The end of the 15th century was the epoch of the Grand Geographical Discoveries. Europeans discovered a huge world - America, Africa, Asia, islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Spain and Portugal divided the world into "spheres of influence" and built the first colonial empires. The Spaniards and the Portuguese sent dozens of expeditions and hundreds of ships, launching a colossal seizure and plunder of "open" lands. For hundreds of tribes and nations, civilizations and cultures, this “discovery” turned into a lot of blood, enslavement, genocide and death. European predators carried civilization only in words and were benefactors, in fact they were murderers and marauders whose main goal was enrichment at any price, as well as the seizure of foreign lands already for systematic plunder.
England, France, Holland and other European countries tried to join this "feast", but the Spaniards and the Portuguese jealously guarded their possessions. The British, French and Dutch could not immediately break their monopoly, for this they had to wage a hard and bloody struggle. Therefore, the countries of Northern Europe simultaneously tried to find new ways to the southern seas, China and India through the polar waters. These paths seemed to many shorter and safer from the attacks of the Portuguese and Spanish pirates. In addition, in the north it was possible to buy, mine, exchange or take away precious furs and other goods. In the 16th century, English and Dutch mariners undertook several expeditions to find the North-Eastern (around Siberia) and North-Western (around Canada) passages and exit into the Pacific Ocean.
At the beginning of 1551 in England, the company “Society of merchants, seekers of countries and possessions, unknown and hitherto unvisited sea routes” (Moscow Company) was created specifically for the opening of the Northeast Passage. It was headed by the famous traveler S. Cabot, who had the title of "Great Navigator of England." In 1553, the company sent out an expedition of three ships: “Bon Esperanza” (“Good Hope”) under the command of Willoughby, “Edward Bonaventure” (“Edward Udalets”) under the command of Chanceler and “Bon Con Confidenza” (“Good Hope”) under the command Cornelia Durfert.
The ship, commanded by Chancellor (Chancellor), hit the storm off the Lofoten Islands and separated from the other two ships. Willobi on two ships reached the Barents Sea and Novaya Zemlya. For some time he walked along the coast, and then turned south. In September 1553, he anchored in the mouth of the Varzina River, where he died with a crew of two ships during the wintering season. Chansler safely sailed to the White Sea. 24 August 1553, he entered Dvina Bay and landed in the bay of Sts. Nicholas, where he was then Nicholas Korelsky monastery. Chensler went to Kholmogory, where he introduced himself to the governor Fofan Makarov. The voevoda sent the Englishman to Moscow, to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. In Moscow, the English captain received an audience with the king. Chansler handed Ivan IV a letter from Edward VI, written in several languages to all northern rulers. In response, the king allowed the English merchants to trade in Russia. The Swedes and Poles led the economic blockade of Russia, blocking the way through the Baltic, so the northern route remained the last free sea route. This was the beginning of Russian trade with England.
In February 1554, Chensler left Moscow. Due to the death of Edward, Chancesler presented the letter to Queen Mary and with his news caused great joy in London. Travelers were honored as heroes, because they brought furs, Persian silk and Indian spices. In England, talking about the "discovery" of Russia. The fact that the Russians themselves were in England, not to mention other European countries, was preferred to be forgotten. Both the authorities and the merchants were interested in trade with Russia and the opportunities that opened up ties with Moscow. Through Russia it was possible to penetrate further to the East. The company was renamed “Moscow Company” (it existed until 1917). The new company received a patent from Queen Maria Tudor for monopoly trade with Russia. This company marked the beginning of the transformation of England into a great trading power. Such companies were a kind of "states in the state", military-political and trade organizations, with the help of which England penetrated into other regions of the world and enslaved them. The company had the right to issue its own rules, punish members of the company, have its sergeants, build and equip its ships, trade in all ports, make conquests and acquire countries and cities in open lands, oppose the joint actions of foreigners trading in Russia.
Fragment of an old engraving. Richard Chansler at a reception at Ivan the Terrible
In 1555, Chensler once again went to Moscow. The king again graciously met an enterprising Briton and issued a discount letter for an English company. The letter gave the right to free and duty-free trade in wholesale and retail, to build courtyards in Kholmogory and Vologda (the courtyards were not taxed), presented a courtyard in Moscow at the church of St. Maxim, the company could have its own court, the court performed the royal treasurer when considering trade cases. The customs officers, governors and governors did not have the right to interfere in the trading business of the company, the company could hire Russian clerks. Chansler returned to England. With him to the embassy to the Queen of England drove deacon of the embassy order Osip Nepey. Off the coast of Scotland, the ship "Good enterprise" crashed. Chensler died, and Nepea arrived in London and was received by the queen. Goods and gifts for the queen were lost and looted by the Scots (coastal piracy is common for those times coastal fishing in Europe). But England’s interest in trade with Russia at that time was so great that Nepei was greeted like a prince. A friendship agreement was concluded, the Russians were allowed to recruit specialists for the tsarist service. Nephey immediately brought a lot of craftsmen, doctors, miners, etc.
Annually from England began to arrive caravans of ships. They marched around Norway and Sweden to the mouth of the Dvina. Other powers have also learned about the road to the Russian North. The Dutch sent their ships. The British were protesting against competitors. But in this matter, Ivan Vasilyevich observed Russian interests. Why give a monopoly to the British to dictate their prices? The Dutch were bargained at Kemi.
The British were still looking for a sea route to China. In 1557, a member of the company, Anthony Jenkinson, offered the king to open a trade route to China through Bukhara. The British had information that caravans were going to China from Bukhara. The king allowed travel to Astrakhan. From Astrakhan Jenkinson went to Bukhara. In Bukhara, he learned that caravans no longer go to China. In 1561, Jenkinson came to Moscow once more and offered to open a trade route to Persia. At this time in Moscow was the Persian envoy. Jenkinson, along with the envoy, traveled to Astrakhan. The trip was unsuccessful. Persia received European goods from the Ottoman Empire.
It is clear that the British "friendship" was not sincere. Establishing the Moscow company, Queen Maria introduced into her charter a secret item, which forbade selling to Russians weapon. In the meantime, Chansler conducted negotiations in Moscow, Captain Barrow was engaged in reconnaissance in the North. I found out whether it is possible to get from the White Sea to Lake Onega and made a trip to the east. The British tried to find a way to China or other countries, weaker than the Russians, so that they could be declared possessions of England.
In 1567, the company received the right of duty-free trade. The company received the right to build courtyards in different cities, to hire Russian workers. The company had its yards in Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Astrakhan, Kostroma, Ivangorod. But in 1569, Grozny restricted the rights of the company, the company could enter Kazan and Astrakhan with the permission of the tsar. The company had to pay half of the customs fees. The king at this time led through Jenkinson talks about an alliance with Queen Elizabeth against the Catholic world, in particular, Poland. The Protestant powers resisted the Catholic. The king offered the queen to forbid her subjects to trade with the Poles. Russia needed weapons and military materials. Ivan also offered to add an asylum clause to the text of the agreement if someone was overthrown by traitors. But Elizabeth was not interested.
Soon began a new phase of negotiations on the union of Russia and England. Now England was a more interested party. The British wanted to lure the Terrible by marriage, in order to increase his influence through his wife and her entourage. The brides offered Maria Hastings, who was the queen's niece to the mother. First, the British wanted to restore the full privileges of the British and that Moscow should protect the British from competition. The Russians lost Narva, and the Dutch, German, French merchants, who carried goods there, went to the White Sea. And the British wanted to keep the monopoly. You can see the example of Turkey, with which England entered into an agreement in 1580, about what kind of trade union the British wanted to impose on Russia. Without undertaking any obligations, the British for their formal "friendship" got exemption from duties, a monopoly on the Levantine trade, settled in Istanbul as at home, received extraterritoriality and quickly got Porto "around the neck", sucking all the juices out of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the Turkish Empire financially and economically became a semi-colony of England and France, which began to use the Turks as cannon fodder in the fight against Russia.
Secondly, now the British themselves needed a military alliance with Russia. The situation for England was then dangerous. The British pretty much got Catholic Europeans with their support for the Huguenots and the Dutch Protestants. Against England were Rome, Catholic France, the German emperor, Venice, and then powerful Spain, which in 1580 - 1851. swallowed Portugal and doubled its fleet. The Spaniards threatened to land the landing army in England. War was brewing - it will start in 1585. And in England itself was restless. The British elite feared that the simple British would meet the Spaniards as liberators. Under Elizabeth, the authorities staged a real terror against the common people — fencing, mass destruction of peasants, hangers for vagrants and eerie work houses for the poor, where workers were quickly “squeezed” to death.
Therefore, now an alliance with Russia was needed by London. Marriage union would have secured. The British were testing the ground for the heir, so that they would become the future son of an Englishwoman. The king was an experienced diplomat and decided to "play along". In the summer of 1582, the Fyodor Pisemsky Embassy set off for London. As a result, the negotiations did not lead to success. England did not want a direct alliance with Russia against Poland and Sweden. Grozny was not going to give the British additional trade benefits. And the heir was to be Prince Fedor. Negotiations are deadlocked. The British once again tried to bargain - they sent the embassy of Jeronim Bowes to Moscow in October 1583. But without success. The Russian tsar quickly saw through the British and concluded: “Elizabeth“ wants to be with us in the final (union) word, not deed, ”and Bowes arrived with“ idle talk ”.
From now on, British agents appear in Russia. England was one of the first to use the "Knights of the Cape and the Dagger", which could combine government and commercial activities. So, among them was Jerome Horsey, who In 1573 - 1591 lived in Russia (with interruptions), and managed the office of a Moscow company. Virtually nothing is known about what Jerome was doing before leaving Russia. There are suggestions that he served as a "servant" of the Moscow company. There is also no documentary evidence about the first seven years of his service in Russia. Horsey was close to the royal court after the execution of the secret commission of Ivan IV to Elizabeth, but he clearly overestimated his value in his writings at Grozny. But under Boris Godunov, he was already the closest adviser.
Ivan the Terrible shows the treasures of Jerome Gorsay. Painting A. Litovchenko
It is believed that the British became the organizers of the poisoning of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. Historian G. Sokolov, specialist in stories confrontations of the Russian and Western intelligence services, claimsThe British poisoned the Russian tsar. In September, English physicians, headed by Dr. Standish, were brought to Moscow by the tsar in 1557. Then, a graduate of Cambridge Eliseus Bomelius (Elisha Bomelius), a doctor, an alchemist, an astrologer, arrived from London, part-time, apparently, a spy for the British crown. Became a long time favorite and personal physician of Ivan the Terrible. In Russia, he was hated. The Pskov Chronicle of 1570 of the year directly called the British doctor "a fierce magician", "an evil heretic", specially sent to Ivan IV by foreigners, so that the tsar would impose fierceness on the Russian people, and pretend to love the Germans (that is, foreigners).
It is believed that Ivan the Terrible trusted him completely and even consulted with him on personal and some important state issues. In particular, he discussed the plan for his marriage to Queen Elizabeth. “A scoundrel and a vagabond,” wrote the Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin about him. “Having sought access to the king, he fell in love with him with his machinations; he harbored fear and suspicion; ink boyars and people predicted riots and revolts to please the unfortunate disposition of the soul of John. " After they got rid of Bomeliya, he was accused of “intercourse with letters written in Latin and Greek, with the kings of Poland and Sweden” and executed, - Elizabeth sends the king of the new physician, Robert Jacobi. “I give my husband, the most skilled in healing diseases, to you, my brother, not for me not to need him, but for what you need. You can safely entrust him your health. I send with it, in your favor, pharmacists and barbers, by will and captivity, although we ourselves have a lack of such people. " Obviously, he was an agent of the English crown and also tried to bring an English bride to Moscow by painting the niece of Queen Maria to Grozny.
Thus, for a long time, until his death, the Russian sovereign was surrounded by English subjects. And he died quite unexpectedly. He was just 53 year, which is not so much for the ruler. When, in Soviet times, in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, the tombs of Ivan the Terrible, his sons Ivan and Fyodor were opened, the experts found that the content of mercury in the bones of the tsar and Tsarevich Ivan was 32 times higher than the allowable rate! And mercury, as is known, is a very strong poison. In addition, the arsenic and lead content was exceeded several times in the remains of the father and eldest son. Similarly, the king's first wife, Anastasia, was poisoned. It is obvious that Tsar Ivan the Terrible, during which important reforms were carried out, Russia became a powerful military power and increased its territory almost 2 times (!), Eliminated. Together with him they ruined the whole dynasty of Rurikovich, causing the most severe and bloody Russian Troubles. Question: Who did this? The conspirators-boyars or foreign enemies: Rome, the Jesuits, the Poles and the British?