In the event, the travel plans of the eager young man did not take him very far. Leibniz spent the better part of his early to mid-twenties at the service of the Catholic archbishop and elector of Mainz, Johann Philipp von Schönborn. Yet sustained exposure to the intellectual, religious, and political circles revolving around the lively and tolerant court of Mainz broadened his horizons more than broader travels in narrower confessional circles could have done. In these years Leibniz realised the opportunity to contribute to an important programme of juridical reform commissioned by Schönborn, met prominent political and intellectual figures, and began corresponding with some of the key players of the European scientific, philosophical, and learned community. Most importantly, he gradually gave more definite form to his early philosophical and scientific aspirations, conceiving an all-embracing plan of reform and advancement of the whole encyclopaedia of the sciences intended to celebrate the glory of God through the improvement of the human condition. The realisation of this plan called first of all for the establishment of the “elements of philosophy,” embracing metaphysics, logic, mathematics, physics, and practical philosophy. These principles would in turn lay the foundation of the catholic (or universal) theological demonstrations at the heart of the plan. Although this plan proved too ambitious to be realized either in Mainz or later on, it provided a philosophical, scientific, and practical programme which guided Leibniz for the duration of his life.