GEORGE I

"We shall be able to maintain our possession of Bremen and Verden whether the Emperor grants otherwise or not."

During the drafting of the peace plan for Northern Europe, ca. 1719.

George was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 until his death in 1727 and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698.

George was the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Hanover and his wife Sophia of the Palatinate. He was born on the 7th June, 1660 NS at 07:01 in Hanover, Germany (see Appendix 1, Figure 2). His Epoch occurred on the 27th August, 1659 NS at 12:24 (see Appendix 1, Figure 1).

Character Portrait

General: George had a restless, active personality that may have been tempered by an easy-going and comfort-loving disposition. A love of travel and change would have been characteristic of him from youth to old age. His energy would have been expressed with 'heart', strong purpose and creativity but also with control. Yet, at times, there may have been some inclination to a domineering insistence on being over-forceful as well as moody and quarrelsome.

George's nature was at one with itself, i.e. no rift. He tended to be noble, cheerful and contented. Optimistic and good-tempered he expressed harmony well with self-reliance and an independent outlook. He was discriminatingly ready to get rid of the old and to begin the new. He liked gay, luxurious comforts. There was sweetness of character and behaviour with artistic inclinations. He would have appreciated music, dancing and literature but would have felt that he couldn't pursue these as much as he would have liked. He was docile in temperament, refined and impartial in judgement so that popularity was possible. Thus, his inclination would have been towards beauty and ease, but too irresponsibly and lazily.

George's manner could have appeared to be cool, cautious and so considerably more limited than he really was. His adventurous, courageous yet stable personality may have shown streaks of self-sufficiency, egotism, avarice and even harshness. Help, support and charity were provided easily but critically based on his personal possessions, feelings and beliefs. He would have shown a certain amount of self-esteem, arrogance and pride but his feelings were not that active. He tried to compensate for any emotional insecurities by accumulating material possessions. Idealistic about these, with excellent intuition applied to concrete affairs (in which even 'Castles in the Air' could have been converted into reality) yet he may have been somewhat vague about money matters thereby easily tending to lose his possessions.

George showed good sensitivity with inclinations to retirement, philanthropy and day-dreaming. He may also have shown psychic sensitivity that needed rapport to express it. His sensitivity was not so much a sign of weakness as it was George just being human.

While overly generous, at the same time, George had to contend with feelings of losing things. Also he may have had difficulty crystallising his value systems, so appearing to be indecisive. Thus, all that he acquired tended to dissolve, making his financial security, as well as the values he stood for, feel nebulous. Every time he tried to be firm, he became more pliable.

Early in life George would have been particularly sensitive and even gullible. However, as he matured, this would have changed into a truly compassionate and soft nature. Although he may have had difficulty in standing up for what he believed was right, he would have strived to dissolve any false values within himself.

Mentality: George was both subjective and objective. He had a refined, shrewd and calculating mind that tended to measure all things from an intellectual standpoint. Usually, his mind worked in a detailed, sensible and thoughtful manner in affairs to do with life outside his home. But his mind also contained streaks of the inscrutable, sceptical and suspicious kind. Yet it may not always have been resilient but would have turned towards practical and pleasant things. He showed good expression of beauty, harmony and handiwork. His communication would have occurred in ways in which his mind would have worked by swift intuition rather than by ordered reasoning. He was likely to have kept his communication hidden, unless otherwise brought out. There was a tendency that his mind contained some force and initiative although his mental outlook was also improved by a charming and pleasant manner in which ease and balance, rather than strength, was evident. Yet George's mind also threw off current worries and began thought anew but perhaps too stressfully. George also experienced limitation through longer-term, maze-like worries that, fortunately, tended to clear up in the long run through patient endurance and quiet keeping out of the limelight.

George had a studious, serious and determined mind with a very retentive memory but, at times, somewhat gloomy. There was a tendency towards, and success in, any of the more profound lines of study. George showed ability amounting to genius in some intellectual direction. He was brilliant, magnetic, inventive and scientific. He had strong inclinations towards science and/or commerce.

George's receptivity embraced harmony, rhythm and beauty. His strong imaginative faculties contained visions, ideals and boundless aims that could have been of the most ethereal and inspirational kind but strength (i.e. drive and control, which he had) would have been needed to actualise them. His ideas and hunches came easily to him. However, he may have become deluded about the realities of life through too much living in the clouds, lovely though that may have been. But orderliness and caution would have stopped his ideas from becoming too vague.

Lifestyle: George showed a dynamic and exceptionally practical capacity, in which he was moved more by external factors in his environment than by aspects of his own character. Despite much independence, plus a tendency to lean towards materialistic and selfish lines of thought, he would have shown a splendid ability, a thirst for experience and a desire to accumulate wealth, either in the professional or business world.

George's desire was for humanitarian changefulness through conventional ways. His strong will and independence were not likely to have passed unnoticed, which was helpful to him since his conditions were big and free enough for these traits to find vent. George thrived on competition so that he could show his superiority. His aggressiveness also paid dividends when he had the opportunity to make money. Nothing deterred him from his goal of financial independence but sometimes this vision...