 1716, and was wounded in Norway in February. For this reason it is possible that the pass does not concern his personal travel, but only his luggage, overseen by a counsellor Hein, mentioned in the document.

The pass contains a detailed list of the prince’s luggage (”Specification du bagage de son altesse serenissime le prince”, 15 entries), including close to 40 servants, 60 horses, 2 hunters and 16 dogs, several carriages and a number of boxes, containing i.a. silver plates, glass and tobacco (possibly snuff, ”tabac en poudre”), equipment for the horses, luggage of the servants and the Prince’s four muskets and four smaller rifles.

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