Note 146 — V THE HEIRESS OF GREAT BRITAIN (HERRENHAUSEN, 1701-1714)

Gerhard Wolter Molanus, who held the Abbacy of the secularised Cistercian foundation of Loccum, situate in the forest solitude near Rehburg and the celebrated Steinhuder Lake, plays a considerable part in Sophia’s correspondence. He exercised a great influence in the direction of toleration and irenic ideals, more, however, by his hierarchical position and personality than by his writings. The motto of his life, ‘Beati pacifici,’ admirably accorded with Cistercian principles. He lived to an advanced age—so advanced, that his mental powers at last collapsed, and the good old man is said to have fancied himself a barley-corn. At the small watering-place of Rehburg, the Hanoverian Court held a villeggiatura—or rather a sojourn under tents—as early as 1691.