English trading companies in the early colonial period of the 16th-first half of the 17th centuries. “Only old, useless weapons were imported”

During the reign of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, in the middle of the 16th century, trade and diplomatic relations between Russia and England were established. In general, the development of Russian-English relations easily fits into the framework of the main patterns that characterize relations between Russia and the countries of Western Europe. In the era of the Old Russian state, there were quite active ties between the Russian lands and European states, including dynastic marriages. In particular, the first wife of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh was Gita of Wessex, daughter of King Harold II of England. During the reign of the Horde, the Russian lands fell into some kind of isolation, which was not complete. Ties are mostly limited to contacts with neighboring states. The rise of Moscow in the late 15th and early 16th centuries led to a new growth of ties with the countries of the West. English merchants, artisans, travelers (scouts) appear in Russia, contractual relations are established between states.

First page of Russian-English relations

The history of Russian-English relations is usually counted from the middle of the 16th century, when Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich received the English navigator Richard Chancellor (Chenslor). In May 1553, the English King Edward VI sent three ships under the command of Hugh Willoughby and Captain Chancellor to search for a northern route to India and China across the Arctic Ocean. The route across the Atlantic Ocean was controlled by Spain and Portugal, they were not going to help the British. The idea of the possibility of reaching China by the northern route was expressed by the Italian traveler Sebastian Cabot, who lived in England. This idea was supported by the English merchant class. The expedition was equipped by the "English Society of Merchants-Searchers to discover countries, lands, islands, states and possessions, unknown and hitherto not visited by sea."

The ships were separated by a storm, but one of them reached the White Sea. Two others under the command of Hugh Willoughby reached Novaya Zemlya, after which they turned and stopped in the bay of the Varzina River, where they wintered. The crews of the ships died under mysterious circumstances. In May 1554 they were discovered by Pomor fishermen.

In August, "Eduard Bonaventure" entered the Dvina Bay and anchored near the village of Nenoksa. Then the English ship moved to the island of Yagry and landed in the bay of St. Nicholas, not far from the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery (the city of Severodvinsk was subsequently founded there). Until the founding of Arkhangelsk in 1583, this place would become the main gateway for foreign merchants in northern Russia. The British reported that they wanted to start trade with the Russians and had a letter to the tsar. The leadership of the Dvina land supplied the British with food and sent a messenger to Moscow. Ivan Vasilyevich invited Chancellor to his place. The Englishman gave the letter to the tsar, dined with him and negotiated with the boyars. The English documents were written in such ingenious style that they could be given to any ruler the British got their hands on. Ivan the Terrible, being a well-educated person, sarcastically noted that the royal letters "were drawn up by no one knows who." But Russia itself was looking for new trade routes. Trade with Western countries passed through hostile Poland and Lithuania, which soon united to form the Commonwealth. Therefore, the trade connection with England through the northern harbors became a new channel, beyond the control of the enemies. The British brought samples of suitable goods - tin, cloth. In February 1554, Chancellor was sent back with a reply message. Ivan Vasilievich wrote that he, sincerely wishing to be friends with Edward, would gladly receive English merchants and ambassadors. Edward had already died, so the letter was presented to Queen Mary. The English merchants were delighted with this discovery.

Ivan the Terrible receives Captain Chancellor.

In 1555, after organizing the Moscow Company in the English capital, Chancellor again went to the Russian kingdom on two ships with the trustees of the society created in England, merchants Gray and Killingworth, to conclude an agreement with Moscow. Queen Mary approved the Charter of the company, which received the right to monopoly trade with Russia. Royal and royal assignments were often carried out by representatives of the Moscow Company, which soon established its own representative office in the Russian capital. I must say that this was a feature of the British - they often combined political and economic interests, merchants were both scouts and diplomats, and travelers were merchants. The British were shown high confidence - they had relative freedom, unlike other foreign merchants. They received a separate courtyard, which is still preserved on Varvarka (Old English Court).

Ivan Vasilyevich again graciously received Chancellor and his comrades, called Queen Mary his most kind sister. A commission was set up to consider the rights and liberties that the British wanted to receive. The main trading floor was supposed to appear in Kholmogory. The Moscow company received the right to open trading posts in Kholmogory, Vologda and Moscow. Ivan the Terrible gave the British a charter, according to which they received the right to freely and duty-free wholesale and retail trade in all Russian cities. The company received the right to have its own court. Customs officers, governors and governors had no right to interfere in the trading affairs of the Moscow Company.

In the spring of 1556, the British departed for England with four richly loaded ships and with a Russian envoy, the clerk of the Ambassadorial Department, Osip Grigoryevich Nepeya. With Nepea there was a retinue of 16 people and 10 Russian merchants who planned to organize foreign trade. However, a storm off the coast of Scotland scattered the ships, drowned Chancellor's ship and himself and his son. Russian merchants and part of the envoy's retinue also perished. The Russian envoy escaped and was taken from Scotland to London. An agreement was concluded under which Russian merchants received the right to duty-free trade in England. However, it should be said that Russian merchants did not have the opportunity in practice to organize such trade - Russia did not have a navy. For a long time, only Russian envoys arrived in England on English ships.

Trade caravans began to arrive from England every year. The ships moved around Norway and Sweden to the mouth of the Dvina. Already in 1557, Killingworth organized the import of cloth into the Russian kingdom. Wax, lard, flax, ship timber, blubber were exported from Russia - liquid fat extracted from the fat of marine mammals, it was used for lubricants and fuel. Gray created a rope production in Kholmogory, the craftsmen were brought from England. The company's agents appeared in Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and other cities. The British developed trade in Russia quickly and with great profit for themselves. The British bought honey, furs, as well as samples of Russian steel and mica, which for some time in England began to be preferred to their own British glass, still of poor quality. Among the privileges received by the British was the right to mine iron ore and build an ironworks in Vychegda. It should be noted that Russian resources have become one of the prerequisites for the creation of a powerful British fleet, thanks to which England will become the "mistress of the seas." At the mouth of the Northern Dvina, the British will create mast and rope manufactories. For many decades, the equipment of all British ships was Russian. From England they brought cloth, copper, gunpowder. In addition, Russia needed metals, especially silver and gold, it is natural that the British did not sell their own gold and silver, they bought precious metals in continental Europe, for example, German silver thalers (“efimki”). Thalers were melted down, and Russian goldsmiths used them as raw materials. Russia also received gold coins with the image of a ship (“shipmen”).

A very important area of cooperation with England for Russia was the invitation of qualified craftsmen. Doctors, pharmacists, metallurgists, construction specialists were invited to Russia. The opportunity to bring craftsmen from Western Europe by sea was important for the Russian government. The arrival of qualified craftsmen by land was prevented by the Livonian Order, as well as hostile Lithuania and Poland, which were not interested in the growth of the economic and military power of the Russian state.

The British were still looking for a northern route. In 1556, the Barrow expedition searched for the Ob, which, as it was then believed, originates from the Chinese lake, where the palace of the Chinese emperor stands. In 1580, the Englishmen Arthur Pete (Pat) and Charles Jackman reached Vaigach Island and discovered the Yugorsky Shar (Vaigach Strait) - the strait between the shores of Vaigach Island and the Yugorsky Peninsula. In the Kara Sea, the British encountered a large accumulation of ice. Having rounded the island of Kolguev from the south, their ships lay down on the opposite course.

In 1557, Nepeya, together with the new English ambassador Anthony Jenkinson, returned to Russia, delivered letters, “masters of many” and gifts. In 1557 and 1561, Jenkinson negotiated on behalf of Elizabeth I and solved the problem of obtaining letters of protection and the right to safe passage along the Volga to the Caspian Sea and further to Persia. Jenkinson received the right to travel along the Volga and an escort of 50 archers. In 1558-1560. he made an expedition to Bukhara and became the first Western European traveler who described the coast of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. He also compiled the most detailed map of the Russian kingdom, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia at that time, which was published in London in 1562 under the title “Description of Muscovy, Russia and Tartaria”. Jenkinson also visited the Persian capital, but the Shah's government showed little interest in trade with England. However, he found support from the ruler of Shamakhi. Ivan the Terrible was also pleased with this trip, he confirmed the trading privileges of the British.

Thus, the British from the very beginning solved strategic problems: they were looking for a northern route to China and India; wanted to get the right to free trade in Russia and master the Volga route, reaching Persia and Central Asia through the Caspian Sea. The British wanted to subjugate the Russian market, to obtain a monopoly on trade, to establish contacts with China, India, Persia and Central Asia through Russia.

It should be noted that it was from that time that information about “Muscovy” and “Muscovites” began to spread in English society. References to Russia appear in literature, on the stage. Russian books appear in libraries. The British, especially those with economic interests in Russia, are starting to learn Russian. Queen Elizabeth, taking care of the development of trade and the political interests of England, even attended to the preparation of a staff of translators.

Map of Russia, Muscovy, Tartaria by Anthony Jenkinson (1562).

Political interests

Ivan the Terrible initially patronized the development of Russian-English trade. He granted English merchants very important rights - free entry and exit, movement around the country and duty-free trade in Russia. But in the 1560s, disagreements arose. In 1566 Jenkinson came to Russia again. His arrival was connected with the activities of the Dutch merchant Barberini, who presented the tsar with a fake letter from Queen Elizabeth and offered Ivan Vasilyevich to deprive the Moscow company of privileges. Jenkinson was carrying a real letter.

But Ivan Vasilyevich wanted to develop relations with England. According to him, for the important economic concessions that Russia provided to the British, London should have repaid. Russia during this period waged a difficult Livonian war. In connection with the increased danger from Poland, the Moscow government was looking for allies against the Habsburgs, who secretly supported the opponents of Russia. Ivan the Terrible wanted an "eternal end" - a military-political alliance with England, which was supposed to complement close economic relations. Moreover, in 1567 the British were given new trade benefits: the right to trade in Kazan, the Volga region and Shamakhi; it was proclaimed that only the British could trade in the White Sea with Russia. The best guarantee of the strength of the union of states at that time was considered a marriage union.

It is believed that at this time the Russian Tsar had the idea of marrying the Queen of England. The fact of courtship of Tsar Ivan to Elizabeth I is now in doubt, because it is based only on the message of the Englishman Horsey, who was notable for bad faith (even English merchants from the Moscow Company complained about him). And some researchers suggest that the Russian tsar wanted to be able to get "political asylum" in England in case of success of internal unrest or conspiracy. At the same time, in 1567, Russian merchants Stepan Tverdikov and Fedot Pogorely arrived in London - on behalf of the tsar, they exchanged furs for precious stones for the Russian treasury. They brought to Moscow a letter in which the British government asked that merchants who traded outside the Moscow Company be expelled from Russia, but this time the request was not granted. And the question of the violators of the English monopoly will for a long time become the cause of Russian-English friction.

In the autumn of 1568, Ambassador Randolph's letter did not please the Tsar, as it did not give a direct answer to the proposal for an alliance. True, the king still hoped for the development of relations with England. In 1569, England received new privileges - English trading posts were assigned to the oprichnina and they did not depend on the zemstvo authorities. Together with Randolph, the Russian embassy departed for England with the nobleman Andrei Sovin and the translator Sylvester. The embassy was supposed to achieve the conclusion of a formal union between Russia and England. In words, Elizabeth expressed her readiness to conclude such an alliance, but in reality nothing was done. This provoked the wrath of the Russian Tsar. In 1570, the Russian government deprived the Moscow company of part of the privileges (later some were restored). In 1570, a cooling set in, which lasted 10 years. The British were deprived of the right to free trade along the Volga and communications with eastern countries. Moscow begins rapprochement with the Dutch merchants. However, there was no complete break in relations with England. Ivan's correspondence with Elizabeth continued.

In the early 1580s, Moscow again returned to the topic of concluding a military-political alliance with England. By his decree in 1582 an embassy to England was prepared. The nobleman Fyodor Pisemsky was accompanied by the clerk Epifan Vasilyevich Failure-Khovralev and the English translator Giles Crow. The conclusion of the union was a preliminary and indispensable condition for marriage. Wooed to the Queen's niece Mary Hastings. This embassy was preceded by royal letters sent through Jerome Horsey, who ran the office of the Moscow Company. The Russian embassy was well received, and all outward signs of respect were shown to the ambassadors - salutes, gifts, invitations to hunt.

Russian ambassadors proposed a military alliance, while retaining the right of duty-free trade in Russia for the British. In January 1583, there was a negative reaction from the queen to a marriage proposal to Mary Hastings. The queen referred to the fact that her niece was ugly and sick. Like, he doesn’t want to offend the Russian Tsar, because he heard that he loves red girls. March 19 was followed by a response to the proposal for an alliance. The English queen agreed to recognize the enemies of the king only if the peaceful mediation of England was rejected by a third party. Thus, London wanted to get the right to deal with the conflicts of the Russian kingdom and provide assistance not unconditionally, but according to circumstances. In addition, the British government expressed a desire to have a monopoly of trade in the north, to prevent the court of other countries. However, this caused objections from the Russian envoys, because due to the loss of Narva, where foreign merchant ships came, the northern piers remained the only sea gates for communication with the countries of the West.

D. Bowes was sent to Moscow to continue negotiations. He was to achieve a monopoly on Russia's northern trade. At the same time, it was impossible to agree to a political union on the terms of Ivan the Terrible and dissuade him from marrying. England was not going to help Russia in strengthening the Baltic. The negotiations stalled. Ivan the Terrible demanded that England start a war with Poland if S. Batory did not return Polotsk and Livonia to Russia. The negotiations were interrupted by the death of Ivan the Terrible.

The first page of the history of Russian-British relations. Second half of the 16th century. Opening of the northern trade route

The history of Russian-British diplomatic and trade relations is usually counted from the middle of the 16th century, from the moment when the traveler Richard Chancellor was received in Moscow by Ivan the Terrible. However, there are also vague references in British chronicles and Russian chronicles to the presence of two princes from the British Isles at the court of Yaroslav the Wise. There is also news that Gita, the daughter of Harold, who was defeated and killed at Hastings (1066), who fled to Denmark and then to Flanders, was extradited to Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh in 1074, lived with him for 14 years in Chernigov, and the first her son received the double name of Mstislav-Harold in honor of his grandfather.

More definite information about Russian-British contacts dates back to the 16th century - in 1524 Prince I.I. Zasekin-Zaslavsky and clerk S.B. Trofimov.

However, the establishment of close and permanent contacts still dates back to the 1550s, the time of the reign of the young Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible), who had just conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and was at the zenith of his success.

In 1553, the Merchant Adventurer's Company, founded in London shortly before, sent an expedition to search for the north eastern route to China and India. The dangerous route of this expedition was interrupted by a storm that scattered the ships across the White Sea. During the storm, Admiral of the expedition H. Willoughby died, and all the ships, except one, under the name "Edward Bonaventure" (Edward Bonaventure), which managed to find the fishing pier of one of the northern monasteries, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina.

"Chief helmsman" Richard Chancellor, who assumed the duties of the head of the expedition, was soon received in Moscow by Ivan the Terrible, to whom he presented as a gift a silver, gilded and engraved church bowl - a chalice, preserved in the royal treasury and now exhibited in the Kremlin Armory. The bowl, however, in Moscow for a long time was considered a banquet dish - a goblet for "pickles" - pickled fruits, it differed so much from traditional Russian church chalices, but Chancellor's gift was perfectly preserved in the Moscow treasury. At least three members of the expedition - Admiral H. Willoughby, navigator S. Burrow and R. Chancellor - left diaries with descriptions of the trip to the then European custom. Chancellor, returning to Britain in 1554 with a message from the Russian Tsar to the Queen, compiled for Christopher Frotingham an essay entitled "A book about the great and powerful Tsar of Russia and the Prince of Moscow, about his possessions, about the state system and about the goods of his country, written Richard Chancellor". He also compiled a report, edited by Clemens Adams, "Anglorum navigatio ad Moscovitas" (English sea voyage to Muscovy).

Chancellor's journey, which served as the beginning of the development of trade diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia, was noted in the Russian chronicles - Dvinskaya and Patriarchal (Nikonovskaya), and sung by British poets of the 16th century - William Warner (William Warner, 1558 - 1609) described it in book 11 of the poem " Albion "s England" (1602), Michael Drayton (1563 - 1633) - in the 19th song of the poem "Poly-Albion" (1613). The riches of the country to which the sea route was opened were described in diaries and verbally, were immediately appreciated by the British merchants - not without reason in the title of Chancellor's book, the mention of goods is far from the last place.

Trade through the new route was established surprisingly quickly, mainly due to the surprisingly wide benefits - to trade duty-free, and already in 1555 a trading "Moscow Company" (consisting of British merchants) was founded in London, whose interests subsequently played a significant role in diplomatic relations between the two countries. Tsarist and royal missions were very often carried out by representatives of the Moscow Company, and the company itself soon received its own representation in Moscow. On the site of a fishing pier and a village at the mouth of the Northern Dvina, a new city quickly grew up, the main occupation of which was trade with British (and Dutch) merchants - Arkhangelsk.

In 1555, R. Chancellor again arrived in Moscow on the same ship E. Bonaventure - this trip was called the "second expedition". Returning to London, Chancellor carried the Russian ambassador Osip Nepeya on his ship. Not far from the coast of Scotland, the ship was wrecked, and Chancellor and his son died. The Russian ambassador managed to escape and was solemnly and honorably received in London. According to the concluded trade agreement, Russian merchants received the right to trade duty-free in Britain, however, it should be noted that, in practice, they, unlike their colleagues, did not have the opportunity to exercise this right without having a fleet for sea voyages - for a long time only official envoys of the Russian tsar arrived in London on British ships. British merchants, on the contrary, developed their trade in Russia quickly and with great profit for themselves. At the same time, they took up the study of the country, although at first it was limited to commercial and related political and geographical interests. The subjects of trade were Russian furs, honey, wax, as well as samples of Russian steel and mica, which for some time was preferred on the islands to their own British glass, then still of poor quality. Among other privileges received by British merchants is the right to mine ore and build an ironworks in the city of Vychegda.

Another important interest of the British in Russia was the search for a land and water route to China and India, the purpose of which was to establish transit trade with Eastern countries through Russia: the "third" British expedition to Russia, the Barrow voyage, aimed to find the Ob River, which, as then believed, originates from the Chinese lake, on which stands the palace of the Chinese emperor. The expedition of Arthur Pat and Charles Jackman (1580) was devoted to the same goal (finding a way to China).

In the winter of 1552, a lively meeting of the most important English merchants and shipowners took place in London. An extremely important circumstance was the reason for this meeting.

In the middle of the XVI century. England was going through a severe economic crisis, one of those crises when, in the limited conditions of trade routes, the acquisition of new markets and exports becomes a matter of life or death. Maritime trade in England fell catastrophically every year. At that time, the Spaniards and the Portuguese ruled the oceans.

By the right of "pioneers", the Spaniards monopolized the sea routes to the New World (North America) across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Portuguese - the all-African route to the East Indies and jealously guarded them with weapons in their hands.

Access to America, India, China and the "Spice Islands" (Moluccas, Indonesia), to places where all kinds of exotic treasures were located, was in fact almost closed to English sailors.

It was possible to penetrate there only secretly, with the greatest danger, because the Spaniards and the Portuguese in their zone of influence captured or sank all foreign ships as if they were pirates. The disruption of England's maritime, that is, foreign, trade had a disastrous effect on the state of her domestic trade.

Not yet possessing a sufficiently strong navy, England did not dare in those years to enter into an open struggle with Spain and Portugal. In such circumstances, the only way out for commercial England was to search for and build its own, new sea route to overseas lands.

In this regard, the leaders of the commercial circles of England turned to Sebastian Cabot, the famous navigator and geographer of the first half of the 16th century.

Cabot, an Italian by birth, believed that the southern sea routes to the Far East should correspond to similar routes in the north. It was assumed that the western route there went past Greenland, the eastern route along the northern coasts of Europe and Asia.

The aged Cabot (he was then already 80 years old) had long been insisting on the need to build a northeast route to Asia. Cabot was sure that by sailing in the Arctic Ocean in the warm season and taking advantage of fair winds and currents, one could easily reach the mysterious Sipango (Japan) in about three months, from where it was not so far to the “gold-bearing”, according to the stories of Marco Polo, China and to the cherished "Spice Islands".

Following this, they began to equip three ships, and in May 1553 a small flotilla under the overall command of Hugh Willoughby sailed from the coast of England.

Having landed on land, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina, not far from Kholmogor, Chancellor learned that he was in the possession of the Moscow Tsar.

“The same summer,” reports the Dvina Chronicle of 1553, “August 24, a ship came from the sea to the mouth of the Dvina River and made a name for itself: they arrived at Kholmogory in small courts from the Aglian King Edward, Ambassador Knight, and with him guests.” "Guests" in old Russia called merchants.

So, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the British, in search of a new sea route to the Far East, accidentally “discovered” an almost unknown to them hitherto - Muscovy or, in Western European terminology, Muscovy.

After looking around at the new places, Chancellor, who carried a royal letter of recommendation, took on the role of ambassador. With the permission of Ivan the Terrible, in November he set off on a sleigh route to Moscow, where he was very favorably received by the tsar.

Chancellor's request to allow the British to continue to use the White Sea route for trade relations with Russia was respected:

Until the spring of 1554, Chancellor lived in Russia, first in Moscow, then on the Northern Dvina. And here and there he carefully collected information about Russian trade, about the requirements of the Russian market, about the roads leading to Asia.

In the spring, having profitably sold the goods he had brought with him in Kholmogory and having loaded the ship with furs, skins, whale oil and samples of other Russian goods, Chancellor sailed home with the Terrible's letter. From that moment on, constant trade and diplomatic relations between Russia and England began.

In London, the captivating story of a brave sailor about Muscovy - the country he had discovered, its size and the abundance of its natural resources, made a great impression.

True, Muscovy was not China or India, but on the other hand it was much closer to England and, as a market for sales and export, was a very valuable acquisition; this was clearly evidenced by the goods brought by Chancellor.

The "Company of Merchants-Searchers" was transformed into the "Russian or Moscow Company", which, without abandoning the idea of laying a new path to the Far Eastern markets, set its main goal of monopoly trade with Russia.

Chancellor's second trip to Muscovy was made in 1555 on behalf of the company. He was accompanied by two agents, equipped with a special instruction containing a program of extensive commercial operations. In Moscow, the British received an even more gracious reception than the first time.

At the request of Grozny, a trade agreement was approved, according to which the British received broad rights and advantages. Among them, the right of duty-free trade throughout Russia, the right to set up trading posts (trading yards) in a number of cities, as well as the right to freely enter Russia and leave it to other countries, in other words, the right of free passage to the east, were extremely important. On top of this, Grozny personally presented the British with a large house on Varvarka, in Kitay-Gorod.

The favor shown by Grozny towards the British was due to the political considerations of the far-sighted king.

Poland, the Livonian Order and Sweden have long interfered with Russia in its peaceful relations with the rest of Europe. As a result, the Russian state urgently needed a free road to the West, and just at that time Moscow was on the eve of the Livonian War for the possession of harbors on the Baltic shores.

Because of this, strong, regular relations with England acquired particular importance for Moscow. It was necessary to closely interest the British in "Muscovite" affairs, because the British had every opportunity to deliver to Russia not only various goods, but also military equipment, which was so necessary for the war, by the free northern route.

Chancellor himself did not have to take advantage of the fruits of his successful "discovery" of Muscovy. In 1556, returning to England, accompanied by the tsarist ambassador Osip Nepei (the first Russian to visit England), Chancellor died in a shipwreck off the coast of Scotland.

Nepea escaped and was received with great honor in London by Queen Mary, the nobility and representatives of the trading circles. In London, in accordance with the privileges received by the British in Russia, the Moscow ambassador negotiated, in general, the same privileges for Russians in case they came to England on trade business.

In addition, he received (which was very important) permission to hire doctors, engineers, gunsmiths and other technicians into the Russian service.

For its part, the Moscow Company decided, without wasting time, to use the favorable circumstances to penetrate into the depths of Asia.

In achieving the goals set by the company, great services were rendered by one of its agents, a very experienced merchant-traveler, Anthony Jenkinson, who arrived in Moscow in 1557 together with Osip Nepeya.

Jenkinson was entrusted with the mission to carry out an expedition to China through Muscovy and Central Asia. In those years, the company did not completely abandon its intention to reach the empire of the Bogdykhans in this way, since there were persistent rumors in the West that merchant caravans were going from China to Bukhara and back.

The situation was very suitable for such a journey: at that time (1552-1556), the Volga khanates fell one after another - Kazan and Astrakhan, and the entire great Volga route, the “highway to India”, as they thought then in the West, already belonged to Russia.

These letters more than once rescued Jenkinson and his companions from trouble, for the name of the Russian Tsar was highly respected in the East.

In the spring of 1558, Jenkins left Moscow by water on an expedition to Central Asia. It was the first voyage in the 16th century. Western Europeans to Asia through Muscovy.

Under the protection of the archers, the voyage along the Volga to Astrakhan went quite well. In those days, famine and plague raged in Astrakhan, and therefore the British hurried to get out into the open sea.

A week later, having withstood a strong storm, they landed in the Dead Kultuk Bay. Having unloaded their ship here and hired 1000 camels from the local khan, the British moved on by land, carrying a huge cargo of goods for exchange.

This part of Jenkinson's journey shows why it was no longer possible to use caravan routes in Transcaspia. Guards on the roads did not yet exist, the desert was teeming with bands of robbers, and the rulers of those places through which the caravan line ran, themselves indulged in robberies.

Only eight months after leaving Moscow, the British, having endured a series of dangerous clashes with nomads, suffering terribly from the heat and lack of water in the sandy steppes, finally arrived in the big city of Bukhara.

Here the travelers were completely disappointed. It was not possible to travel further towards China due to the military actions of the Samarkand khan.

As prudent as he was enterprising, Jenkinson, having finished trading operations, moved back in time, thanks to which he happily escaped the siege of the city and the massacre that followed.

Jenkinson returned to Moscow almost a year and a half later by the same route and in general with the same adventures. As a gift to Grozny, he brought 25 Russian slaves he ransomed in the Trans-Caspian lands, the tail of a white yak (Tibetan bull), a Chinese bunchuk and a Tatar drum.

From his travels, Jenkinson got the impression that the British needed to establish trade relations with Iran, where he organized an expedition in 1562.

Having descended down the Volga in the spring of this year, Jenkinson sailed for the second time into the Caspian Sea and crossed it towards Derbent. The voyage was very difficult because of the frequent shallows, the storm that lasted seven days, and the possibility of falling into the hands of pirates.

Having reached Derbent, the British bought camels and horses and moved on through the Shirvan land to the city of Shemakha, where they were hospitably met by the local prince Abdul-Khan.

Jenkinson very colorfully describes the fertile lands of the southeastern Caucasus, through which he passed, but in which he did not always feel good, despite the rich nature and beautiful views. Travelers constantly had to fear the attack of half-wild mountaineers, who took the prisoners to their villages.

Only six months after leaving Moscow, the British reached the Iranian city of Qazvin, where the Shah was then. Here the Persians, mistaking the English unknown to them for the Portuguese hostile to Iran, were about to seize Jenkinson and send him to Constantinople as a gift to the Sultan.

The intercession of the aforementioned Shirvan Khan, a vassal of the Shah, saved Jenkinson from such a sad fate. In Qazvin, Jenkinson lived all winter, getting acquainted with the conditions of the local market and establishing trade relations with Iranian and Indian merchants.

The indefatigable agent of the Moscow Company returned to Moscow with rich gifts for Grozny from the Shah, following the same path, having wandered around the East, like for the first time, for a year and a half.

Jenkinson's travels in Muscovy and Asia did not go unnoticed for geographical science. In those days, trading expeditions were not given a scientific character, but usually a merchant traveler or one of his companions was at the same time a geographer.

In accordance with this, Jenkinson, an educated person, always carefully described his routes, noting the longitude and latitude of the places he passed, their particular features, corrected and supplemented the information already available on this subject.

In the sixties of the XVI century. Jenkinson published a report on his first expedition to the Trans-Caspian regions, to which a land map was attached: “Russia, Muscovy and Tartaria”.

Reproduced for the first time in the Ortelius atlas (1571), Jenkinson's map is illustrated with pictures from the life of nomadic peoples, images of various animals, mountains, wooded areas, etc.

The drawings are accompanied by explanations in Latin, beginning as follows: “The inhabitants of these countries worship the sun in the form of a red canvas...”, “These rocks, reminiscent of the appearance of people, beasts of burden, other livestock...”, “The Kyrgyz people live in crowds, t i.e. "hordes", etc.

Thanks to such explanations, Jenkinson's "descriptive" map is now of known interest as a historical document. Notes (reports) of Jenkinson, as well as other agents of the company, which are part of the extensive literature in our historiography, known under the general name "Tales of foreigners about the Muscovite state", are also very valuable historical and geographical material.

Iran has long been a supplier of raw silk, a product highly valued in the West. In this regard, the Moscow company organized several expeditions to the "land of silk and roses" in the footsteps of Jenkinson.

These trips, despite the large costs and dangers associated with sailing along the Volga and the Caspian and traveling through the Transcaucasus, turned out to be extremely beneficial for the British. For example, the expedition of 1578 - 1581. brought the shareholders of the company 106% of income; earlier trips to Iran were also quite lucrative.

But the greatest income, and, moreover, with much less risk than from Iranian trade, was received by the British from their business operations directly in Muscovy itself.

Regularly, every year, English ships came to the mouth of the Northern Dvina with a large cargo of various goods. On a voyage from England to Pomerania, it took only a month in favorable weather.

The notes and reports of the company's agents give a clear idea of what the British traded, what were the prices for different products, what goods were preferred by the trading parties, etc.

In addition, they also traded in foreign products, which was later pointed out to the Moscow government with displeasure by representatives of other Western European states.

From Russia, the British exported furs, leather, blubber, flax, salted fish, lard, oil, wax, hemp, walrus ivory (in the old days - a substitute for ivory), timber, etc.

Thanks to the activities of the Moscow Company, trade relations between Russia and the West in the 16th century. significantly strengthened and expanded. Cloth was in the greatest demand in Russia, followed by cotton fabrics and metals: lead prepared with tiles for roofs, tin in the form of pewter, copper and iron.

The size of the profits of the British can be judged by the following example: they sold a piece (cut) of cloth in Russia at three times the cost plus transportation costs. In turn, the British were most interested in blubber, wax (in Russia, a "reserved product" in view of its very wide consumption for church needs) and hemp.

Interest in the latter is explained by the following circumstance. At first engaged exclusively in the export of raw materials from Russia, the company soon came to the conclusion that it would be more profitable to process some products on the spot with the help of specialists sent from England.

Grozny willingly gave permission for the establishment of English factories in Russia; he even donated large tracts of land to the company for this purpose, in the expectation that the English, according to their promise, would teach the Russians new useful crafts.

The main English production in Moscow was rope.

The first rope yard arose in Vologda, the second in Kholmogory, later their number increased.

These businesses were doing great. Due to the cheapness of Russian raw materials and local labor, the company gained the upper hand over other Western European competitors and over time became the main supplier of ship gear for the English fleet.

Moreover: many believed that one of the main reasons for the great victory in 1588 of the British over the “Invincible Armada” of the Spanish king was the excellent equipment of the English fleet, taken out of Muscovy, from where a magnificent timber for masts was also delivered.

Under Grozny, the British were allowed to search for iron ore at Vychegda, where in 1569 an iron-smelting plant was set up. Workers for this case were discharged from England.

The news has survived that in Moscow it was also possible to smelt ore in the English court. The company received the right to export smelted iron to England with payment to the Russian treasury "one money per pound".

Grozny's hopes that the British would acquaint the Russian workers with the technique of their production were not justified; contrary to their solemn promise, the British did not even think of doing it.

In general, "enlightened navigators" tried in every possible way to use Muscovy exclusively as their colonial market and an abundant source of all kinds of raw materials.

They drew from Russia everything they could, trying to give her as little as possible. Living for a long time and in large numbers in the country that received them so hospitably, the British, in addition to trade, then avoided, if possible, getting close to the local population, in their eyes, of course, “barbaric”.

The nature and methods of activity of the agents of the company and other English "cultural traders" convincingly indicate that the British in Russia at that time were very far from any truly cultural tasks.

In a short time, the British started their trading yards, in addition to Moscow and Kholmogor, in Vologda, Yaroslavl, later in Novgorod, Kazan and Narva, temporarily (1558-1581), which belonged to Moscow.

They settled down with particular comfort at the mouths of the Northern Dvina, on Yagorny Island, nicknamed by them the "Island of Roses", because in spring it was covered with red rose hips.

Here, next to a stream with excellent drinking water, they built a spacious house for visitors and large warehouses for goods. From this base, in winter and summer, by water and by land, on horses, boats, deer, they traveled in all directions of the vast Pomorye, to Mezen, Pechora, to Perm, exploring the region and looking for new places for profitable trading.

At the same time, they were also interested in the Trans-Urals, where there were areas rich in furs, and the great river Ob flowed. Comparatively not far behind it, according to the geographical concepts of that time, Kambalu (Beijing), the capital of China, was supposedly already located, as shown, for example, on the Herberstein map.

In the White Sea Pomorye, the British, over time, faced very dangerous rivals in the face of the Dutch.

Dutch trading ships began to appear on Murman as early as 1565, and 10 years later they also penetrated the mouth of the Northern Dvina, where a little later (1583-1584) a new "shelter" (harbor) was founded specifically for "overseas trading", g . Arkhangelsk.

Despite all sorts of tricks, intrigues and even open violence on the part of the British (they tried to detain the Dutch ships), they failed to "drive" the Dutch from the Russian market.

The project of the capture of Muscovy by England

The “black days” came for the British at the beginning of the 17th century, during the years of the peasant war and foreign intervention, when the established ties between Russia and the West were temporarily broken, and trading life inside the country froze.

The "revenues" of the British from Muscovy at that time completely ceased. Then the British, fearing that in the end the Polish intervention, as well as the Swedish one (Sweden captured Novgorod), could be crowned with success, decided for their part to occupy Pomorie and the Volga route by force of arms.

Colonel Chamberlain, who under Vasily Shuisky served in a mercenary foreign detachment, was to lead this military expedition.

All expenses for this "profitable enterprise" were borne by the Moscow company, and the expedition project, developed by the company's agent John Merrick, was, after a detailed discussion in London, sanctioned by King James I.

The draft shamelessly stated that it "does not contain any injustice or offense for anyone, there is no violation or evasion of treaties concluded with anyone from other states" and that, on the contrary, there is a lot of "philanthropy for the oppressed Russian people" in it. , who, as if, having fallen in love with the British for their excellent properties and (behavior), "craves to surrender to the power of the English king more than anyone else."

In the event of success, which was not in doubt, King James personally was to regularly receive in the future considerable income from the "newly acquired lands."

But, as one would expect, this "brilliant project" remained only a project. When Merrick and Roussel (also an agent of the company) arrived in Moscow in the spring of 1613, the Russian people had already expelled the most dangerous interventionists from their land - the Poles.

A new permanent government was formed in Russia, which the British prudently hastened to "recognize".

The “Merrick-Chamberlain project”, which has not been put into action, significantly resembles the historical milestones in the history of Western raids on Russia, where England was always ready to share the “pie” with the winner in order to save its economic, narrowly selfish interests.

Ibraev Gennady Alimovich

In the winter of 1552, a lively meeting of the most important English merchants and shipowners took place in London. An extremely important circumstance was the reason for this meeting. In the middle of the XVI century. England was going through a severe economic crisis, one of those crises when, in the limited conditions of trade routes, the acquisition of new markets and exports becomes a matter of life or death.

Maritime trade in England fell catastrophically every year. At that time, the Spaniards and the Portuguese ruled the oceans. By the right of "pioneers", the Spaniards monopolized the sea routes to the New World (North America) across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Portuguese - the all-African route to the East Indies and jealously guarded them with weapons in their hands. Access to America, India, China and the "Spice Islands" (Moluccas, Indonesia), to places where all kinds of exotic treasures were located, was in fact almost closed to English sailors.

In such circumstances, the only way out for commercial England was to search for and build its own, new sea route to overseas lands. In this regard, the leaders of the commercial circles of England turned to Sebastian Cabot, the famous navigator and geographer of the first half of the 16th century. Cabot, an Italian by birth, believed that the southern sea routes to the Far East should correspond to similar routes in the north.

It was assumed that the western route there went past Greenland, the eastern route along the northern coasts of Europe and Asia. The aged Cabot (he was then already 80 years old) had long been insisting on the need to build a northeast route to Asia. Cabot was sure that by sailing in the Arctic Ocean in the warm season and taking advantage of fair winds and currents, one could easily reach the mysterious Sipango (Japan) in about three months, from where it was not so far to the “gold-bearing”, according to the stories of Marco Polo, China and to the cherished "Spice Islands".

Cabot expressed his thoughts on this matter in detail and convincingly at a crowded meeting of the "money people" in London. They fully approved the project and established the "Company of merchants-explorers to discover unknown countries" with a fixed capital of 6,000 pounds sterling. Following this, they began to equip three ships, and in May 1553 a small flotilla under the overall command of Hugh Willoughby sailed from the coast of England.

Due to the bad weather the sailing was very slow. Near the northwestern coast of Scandinavia, a severe storm separated the ships. Two of them, as it turned out later, died frozen off the coast of Russian Lapland, the third - "Eduard - a good enterprise", commanded by Richard Chancellor, sailed safely to the southern coast of the White Sea. Having landed on land, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina, not far from Kholmogor, Chancellor learned that he was in the possession of the Moscow Tsar. “The same summer,” the Dvina Chronicle of 1553 reports, “August 24, a ship arrived from the sea at the mouth of the Dvina River and settled down: Ambassador Knight, and guests with him, arrived at Kholmogory in small courts from the Aglian King Edward.” "Guests" in old Russia called merchants. So, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the British, in search of a new sea route to the Far East, accidentally “discovered” an almost unknown to them hitherto

Muscovy or, in Western European terminology, Muscovy. After looking around at the new places, Chancellor, who carried a royal letter of recommendation, took on the role of ambassador. With the permission of Ivan the Terrible, in November he set off on a sleigh route to Moscow, where he was very favorably received by the tsar. Chancellor's request to allow the British to continue to use the White Sea route for trade relations with Russia was respected:

“The Sovereign Tsar and the Grand Duke (Dvinskaya Chronicle) of the royal ambassador Knight and the guests of the Aglian lands granted, to their Russian state with bargaining from across the sea on ships, he ordered them to walk safely and buy and build yards for them without restriction.” Until the spring of 1554, Chancellor lived in Russia, first in Moscow, then on the Northern Dvina. And here and there he carefully collected information about Russian trade, about the requirements of the Russian market, about the roads leading to Asia. In the spring, having profitably sold the goods he had brought with him in Kholmogory and having loaded the ship with furs, skins, whale oil and samples of other Russian goods, Chancellor sailed home with the Terrible's letter.

From that moment on, constant trade and diplomatic relations between Russia and England began. In London, the captivating story of a brave sailor about Muscovy - the country he had discovered, its size and the abundance of its natural resources, made a great impression. True, Muscovy was not China or India, but on the other hand it was much closer to England and, as a market for sales and export, was a very valuable acquisition; this was clearly evidenced by the goods brought by Chancellor. The "Company of Merchants-Searchers" was transformed into the "Russian or Moscow Company", which, without abandoning the idea of laying a new path to the Far Eastern markets, set its main goal of monopoly trade with Russia. Chancellor's second trip to Muscovy was made in 1555 on behalf of the company.

He was accompanied by two agents, equipped with a special instruction containing a program of extensive commercial operations. In Moscow, the British received an even more gracious reception than the first time. At the request of Grozny, a trade agreement was approved, according to which the British received broad rights and advantages. Among them, the right of duty-free trade throughout Russia, the right to set up trading posts (trading yards) in a number of cities, as well as the right to freely enter Russia and leave it to other countries, in other words, the right of free passage to the east, were extremely important. On top of this, Grozny personally presented the British with a large house on Varvarka, in Kitay-Gorod.

The favor shown by Grozny towards the British was due to the political considerations of the far-sighted king. Poland, the Livonian Order and Sweden have long interfered with Russia in its peaceful relations with the rest of Europe. As a result, the Russian state urgently needed a free road to the West, and just at that time Moscow was on the eve of the Livonian War for the possession of harbors on the Baltic shores. Because of this, strong, regular relations with England acquired particular importance for Moscow. It was necessary to closely interest the British in "Muscovite" affairs, because the British had every opportunity to deliver to Russia not only various goods, but also military equipment, which was so necessary for the war, by the free northern route. Chancellor himself did not have to take advantage of the fruits of his successful "discovery" of Muscovy.

In 1556, returning to England, accompanied by the tsarist ambassador Osip Nepei (the first Russian to visit England), Chancellor died in a shipwreck off the coast of Scotland. Nepea escaped and was received with great honor in London by Queen Mary, the nobility and representatives of the trading circles. In London, in accordance with the privileges received by the British in Russia, the Moscow ambassador negotiated, in general, the same privileges for Russians in case they came to England on trade business.

In addition, he received (which was very important) permission to hire doctors, engineers, gunsmiths and other technicians into the Russian service. For its part, the Moscow Company decided, without wasting time, to use the favorable circumstances to penetrate into the depths of Asia. In achieving the goals set by the company, great services were rendered by one of its agents, a very experienced merchant-traveler, Anthony Jenkinson, who arrived in Moscow in 1557 together with Osip Nepeya. Jenkinson was entrusted with the mission to carry out an expedition to China through Muscovy and Central Asia.

In those years, the company did not completely abandon its intention to reach the empire of the Bogdykhans in this way, since there were persistent rumors in the West that merchant caravans were going from China to Bukhara and back. The situation was very suitable for such a journey: at that time (1552-1556), the Volga khanates fell one after another - Kazan and Astrakhan, and the entire great Volga route, the “highway to India”, as they thought then in the West, already belonged to Russia.

Jenkinson, who now took over Chancellor's place, was both a bold traveler and an adroit diplomat. Grozny managed to please him so much that he not only allowed the British to pass the Volga, but also provided them with letters of recommendation to the sovereign princes of the Transcaspian regions. These letters more than once rescued Jenkinson and his companions from trouble, for the name of the Russian Tsar was highly respected in the East. In the spring of 1558, Jenkins left Moscow by water on an expedition to Central Asia. It was the first voyage in the 16th century. Western Europeans to Asia through Muscovy.

Having descended the Moscow River and the Oka, the British sailed to Nizhny, where they waited for the arrival of the governor, who was traveling with 500 large ships, archers, provisions, ammunition and goods to Astrakhan to manage the newly conquered region. Under the protection of the archers, the voyage along the Volga to Astrakhan went quite well. In those days, famine and plague raged in Astrakhan, and therefore the British hurried to get out into the open sea. A week later, having withstood a strong storm, they landed in the Dead Kultuk Bay. Having unloaded their ship here and hired 1000 camels from the local khan, the British moved on by land, carrying a huge cargo of goods for exchange. This part of Jenkinson's journey shows why it was no longer possible to use caravan routes in Transcaspia.

Guards on the roads did not yet exist, the desert was teeming with bands of robbers, and the rulers of those places through which the caravan line ran, themselves indulged in robberies. Only eight months after leaving Moscow, the British, having endured a series of dangerous clashes with nomads, suffering terribly from the heat and lack of water in the sandy steppes, finally arrived in the big city of Bukhara. Here the travelers were completely disappointed.

It was not possible to travel further towards China due to the military actions of the Samarkand khan. As prudent as he was enterprising, Jenkinson, having finished trading operations, moved back in time, thanks to which he happily escaped the siege of the city and the massacre that followed. Jenkinson returned to Moscow almost a year and a half later by the same route and in general with the same adventures.

As a gift to Grozny, he brought 25 Russian slaves he ransomed in the Trans-Caspian lands, the tail of a white yak (Tibetan bull), a Chinese bunchuk and a Tatar drum. From his journey, Jenkinson got the impression that the British needed to establish trade relations with Iran, where he organized an expedition in 1562. Having descended down the Volga in the spring of this year, Jenkinson sailed for the second time into the Caspian Sea and crossed it towards Derbent. The voyage was very difficult because of the frequent shallows, the storm that lasted seven days, and the possibility of falling into the hands of pirates.

Having reached Derbent, the British bought camels and horses and moved on through the Shirvan land to the city of Shemakha, where they were hospitably met by the local prince Abdul-Khan. Jenkinson very colorfully describes the fertile lands of the southeastern Caucasus, through which he passed, but in which he did not always feel good, despite the rich nature and beautiful views. Travelers constantly had to fear the attack of half-wild mountaineers, who took the prisoners to their villages. Only six months after leaving Moscow, the British reached the Iranian city of Qazvin, where the Shah was then.

Here the Persians, mistaking the English unknown to them for the Portuguese hostile to Iran, were about to seize Jenkinson and send him to Constantinople as a gift to the Sultan. The intercession of the aforementioned Shirvan Khan, a vassal of the Shah, saved Jenkinson from such a sad fate.

In Qazvin, Jenkinson lived all winter, getting acquainted with the conditions of the local market and establishing trade relations with Iranian and Indian merchants. The indefatigable agent of the Moscow Company returned to Moscow with rich gifts for Grozny from the Shah, following the same path, having wandered around the East, like for the first time, for a year and a half. Jenkinson's travels in Muscovy and Asia did not go unnoticed for geographical science. In those days, trading expeditions were not given a scientific character, but usually a merchant traveler or one of his companions was at the same time a geographer.

For purely practical purposes, it was necessary to get acquainted with the geography of the new country, the location of its trading cities, large fairs, roads to them, etc. Regarding all this, they tried to collect as much information as possible, personally checked them, made detailed descriptions, sketched drawings. In accordance with this, Jenkinson, an educated person, always carefully described his routes, noting the longitude and latitude of the places he passed, their particular features, corrected and supplemented the information already available on this subject. In the sixties of the XVI century. Jenkinson published a report on his first expedition to the Trans-Caspian regions, to which a land map was attached: “Russia, Muscovy and Tartaria”.

Compiled by Jenkinson on the basis of several astronomical points determined by himself, this map was, despite some errors against reality, a big step forward compared even with Herberstein's map (1549). Reproduced for the first time in the Ortelius atlas (1571), Jenkinson's map is illustrated with pictures from the life of nomadic peoples, images of various animals, mountains, wooded areas, etc. The drawings are accompanied by explanations in Latin, starting like this: “The inhabitants of these countries worship the sun in the form of red canvas...”, “These rocks, reminiscent of the appearance of people, beasts of burden, other livestock...”, “The Kyrgyz people live in crowds, i.e., “hordes”, etc.

In this regard, the Moscow company organized several expeditions to the "land of silk and roses" in the footsteps of Jenkinson. These trips, despite the large costs and dangers associated with sailing along the Volga and the Caspian and traveling through the Transcaucasus, turned out to be extremely beneficial for the British. For example, the expedition of 1578 - 1581. brought the shareholders of the company 106% of income; earlier trips to Iran were also quite lucrative.

But the greatest income, and, moreover, with much less risk than from Iranian trade, was received by the British from their business operations directly in Muscovy itself. Regularly, every year, English ships came to the mouth of the Northern Dvina with a large cargo of various goods. On a voyage from England to Pomerania, it took only a month in favorable weather. The notes and reports of the company's agents give a clear idea of what the British traded, what were the prices for different products, what goods were preferred by the trading parties, etc.

The British brought cloth, paper fabrics, tin, weapons, ammunition, sulfur, saltpeter, horse harness, and various metal products; they supplied special fabrics, gilded halberds, pistols, pharmaceutical drugs, and musical instruments to the royal court. In addition, they also traded in foreign products, which was later pointed out to the Moscow government with displeasure by representatives of other Western European states.

From Russia, the British exported furs, leather, blubber, flax, salted fish, bacon, butter, wax, hemp, walrus ivory (in the old days - a substitute for ivory), timber, etc. Thanks to the activities of the Moscow Company, trade relations between Russia and the West in the XVI in. significantly strengthened and expanded.

Cloth was in the greatest demand in Russia, followed by cotton fabrics and metals: lead prepared with tiles for roofs, tin in the form of pewter, copper and iron. The size of the profits of the British can be judged by the following example: they sold a piece (cut) of cloth in Russia at three times the cost plus transportation costs. In turn, the British were most interested in blubber, wax (in Russia, a "reserved product" in view of its very wide consumption for church needs) and hemp. Interest in the latter is explained by the following circumstance.

At first engaged exclusively in the export of raw materials from Russia, the company soon came to the conclusion that it would be more profitable to process some products on the spot with the help of specialists sent from England. Grozny willingly gave permission for the establishment of English factories in Russia; he even donated large tracts of land to the company for this purpose, in the expectation that the English, according to their promise, would teach the Russians new useful crafts. The main English production in Moscow was rope. The first rope yard arose in Vologda, the second in Kholmogory, later their number increased. These businesses were doing great. Due to the cheapness of Russian raw materials and local labor, the company gained the upper hand over other Western European competitors and over time became the main supplier of ship gear for the English fleet.

The cheapness of this equipment was not at the expense of its quality. Back in 1582, William Borrow, controller of the English fleet, officially certified the "Russian ropes" as the best delivered to England. Moreover: many believed that one of the main reasons for the great victory in 1588 of the British over the “Invincible Armada” of the Spanish king was the excellent equipment of the English fleet, taken out of Muscovy, from where a magnificent timber for masts was also delivered. Under Grozny, the British were allowed to search for iron ore at Vychegda, where in 1569 an iron-smelting plant was set up. Workers for this case were discharged from England. The news has survived that in Moscow it was also possible to smelt ore in the English court.

The company received the right to export smelted iron to England with payment to the Russian treasury "one money per pound". Grozny's hopes that the British would acquaint the Russian workers with the technique of their production were not justified; contrary to their solemn promise, the British did not even think of doing it. In general, "enlightened navigators" tried in every possible way to use Muscovy exclusively as their colonial market and an abundant source of all kinds of raw materials. They drew from Russia everything they could, trying to give her as little as possible.

Living for a long time and in large numbers in the country that received them so hospitably, the British, in addition to trade, then avoided, if possible, getting close to the local population, in their eyes, of course, “barbaric”. The nature and methods of activity of the agents of the company and other English "cultural traders" convincingly indicate that the British in Russia at that time were very far from any truly cultural tasks. In a short time, the British started their trading yards, in addition to Moscow and Kholmogor, in Vologda, Yaroslavl, later in Novgorod, Kazan and Narva, temporarily (1558-1581), which belonged to Moscow.

They settled down with particular comfort at the mouths of the Northern Dvina, on Yagorny Island, nicknamed by them the "Island of Roses", because in spring it was covered with red rose hips. Here, next to a stream with excellent drinking water, they built a spacious house for visitors and large warehouses for goods.

From this base, in winter and summer, by water and by land, on horses, boats, deer, they traveled in all directions of the vast Pomorye, to Mezen, Pechora, to Perm, exploring the region and looking for new places for profitable trading. At the same time, they were also interested in the Trans-Urals, where there were areas rich in furs, and the great river Ob flowed. Comparatively not far behind it, according to the geographical concepts of that time, Kambalu (Beijing), the capital of China, was supposedly already located, as shown, for example, on the Herberstein map.

So, to get to the Ob meant laying a new road through the "country of furs and snow" to the Far Eastern markets. In this regard, the British undertook several expeditions towards Siberia, which, however, did not give positive results. In the White Sea Pomorye, the British, over time, faced very dangerous rivals in the face of the Dutch. Dutch merchant ships began to appear on Murman as early as 1565, and 10 years later they also penetrated the mouth of the Northern Dvina, where a little later (1583-1584) a new "shelter" (harbour) was founded specifically for "overseas trading", g . Arkhangelsk. Despite all sorts of tricks, intrigues and even open violence on the part of the British (they tried to detain the Dutch ships), they failed to "drive" the Dutch from the Russian market.

However, until the death of Grozny, the British generally retained almost all privileges, and under the successors of Grozny - Fyodor Ivanovich, Boris Godunov, Vasily Shuisky, they, in comparison with other foreigners, still continued to enjoy some advantages. The project of capturing Muscovy by England “Black Days” began for the British at the beginning of the 17th century, during the years of the peasant war and foreign intervention, when the established ties between Russia and the West were temporarily broken, and trading life inside the country froze. The "revenues" of the British from Muscovy at that time completely ceased.

Then the British, fearing that in the end the Polish intervention, as well as the Swedish one (Sweden captured Novgorod), could be crowned with success, decided for their part to occupy Pomorie and the Volga route by force of arms. Colonel Chamberlain, who under Vasily Shuisky served in a mercenary foreign detachment, was to lead this military expedition. All expenses for this "profitable enterprise" were borne by the Moscow company, and the expedition project, developed by the company's agent John Merrick, was, after a detailed discussion in London, sanctioned by King James I.

In the event of success, which was not in doubt, King James personally was to regularly receive in the future considerable income from the "newly acquired lands." But, as one would expect, this "brilliant project" remained only a project. When Merrick and Roussel (also an agent of the company) arrived in Moscow in the spring of 1613, the Russian people had already expelled the most dangerous interventionists from their land - the Poles.

A new permanent government was formed in Russia, which the British prudently hastened to "recognize". The “Merrick-Chamberlain project”, which has not been put into action, significantly resembles the historical milestones in the history of Western raids on Russia, where England was always ready to share the “pie” with the winner in order to save its economic, narrowly selfish interests.

During the reign of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, in the middle of the 16th century, trade and diplomatic relations were established with England. At this time, the custom of offering ambassadorial gifts becomes part of diplomatic etiquette. And if at first the embassy gifts included a variety of valuable things, then from the 17th century European diplomats brought to Russia, mainly, precious silver utensils.

English silver has always been different from continental, its shape and decoration reflect national tastes and traditions. On the Continent, English tableware was not sold; it entered the treasuries of monarchs. The collection of the Armory has unique examples of the work of English masters, which have been preserved in the world in single copies. The collection of the Armory contains about 100 items of English silver of the 16th-17th centuries, created during the reign of the Tudors and the early Stuarts. Far from all English precious tableware came to Moscow as embassy gifts, many things were bought. All items in our collection are made in London, we only keep the capital's silver. Many of the artifacts presented in Moscow have no analogues in the world, or similar items have survived in single copies and are very rare.

Unfortunately, the ambassadorial gifts of the 16th century have almost not been preserved. The exhibition presents mainly silver, XVII century. It was brought to Russia for the first sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty.

Richard Chancellor in Moscow. Diplomatic relations with England

In the second half of the 16th century, both Russia and England were looking for new trade routes. The Spaniards and the Portuguese had a monopoly on trade with the New World, who exported untold wealth from there. England could not compete with Spain in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean and was looking for northern sea trade routes. To search for the North-Eastern Sea Passage, the society of “merchants-adventurers” equipped three ships.

The goal of this expedition was not Russia at all, but India and China, the “Land of Dreams”, as the Celestial Empire was then called in England. In addition to samples of the goods that England could offer, the envoys were provided with letters from King Edward IV. These documents were drawn up in such an ingenious style that they could be handed over to any sovereign who was reached by English merchants. Two ships were lost in the Barents Sea, but the third ship under the name “Bonaventure” (“Good Enterprise”) under the command of Richard Chancellor in 1553 ended up at the mouth of the Northern Dvina and ended up in the Pomors. Guards were immediately assigned to the English team, and the local voivode reported the incident to Moscow. By order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the British were brought to the capital.

At this time, Russia is also looking for new trade routes. Trade with the West passes through hostile Poland and Lithuania, which soon united to form the Commonwealth. Therefore, trade contacts with England turned out to be extremely important for the Russian throne. This is facilitated by the personality of the clerk of the Ambassadorial Order, Ivan Viskovaty, a staunch Westerner. Ivan the Terrible received Richard Chancellor, sarcastically remarking that the royal letters "were drawn up by no one knows who."

Ivan Vasilyevich receives Richard Chancellor

But the samples of goods that the British brought - tin, weapons, cloth - atoned for this shortcoming. Trade with England opened up enormous prospects for the Russian state. The young Russian Tsar very soon became the first Anglophile on the Russian throne. He brought the English merchants closer to the court in every possible way and even granted them the right to duty-free trade.

Another evidence of the sovereign's goodwill towards the British was that they were provided with a separate farmstead, which is still preserved on Varvarka. They had relative freedom in Moscow, unlike other foreign embassies. Russia is hospitable and hospitable, it did not trust foreigners. In the 16th century, any unauthorized attempts by the subjects of the Russian Tsar to make contact with representatives of foreign powers were nipped in the bud. If the guards noticed that the locals were talking to the "basurmans", then the Muscovites were immediately seized and dragged to the Posolsky Prikaz for interrogation and trial. And in order to make it easier to keep track of foreigners, they were settled under guard at the Embassy Yard. The British were not affected by such strictness, they lived in their own courtyard and could meet with Russian merchants.

Old English Court on Varvarka

These relations were facilitated by the clerk of the Ambassadorial order, Ivan Viskovaty. If the English kings saw Russia primarily as a trading partner, then Ivan the Terrible wanted to find a military and political ally in England. However, all his attempts to establish a political and even matrimonial union were unsuccessful.

Trade between Russia and England in the 16th century

Trade relations between England and Russia were also very important. In order to trade with the Muscovites in 1555, a privileged Moscow trading company was organized in England. Russian merchants also received the right to trade duty-free with England. Russia sold ship timber, hemp, tar, blubber. Thanks to Russian raw materials, England becomes the “mistress of the seas”. At the end of the 16th century, after the defeat of the Invincible Armada, Francis Drake would write a letter to Fyodor Ivanovich thanking him for equipping the English fleet. Soon the British come to the conclusion that it is more profitable to transport semi-finished products than raw materials. At the mouth of the Northern Dvina, they organize mast and rope manufactories, which contributes to the industrial development of the Russian North. For many decades, the equipment of all English ships was Russian. (And the northern sea trade route was called by the British "the way of God granted by the ocean to the sea"). The Northern Sea Route was very important for both countries - they received trade links independent of hostile European states.

English goods were also in great demand. Russia needed metals, especially gold and silver. England did not sell its gold and silver, there was not much of it anyway. Precious metals were bought in continental Europe, for example, German silver thalers, which we call efimki. Until now, occasionally such coins come across in treasures. Thalers or, in Russian, efimki were melted down and Russian goldsmiths used this silver as raw material. Gold coins with the image of a ship also came to Russia. We called them "shipmen". These coins settled in the royal and boyar treasuries.

In 1556, Chancellor arrived in Moscow for the second time and brought a letter from Queen Mary Tudor (Edward had already died) confirming benefits for Russian merchants. He sailed back to England with four ships richly loaded with various goods. Together with Chancellor, the Russian envoy, Osip Nepeya, from Vologda, also departed. But a storm came up, scattered the ships, and only one of them reached London. The rest sank near the Scottish coast, Chancellor himself died, but the Russian envoy was saved.

It is interesting to note that over 150 years of diplomatic relations with England, 20 diplomatic books were compiled, which serve as a rich source for researchers. Diplomatic books collected letters and endings related to one or another state - the object of Russia's foreign policy. The number of such books testifies to the intensity of diplomatic relations. Contacts with England were exclusively commercial, hence such a small number of diplomatic books. For example, with Poland in the 17th century, more than 100 diplomatic books were compiled.

The earliest item from England in the collection of the Armory is BOWL ON A LEG.

Foot bowl. English diplomatic gifts

In the inventory of the Treasury Chamber, it was listed as a pickle - that is, a vessel for gourmet snacks - pickled fruits and berries.

It was made in London in 1558, the year of the accession to the throne of Elizabeth I. The purpose of this vessel is not secular, but religious. In England, this cup served as a chalice. Similar bowls are still invested in Anglican churches. The bowl is decorated with a bladed ornament. It was not part of the embassy gifts, how it got into our treasury remains a mystery.

Mission of Anthony Jenkinson in Moscow. Diplomatic relations with England

In the autumn of 1556, Anthony Jenkinson arrived in Moscow as the official ambassador of Queen Mary Tudor. And a year later, in 1557, Jenkinson, aboard his ship Primrose, returned Osip Grigoryevich Nepeya to Russia, who became the first Russian to pay an official visit to the British Isles. Negotiations with Tsar Ivan IV in 1557 and 1561 were already conducted on behalf of Elizabeth I. Jenkinson's diplomatic mission was to obtain letters of protection and the right to unhindered travel along the Volga to the Caspian Sea and further to Persia. Such an unhindered passage to Persia was sought by many, but Jenkinson got it. He turned out to be the first European traveler to describe Central Asia and the coast of the Caspian Sea during a trip to Bukhara in 1558-1560. Jenkinson wrote detailed official reports and, as a result of his observations, the most detailed map of Russia, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea at that time appeared. It was published in London in 1562, the map was called “Description of Muscovy, Russia and Tartaria”. This plan shed light on areas almost inaccessible and unknown to Europeans in the middle of Eurasia.

Jerome Horsey in Moscow. Diplomatic relations with England

Another Englishman who visited Russia was the envoy of Elizabeth I, Jerome Horsey. The goodwill of Sovereign John IV towards the British reached the point that he showed Horsey his royal treasury.

The painting by the artist Alexander Litovchenko, painted in the 19th century and depicting how Ivan the Terrible showed the treasury to Horsey, is historically unreliable.

It depicts objects that never were in the Armory or those that appeared there later. But the fact that the king showed the treasury to Horsey is an indisputable fact.

English salt shaker. English dimlomatic gifts

The tetrahedral salt shaker dates back to the very end of the 16th century. Actually, the British invented the front salt shaker, as an obligatory attribute of ceremonial receptions. Saltcellars of this size were extremely common in England. They were made from various materials: onyx, rock crystal, lapis lazuli. Salt shakers were solemnly brought to the table covered with embroidered napkins and placed in front of the first person or especially honored guests. The status of a guest in 17th century England was determined by the proximity of his place to the salt shaker. This salt shaker has four facets and stands on balls with bird's feet – this element clearly shows the Dutch influence.

The sides of the salt shaker are decorated with images of Mars, Venus, Mercury and Diana. Ancient Roman deities are dressed in masks of actors of the English theater of that time.

Deterioration of Russian-English relations. Diplomatic relations with England

Relations with England became cooler already during the reign of Ivan IV. The fact of the courtship of the king to Elizabeth I is now in doubt, but the king did propose to the queen's niece, Mary Hastings. The wedding policy of the Russian Tsar caused bewilderment at the English court. Yes, and Ivan the Terrible was disappointed in the possibilities of trade with the British, he expected more from relations with England and deprived the Moscow Trading Company of the right to duty-free trade, treated British merchants very rudely, scolded ambassadors, believing that they were not acting on the instructions of Elizabeth, but from their own self-interest, and later sent a letter to the queen herself, where he was not shy in expressions:

“We thought that you are the ruler of your land and want honor and benefit for your country. Even if you have people who own past you, and not only people, but also trading peasants and about our sovereign heads, and about honors, and about lands, they are not looking for profit, but are looking for their trading profits. And you remain in your virginal rank as there is a vulgar maiden.

Note that the expression “vulgar” in the 16th century meant “ordinary”, and not of royal dignity. But the correspondence between the two monarchs was preserved, at first they called each other “dear brother” and “beloved sister”, emphasizing not family ties, but their equal position. Despite the cooling of relations, Elizabeth twice confirmed England's consent to grant Ivan the Terrible political asylum in case of unrest or unforeseen circumstances.

During the time of Fyodor Ioannovich, state policy changed and hard times came for the British. This was facilitated by the views of the head of the Ambassadorial order, the clerk Shchelkalov, who did not like the British. But later the king resumed correspondence with Queen Elizabeth. Jerome Horsey came to Moscow for the second time and brought rich gifts not only to the Sovereign, but also, as he himself wrote, to the “Lord Protector”, i.e. Boris Godunov. Unfortunately, the gifts of this embassy have not been preserved. Fedor Ioannovich in response also sent rich gifts to Queen Elizabeth I - expensive fabrics, furs and coats. According to contemporaries, the queen personally examined the gifts and even sweated while trying on Russian fur coats.

Since the time of Fyodor Ioannovich, the museum's collection has preserved the earliest sulei of the six stored in the Armory. Sulea is a special vessel used by pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. Initially, suleys were made of leather and were used as flasks for water. With the decline of the crusades, they gradually become the ceremonial vessel for wine.

Souley 1580. It is located on the right side of the showcase of the solitary gifts, on the bottom shelf, to the LEFT of the high Hanseatic foot.

Masters of that time included various sea monsters in the pattern of chasing silver objects - huge fish, swimming animals, sea creatures. The collection contains a dish from the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, decorated with such marine motifs. (There are no pictures).

Angloman Boris Godunov and diplomatic relations with England

Boris Godunov's time was very happy for Russian-English relations. Following Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov is considered by some researchers to be an Anglo-man tsar. For the British, the situation returned to the previous one: they again received all the former trading privileges and benefits. In Russia at that time, mainly merchants came, but they were also considered representatives of the English crown. This was well understood at the Russian court and the British were given appropriate honors, even received them in the Faceted Chamber. Note that the Dutch were given such an honor only in the second half of the 17th century. The English ambassador at this time was Francis Cherry. The British appreciated the attitude of Muscovy and did not lose face. They knew well the desires of Boris Godunov and tried to please the tastes of the tsar. The sovereign loved pearls and long strands of the finest pearls were delivered to him, they numbered up to 2000 grains. The king received as a gift and a golden goblet with a cameo of Elizabeth. The goblet has not been preserved, but according to the descriptions it is known that at the bottom of the goblet “there was a stone, and on it was the icon of the queen”.

Diplomatic relations with England. “Ours in England”

At the beginning of the 17th century, Grigory Ivanovich Mikulin was appointed ambassador to England. He was supposed to inform the English crown about the accession of Boris Godunov. Mikulin was the first Russian ambassador from whom a European artist painted a portrait. The embassy was received very warmly, Mikulin was even invited to the queen's gallery, which was an unprecedented honor. During the conversation, a funny incident occurred when Elizabeth ordered a chair for the Russian ambassador to be placed next to her throne. Grigory Ivanovich pushed back his chair and explained it this way: by placing the ambassador next to her, the queen honors him personally. He cannot agree to this, for this will diminish the honor of his Sovereign. Elizabeth laughed and was pleased with the answer of the Russian ambassador.

Another funny incident concerning Russian-English relations occurred at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1602, four boyar children were sent to England to study at public expense. Soon, Tsar Boris Godunov died, there was unrest in the country, and these pensioners were completely forgotten. They were remembered only in 1613 and decided to return the “learned” sons of the boyars, since Russia desperately needed educated people. But it was not there, they were no longer going to return to their homeland and hid, having found a suitable business for themselves in England. Of the four “students”, only two were found, and both of them categorically refused to return to Moscow. For example, one of them by that time had become an Anglican priest. In Russia, they were very indignant about this - why those who were sent to foreign lands at public expense did not want to return and serve the sovereign. In England, they were perplexed why they were forcibly returned to their homeland.

In the 17th century, both Russian ambassadors in England and English ambassadors in Russia had completely different tasks. About this - in the article:.

According to the materials of the Kremlin lecture hall. Lecture "Diplomatic relations with England in the XVI-XVII centuries". Lecturer Uvarova Yu.N. Images used are freely available on the Internet.