On May 30 (June 12, new style), 1554, in his Kremlin residence, Tsar John IV Vasilyevich (the Terrible) received the first English merchant in the history of the Moscow state - the envoy of King Edward VI.
From the very first days of his reign, the English monarch Edward VI was haunted by the worldwide fame of such legendary Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors as Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. The king insisted on organizing an expedition, the route of which would run across the Polar Sea to mysterious China. London merchants were also persistently interested in new markets, whose goods - cloth and metal products - were famous in many European countries.
Across the Polar Sea to China
One winter evening in 1553, Sebastian Cabot, an Italian cartographer and navigator who served the British monarch, invited his best student, the famous English captain and admiral Richard Chancellor, to talk. “Our society has decided to send ships on a voyage that has not yet been experienced,” Cabot said to his disciple at this meeting. "We want to find a way into Chinese land, unknown to the Spaniards, Portuguese or Dutch."
In those ancient times in England, as, indeed, in other European countries, not only merchants were interested in the search for new lands, but also the numerous English nobility, in whose estates huge flocks of sheep were kept, the wool of which was used to make the famous English cloth. Together with the merchants, the rich English also invested heavily in the construction of ships and the organization of new expeditions. So this time, three special ships were built with their funds, the main helmsman (navigator) of which was appointed Richard Chancellor.
In the spring of 1553, preparations for the upcoming expedition were completed, and on the Thames, at the pier of one of the outskirts of London, there were three ships ready to sail with names unusual for our days: "Edward - a Good Enterprise", "Good Hope" and "Good Hope" … As Cabot later wrote: "I want to say that our three ships set off on a dangerous voyage on an unknown path to the distant Chinese land, as if it were a celebration."
Promotional video:
Visiting fishermen
The rendezvous scheduled for the first ten days of June in the area of the Norwegian fortress Vardehus did not take place. The reason for this is a severe storm, which tore the ships of this English expedition apart. Richard Chancellor's ship "Edward - the Good Deal" met the target dates and, having waited for his fellow travelers for more than two weeks in the harbor of Wardehus, which was the last point marked on the route map, went further east. Trying not to lose sight of the rocky shores, experienced helmsman Richard Chancellor noticed that the coastline began to slope to the southeast. Thus, having skirted the Kola Peninsula, unknown to English sailors, "Edward - a good enterprise" entered the White Sea, where the British had never been before. A few days later, Chancellor's ship anchored at the picturesque estuary.“… A ship from the sea will come to the mouth of the Dvina River,” it is written in the old book “Dvina Chronicle”, “and send a message: we arrived at Kolmogory in small ships… from the English King Edward… Ambassador Rytsart, and guests with him…”.
When a boat with unknown bearded men approached the side of the ship, Richard Chancellor remembered Sebastian Cabot's parting words: “When you come to an unknown country, try to lure or capture one or several of its inhabitants. Find out from them everything you need. Try to do this without violence. Feed these people and, most importantly, give them our wine. And then let them go with gifts so that you will be well received when you disembark."
During a warm welcome, Chancellor learned from the guests - and they were Kholmogory fishermen - that his ship had come to the shores of Moscow land. The fishermen said that the nearest town is called Kholmogory and it stands by the Dvina River. And this land is owned by the Tsar and Grand Duke John Vasilyevich, who lives in Moscow.
A few days later, Chancellor was visited by some people from Kholmogory, to whom he solemnly demonstrated the colorful message of King Edward VI, addressed to "all the sovereigns and kings" of those countries where this sea expedition would have happened. But he managed to meet with the king only almost eight months later.
On May 30, 1554, a painted carriage took him to the Kremlin. “The Palace of the Tsar or the Grand Duke,” Richard Chancellor described his stay in Moscow, “in terms of construction, appearance and decoration, is not as luxurious as those that I saw. It is a very low building, - 8-square, very similar to the old English buildings, with small windows, and in other respects. " But many customs struck the Englishman to the core. Thus, he wrote: “… The number of those who dined that day reached 200, and all of them were given golden vessels. Serving noblemen wore gowns with gold and served the Prince with hats on their heads. Before serving food, the Grand Duke sent everyone a large piece of bread, and the giver, naming out loud the person to whom it was sent, said: "John Vasilievich, Tsar of Russia and Grand Duke of Moscow, granted you bread."At the same time, everyone got up and remained so while he uttered these words. After all, the Prince gave a piece of bread to the kravch, which he ate before the Prince and then, taking his leave, went out. Then they brought in a dish of swans, cut into pieces, which the Prince sent out like bread, and the giver spoke the same words … Then the Prince sent out drinks with the same words … At the end of the dinner he called to him by the name of each of his nobles; it was amazing to hear how he can know their names when he has so many of them … "and the giver spoke the same words … Then the Prince sent drinks with the same words … At the end of the dinner he called to him by the name of each of his nobles; it was amazing to hear how he can know their names when he has so many of them … "and the giver spoke the same words … Then the Prince sent drinks with the same words … At the end of the dinner he called to him by the name of each of his nobles; it was amazing to hear how he can know their names when he has so many of them …"
You have the right
Note that during the reign of John IV Vasilyevich, named the Terrible, trade envoys from other states: Poland, Lithuania, Austria, became frequent visitors to Moscow. The capital of the Moscow state was well aware of the "international diplomatic etiquette": each guest had to bring a special letter from his sovereign, which confirmed the right of the river to conduct trade negotiations. After a long study of the letters of Edward VI in the Ambassadorial order, officials of this institution confirmed such a right of a sailor, who unwittingly became a merchant, - Richard Chancellor. Ivan Viskovatov, a special official of the Ambassadorial Order, told Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible about this, especially noting that the main goal of the British was to establish trade relations with the kingdom of Moscow. John IV ended this conversation with Viskovatov with the following words:“Nobody will block the road across the ocean-sea. Let them bring what we need. And we need every supply for military affairs. " Soon Richard Chancellor was handed a letter of reply from the Russian Tsar, which said: "We commanded that the ships you send come come when and as often they can, with the hope that they will not be wronged."
In the late autumn of 1554, Richard Chancellor moored his ship at the very pier on the outskirts of London, from which more than a year ago his journey to the country of Muscovy began. Only he had to report on the results of this voyage not to King Edward VI, who did not wait for the return of his messenger, but to Queen Mary Tudor and her husband Philip II, King of Spain.
Following the results of Chancellor's voyage in February 1555, the Moscow Company was formed in London, headed by Sebastian Cabot himself. And the sailor and merchant Richard Chancellor, at the head of several ships with London merchants and selected English goods, sailed to the shores of the Moscow kingdom in the spring of the same year.
After a successful trade in Moscow, in the fall of 1556, English ships, now loaded with Russian goods, returned to England. Together with Chancellor, on board the ship with the symbolic name "Eduard - a Good Deal", was also the representative of the Moscow State Osip Grigorievich Nepeya, who never tired of repeating to Chancellor that he could not swim and was very afraid of drowning.
At the very end of the journey, already off the coast of Scotland, the English ships were caught in a storm, and "Edward - a good company" crashed on the sharp Scottish rocks. The entire crew of the ship and its passengers - London merchants - were saved. Osip Nepeya also got out on land. The only one who was swallowed by the deep sea was none other than the experienced sailor and excellent swimmer Richard Chancellor.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №3. Author: Vitaly Zhukov