Passport Johann Philipp von Schönborn 1658
Passport with his signature. Mainz, Martinsburg, 7. I. 1658.
Passport for German diplomat Philipp Otto von Herzelles (died. 1662). Old German text: “Wir […] ersuchen hiemit alle und iede hohe und nidere kriegs officier, die soldatesca ins gemein und sonsten manniglichen standts würden nach respective freund- günst- und gnediglich, den unserigen aber ernstlich befehlendt, sie wollen gegenwertigen den vesten unsern hoffrhat, und lieben getrewen Philipps Otto von Herzelles, welchen wir sambt andern unser herrn mitchurfürsten, in gewießen geschefften nacher Franckreich und Hispanien verschicken, sambt bey sich habenden dienern, pferden, und bagage, aller ortten frey sicher und ongehindert pass- und repassiren lassen, demselben auch zu sicherer und schläuniger fortkommung allen gueten befürderlichen willen erweißen, daß sind wir umb einen jeden standts gebühr nach hinwiderumb zuerkennen erbietig, die anzeiger aber vollziehen unseren gnedigisten willen […].” Passport Johann von Schönborn
Philipp Otto von Herzelles was traveling to France and Spain. A fantastic early travel document with traces of a lost wax seal.
Johann Philipp von Schönborn (6 August 1605 – 12 February 1673) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz (1647–1673), the Bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the Bishop of Worms (1663–1673). His diplomatic skills made him an essential mediator during the Peace of Westphalia negotiations that ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. As a result, he was elected Archbishop of Mainz in 1647, thus also the Electorate of Mainz and archchancellor of the Holy Roman empire. In 1663 he also received the prince-bishopric of Worms. He was an effective administrator of his principalities and was able to bring back economic recovery. He fortified the city of Mainz with the Fortress of Mainz and Mainz Citadel between 1655 and 1675. He also founded hospitals and high schools. His court was a center of German politics in the post-war era. Passport Johann von Schönborn
Johann Philipp was the first of six members of the Schönborn family who, in the course of more than three generations, were to rule over eight of the most prestigious ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, giving the name Schönbornzeit to an era (1642–1756) sometimes nostalgically remembered in the popular conscience as an era of prosperity. His contemporaries gave him the honorable titles of “The Wise,” “The German Solomon,” and “The Cato of Germany.” Today, the term Schönbornzeit denotes a particular Rhenish and Franconian baroque style.
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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