Post riders

Post riders or postriders describes a horse and rider postal delivery system that existed at various times and various places throughout history. The term is usually reserved for instances where a network of regularly scheduled service was provided under some degree of central management by the State or State licensed monopoly.

These networks included predefined routes known as Post-roads complete with distance markers and waypoints. Unlike other forms of mounted courier, post riders collected and delivered mail over the course of their route, meeting with other riders at scheduled times and scheduled places to exchange forwarded items. In this way correspondence could pass reliably from rider to rider and cover a considerable distance in a reasonable time at reduced cost.

While some integration with local postal services in larger centers occurred, by and large the post riders were a separate entity under separate management and tariff structure.

While relay rider networks were a common feature of every ancient empire, these were primarily for the exclusive use of the government or military and carried no civil correspondence as a rule. What differentiated postriders from these earlier efforts was that they were open to the public and created for the public convenience. The other distinguishing feature was that post riders operated on a schedule.

While in the case of the post riders the shift from royal messenger to public courier must be seen as evolutionary, there were some notable early examples. The Hanseatic League had a regular mounted service as early as the year 1274 between the principal towns of the League as well as the fortified castles which protected the merchants in their commerce. Business and diplomatic messages were handled by the service equally. Well organised, it had its own post-horses that were used exclusively for the letter service; at each stop the time of the receipt and dispatch of the post-bag was written upon the face of each letter.

On behalf of the far-flung Habsburg dynasty, of The Holy Roman Empire, Franz von Taxis set up a courier network that grew to cover all of Western Europe by the middle of the 16th century. Permanent post stations were built about a day's journey apart. Over time, these stations became important economic centers: They were meeting places, inns and public rooms, trade centers and stables. Post stations became important centers for the development of villages and cities. While not solely used for government traffic, private use of this service required a licence from the State.

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