Who headed the embassy order in the 16th century. Formation and formation of the ambassadorial order

The Ambassadorial Prikaz is one of the central state bodies of Russia in the mid-16th - early 18th centuries, which carried out general management and ongoing work on relations with foreign states.

The Ambassadorial Prikaz is one of the central state bodies of Russia in the mid-16th - early 18th centuries, which carried out general management and ongoing work on relations with foreign states. Formed at the beginning of 1549 in connection with the transfer of “embassy affairs” to I.M. Viskovaty. The main functions of the Ambassadorial Order were: sending Russian embassies abroad and receiving foreign embassies, preparing texts of “instructions” for Russian ambassadors, agreements, conducting negotiations, from the beginning of the 18th century. - appointment and control over the actions of permanent Russian diplomatic representatives abroad.

The embassy order was in charge of foreign merchants during their stay in Russia. In addition, the Ambassadorial Prikaz was involved in the ransom and exchange of Russian prisoners, and administered a number of territories in the south-east. country, was in charge of the Don Cossacks and the serving Tatar landowners of the central districts. Depending on the Ambassadorial order in the 2nd half of the 17th century. there were the Little Russian order, the order of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Smolensk order.

Collegium of the order in the 17th century. usually headed the Novgorod Chet (see Cheti), as well as the Vladimir Quarter and the Galician Quarter. The order contained state seals (attached to diplomatic and domestic political acts), the state archive, which included the most important foreign policy and domestic policy documentation. The order is associated with the emergence in the 17th century. a number of official historical and political works. In addition to its board (from 2-3 to 5-6 people), the order included clerks, clerks, translators and gold writers. Structurally, the Ambassadorial Prikaz was divided into districts according to territorial and state characteristics. In the 16th-17th centuries. The embassy order was headed by the most prominent Russian diplomats - Viskovaty, A. Ya. and V. Ya. Shchelkalovs, A. I. Ivanov, A. L. Ordin-Nashchokin, A. S. Matveev, V. V. Golitsyn and others.

With education at the beginning of the 18th century. The role of the Ambassadorial Office (first traveling, then permanent in St. Petersburg) is gradually declining. Abolished in 1720. Replaced by the College of Foreign Affairs.

Lit.: Belokurov S. A., About the ambassadorial order, M., 1906; Leontyev A.K., Formation of a command system of management in the Russian state, M., 1961.

Boss Ambassadorial Prikaz - head of the foreign affairs department. He could be a Duma clerk (in the beginning) or then, more and more often, a boyar, a close boyar, i.e., a person especially trusted by the tsar. At the beginning of the 18th century. - chancellor, i.e. the highest official of the first rank in the state, the second person in government after the king. This clearly demonstrates the increasing role of foreign policy affairs in the overall government leadership in Russia.

Chief's comrades Order.

At first, in the 16th century, - clerks, in the 17th century, - clerks, but not Duma officials, but only ambassadorial ones; at the end of the 17th century, - boyars. As a rule, there was only one comrade (i.e., deputy) of the head of the Order, although there could be from one to three at the same time, or in parallel, or sequentially. At least one of them had to have such competence that, if necessary, he could replace the chief either as an acting or as the actual chief of the Order.

Povytya- departments or departments of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. As a rule, from the middle of the 17th century there were five rises, although at the beginning, in the 16th century, there were only two or three, in the first half of the 17th century. - four, and by the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. even six appeared.

At the same time, despite the stable number of appointments, cases were distributed differently between them, i.e., firstly, the composition of individual departments included different countries in different periods, and secondly, administrative economic functions between departments in different periods. However, the main principle of division into departments from the very beginning of the existence of the Russian Foreign Ministry was regional studies.

At the head of the clerk stood the old clerk, that is, the eldest of the clerks who worked in the clerk. There were five old clerks in the Ambassadorial Prikaz in total - strictly according to the number of promotions. Each senior clerk was subordinate to 4 more junior clerks, from the last quarter of the 17th century. they began to be divided into middle clerks, junior (or young) clerks and new non-performers, or “newbies” - trainees, trainees appointed to the posts without salary, so that they “keep an eye on things”, i.e. for training. The total number of personnel thus engaged in diplomatic work in the central apparatus of the Ambassadorial Prikaz was as follows: 5 old clerks - heads of departments (divisions), 10-12 junior ones. Since 1689, states were established: 5 old, 20 middle and young and 5 new, i.e. 30 people in total. However, in practice, foreign policy personnel were always under-recruited due to the lack of trained persons, and at various times there were from 18 to 28 people in the Ambassadorial Prikaz. It was on them, on this small number of people, that the main burden of foreign policy work lay for a century and a half.

When distributing functions from the old clerk (head of the department) to the assistant (i.e., the junior clerk who has just moved to this rank from among the trainees, or “newbies”), the consistently pursued principle of differentiation was maintained, strictly depending on knowledge and work experience . This was reflected primarily in the salaries of diplomats. It ranged from 1600 rubles. (for the head of the department) up to 50 rubles. per year (for the referent) at comparable prices at the end of the 19th century. In the last year of operation of the Ambassadorial Prikaz (1701), before its actual liquidation, 6 old clerks, 7 middle-aged and 11 young clerks worked there, which gives some idea of the distribution of roles.

Distribution of responsibilities between departments. The districts (departments) were each occupied by a certain number of countries. generally far from equal. This depended at each historical stage on the specific state of international relations, on the presence of frequently changing counterparties (partners), i.e. foreign powers with which Russia maintained relations, on the real significance and hence on the actual volume of work with a particular country, on the competence of individual old clerks, from their specific knowledge of certain countries and, last but not least, from the will of the tsar and the head of the order and their discretion regarding what should be the “equal” workload for workers of each district, what criteria were used to guide this on what grounds was it determined and compared in each specific historical period?

If we take into account all these complex circumstances, then the structure of increases that has never been constant, but changed and formed in a confused and unsystematic manner, will become explainable to us. Although the basis of the work has been improvements since the end of the 16th century. the principle of specialization of departments by country clearly prevailed, but the very layout of these countries in districts, their combination may seem senseless, fantastic and downright inconvenient to us if we do not take into account the above circumstances and approach the assessment of the work of the then departments of the Ambassadorial Prikaz from a modern point of view . Departments (divisions) were first called by the names of their chief clerks: Alekseev’s division, Volkov’s division, Gubin’s, then by numbers; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, So, already in the middle of the 17th century. (1646) there were 4 districts (in the 70s. - 5, in the 90s - 6). Responsibilities between them were distributed as follows:

1st era: Kizilbashi (Dagestan, Azerbaijani khanates, Persia), Denmark, Holland.

2nd division: Bukhara, Yurgench (Khanate of Khiva), India, Crimea.

3rd stage: Sweden, Moldavia, Greek authorities (i.e. Patriarch of Constantinople, Metropolitan of Kiev).

4th episode: Lithuania and the Turkish Sultan.

The inclusion of Moscow’s relations with Denmark and Azerbaijan (Persia) in one department, which is “incomprehensible” to a modern view, is actually explained by the fact that these countries were in constant, stably friendly relations with Russia, and therefore the employees of this department had to develop and cultivate a certain diplomatic language, a certain soft, polite, respectful form of address when drawing up documents.

On the contrary, in the 4th period, where it was necessary to speak rather harshly, but at the same time without breaking down and avoiding insults, with two “eternal” enemies of Russia - with the Sultan and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, with the most unpredictable neighbors of Russia - naturally , other qualities had to be developed in diplomats. Neither traditions nor regulations allowed us to flexibly change the form of relationships on the fly; and everything related to changes in policy was decided by the tsar, his Duma, and it was up to the officials of the Ambassadorial Prikaz to strictly implement the instructions. That is why all shades of diplomatic relations - from hostile to varying degrees of friendly - were distributed into the five most possible categories, and the distribution of countries in these categories changed depending on specific historical circumstances. So, for example, having quarreled with the Moldavian ruler, the king could order the transfer of business with Moldova to the 4th division, and this was already enough, because the officials of this division would automatically write to the Moldavian ruler in the same tone and in the same spirit as the Turkish Sultan or Grand Duke of Lithuania. Retraining employees of the same department and changing forms of work depending on the situation was considered in the 16th and 17th centuries. extremely inconvenient and impractical: the clerks themselves could get confused, and this would be detrimental to the tsar’s prestige. The king should not have changed his orders so that this change in policy would be noticeable to his subjects: they were accustomed to everything being unchanged and stable, otherwise they would either get lost or, conversely, lose respect for power as a stable institution. Only in the 80s. XVII century, when European educated people began to be placed at the head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz and when the very nature and intensity of European affairs began to differ too sharply from Asian affairs, and besides, the linguistic factor began to play an increasingly important role, knowledge of individual European and Asian languages, while while previously it was enough to know two or three “international” ones - Church Slavonic (for all Slavic and Orthodox countries), Latin (for all Western European) and Greek (for all Eastern and for relations with church hierarchs - the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Metropolitan of Kiev), breakdown The affairs of individual developments are beginning to acquire a modern regional character.

1st chapter: The Papal Throne, the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, Spain, France, England and all protocol issues.

2nd stage: Sweden, Poland, Wallachia, Moldova, Turkey, Crimea, Holland, Hamburg, Hanseatic cities, Greeks and visits of “Greek authorities” (Patriarch of Constantinople).

3rd division: Denmark, Brandenburg, Courland and all matters related to the maintenance of technical support for relations: translators, interpreters, dragomans, scribes, gold scribes.

4th stage: Persia, Armenia, India, the Kalmyk state, the Don Cossacks, as well as everything related to communications: diplomatic mail and post office in general, couriers, messengers, messengers, messengers, security service for diplomatic workers (“violence cases” ) and sales office.

5th region: China, Bukhara, Urgench (Khiva), Siberian Kalmyks (Zzungarian state), Georgia and provision of equipment for embassy workers and registration of receptions (cloth work, gauze, linen factories, etc.).

Thus, in the 80s, 17th century, three departments dealt with European affairs, and two with Asian affairs. Here there was already a more rational organization of diplomatic work, in which it was possible to specialize workers not only in the form of work, but also in the country, in the very content of diplomatic work. And yet, even at the end of the 17th century. have not yet come to a decision on separating all auxiliary departments from diplomatic work - security, communications, economic services, trade missions. They were given “as a load” little by little to each of the main promotions, without realizing to relieve diplomats from the functions of supply managers or security guards, which were not typical for them.

This structure remains, in fact, until the very end of the existence of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, for back in 1701-1702. there was the following division into divisions (departments), where, on the one hand, a shift towards even greater rationality in the division of countries is visible, and on the other, blind adherence to tradition in preserving the old order: 1st division: Papal Throne, German Empire, France , England, Portugal, Florence, Italy, Venice, the Electors of Germany, as well as protocol (ceremonial) matters and medical support (quarantines, doctors, pharmacists).

2nd stage: Greek issues (Constantinople), Denmark, Brandenburg, Courland, as well as security issues (bailiffs and watchmen) and technical support (translators, interpreters, scribes, gold-scribes, etc.).

3rd region: Poland, Sweden, Holland, Turkey, Crimea, Moldova, Wallachia. (It is easy to see that all the most important, key foreign policy relations of that time were united in this department; the tsar himself was often interested in this department and often led its affairs, and therefore both European and Asian affairs relating to military-strategic and military-foreign policy issues were united here : it was a department of neighboring countries on the western border of the empire.) Holland fell into this company for two reasons: firstly, it was a country that was distinguished at that time by the tsar himself (Peter I), and secondly, it was closely connected with the solution of military-diplomatic issues, all the naval equipment and training necessary for Peter I’s wars at sea with both Turkey and Sweden came from there; in addition, Holland competed with Sweden in trade in the Baltic.

4th War: Persia, Armenia, Don Cossacks, Hanseatic cities, Riga, regulation of the position of foreign merchants in Russia - dealt with the affairs of neutral countries.

5th era: Georgia - Kartalinia and Georgia - Imereti, China, Central Asia - Bukhara, Urgench (Khiva) - was of a purely Asian character.

6th stage: Separately, issues of relations with the North and Siberia, the so-called. Stroganov affairs, i.e. for the first time the government took into its own hands a vast area of relations with the Siberian and northern peoples, which began to be in charge from the 15th century. in fact, various private individuals under the personal power of attorney of the king. As a result, Russia’s relations with the peoples of Siberia, including with various local (native) states, acquired distorted, colonial-coercive forms, which did not even come from the state, but from private individuals who for centuries allowed arbitrariness for narrow selfish purposes. Such were the relations with the Great Perm, Vym, Pelym, Kondinsky, Lyapinsky, Obdorsky, Surgut “principalities”, i.e. with the local state-tribal formations of the Mansi (Vogul) and Khanty (Ostyak) peoples, as well as with the Zhungarian, Oirat and others tribal unions and states (khanates) located from the Urals to the borders of the Chinese Empire. Starting from 1700, relations in this region were for the first time placed under the direct control of the state and therefore included in the jurisdiction of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, its special, g-th, department.

This was the structure of the Russian Foreign Ministry before its reorganization into the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.

In the Ambassadorial Prikaz, in addition to the actual diplomatic workers of the central apparatus, various support workers constantly worked to ensure the technical implementation of diplomatic orders and acts.

1. Translators- this was the name given only to translators from various foreign languages who prepared Russian texts of foreign documents and verified the identity of the texts of Russian treaties with their foreign version.

In addition to the actual diplomatic work, they were also busy compiling various reference and educational “state books.” Thus, it was in the Ambassadorial Prikaz that the “Titular Book”, “Cosmography”, the collection of church-state canonical rules and laws “Vasiliologion” and other books were compiled that were of an enduring encyclopedic nature and, moreover, related to the processing and collection of information from foreign sources. The translators were, in fact, the first press attaches of the then foreign policy department.

The number of translators from the moment of the organization of the Ambassadorial Prikaz until its dissolution at the beginning of the 18th century. It fluctuated greatly, but grew all the time as the volume of work and the number of countries that entered into diplomatic relations with Moscow grew. There were from 10 to 20 translators from languages (pay was three to five times higher than interpreters and interpreters):

1) Greek classical (ancient Greek, or Hellenic);

2) colloquial Greek (Modern Greek);

3) Volosh (Vlach, Romanian);

4) Latin (classical);

5) Caesar's Latin (i.e. from Vulgar Latin);

6) Polish;

7) Dutch;

8) English;

9) Caesar (Austrian-German);

10) Tatar;

11) Kalmyk;

12) Tursky (Turkish);

13) Arabic;

14) German (Low Saxon);

15) Swedish.

2. Tolmachi- in total from 12 to 16. Everyone knew from 2 to 4 languages. Combinations: Tatar, Turkish and Italian - common for that time, as well as Latin, Polish, German. Translated from the following languages.

Caused a significant expansion of the functions of the Ambassadorial Prikaz and its staff (in 1689 it already included 53 clerks, 22 translators and 17 interpreters). Structurally, it was divided on a territorial-state basis into districts. In addition, since 1621, the clerks of the Ambassadorial Prikaz began to prepare handwritten “Newsletters” - the first Russian newspaper - especially for Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich. Foreign newspapers served as a source of information from abroad; news within the country came from various orders.

The Ambassadorial Order was entrusted with the general management of the country's foreign policy and all current diplomacy: sending Russian embassies abroad, receiving and leaving foreign embassies, preparing texts of instructions (“mandates”) for Russian ambassadors and correspondence with them, preparing agreements, conducting negotiations, and with the beginning of the 18th century, also the appointment and control over the actions of permanent Russian diplomatic representatives abroad. The embassy order was in charge of foreign merchants during their stay in Russia and in general with all visiting foreigners, except for the military. In addition, he was involved in the ransom and exchange of Russian prisoners, governed the newly annexed territories (Siberia, Smolensk land, etc.), and was in charge of the serving Tatar landowners of the central districts.

Chapters

№	Name	Authority		Current head of state
№	Name	Start	Ending	Current head of state
Ambassadorial order
1	Ivan Viskovatov			Ivan IV
2	Andrey Shchelkalov			Ivan IV, Fedor I Ioannovich, Boris Godunov
3	Vasily Shchelkalov			Boris Godunov
4	Afanasy Vlasev			Boris Godunov, Fedor II Godunov, False Dmitry I
5	Ivan Gramotin			False Dmitry I
6	Peter Tretyakov			Vasily Shuisky
7	Ivan Gramotin			False Dmitry II
8	Peter Tretyakov			Mikhail Fedorovich
9	Ivan Gramotin			Mikhail Fedorovich
10	Almaz (Erofey) Ivanov			Mikhail Fedorovich, Alexey Mikhailovich
11	Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin			Alexey Mikhailovich
12	Artamon Matveev			Alexey Mikhailovich, Fedor III Alekseevich
13	Larion Ivanov			Fedor III Alekseevich, Peter I
14	Vasily Golitsyn			Peter I
15	Emelyan Ukraintsev			Peter I
16	Lev Naryshkin			Peter I
17	Fedor Golovin			Peter I
18	Pyotr Shafirov			Peter I
19	Gavrila Golovkin			Peter I, Catherine I, Peter II, Anna Ioannovna

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Literature

Vasilenko N. P.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Demidova N. F. Education under the Ambassadorial and Local orders // Essays on the history of school and pedagogical thought of the peoples of the USSR from ancient times to the end of the 17th century. - M., 1989. - P. 103-107.
Review of embassy books from the funds - collections stored in the Central State Academy of Arts (late 15th - early 18th centuries) / Comp. N. M. Rogozhin. - M., 1990.
Inventory of the archive of the Ambassadorial Prikaz of 1626: In 2 hours / Ed. S. O. Schmidt. - M., 1977.
Inventory of the archive of the Ambassadorial Prikaz of 1673: In 2 hours / Ed. S. O. Schmidt. - M., 1990.
Rogozhin N. M. Ambassadorial order and its role in the conduct of Russian foreign policy // History of Russian foreign policy. The end of the XV-XVII centuries (from the overthrow of the Horde yoke to the Northern War). - M., 1999. - P. 343-406.
Rogozhin N. M. In sovereign affairs it is ordered... - M., 2002.
Rogozhin N. M. Dialogue of religions in the diplomacy of medieval Rus' // Ancient Rus'. Questions of medieval studies. - 2000. - No. 1. - P. 40-50.
Savva V.I. About the Ambassadorial Prikaz in the 16th century. - Kharkov, 1917.
Savva V.I. Clerks and clerks of the Ambassadorial Prikaz in the 16th century: Directory / Comp. V. I. Savva; Preface S. O. Schmidt; . - M., 1983. - 228 p.

Links

Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.



Chapters Ambassadorial order

Presidents Collegium of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Ministers before 1917

White movement 1918-1920

People's Commissars and Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR 1917 - 1991

It was hot all day, a thunderstorm was gathering somewhere, but only a small cloud splashed on the dust of the road and on the succulent leaves. The left side of the forest was dark, in shadow; the right one, wet and glossy, glistened in the sun, slightly swaying in the wind. Everything was in bloom; the nightingales chattered and rolled, now close, now far away. “Yes, here, in this forest, there was this oak tree with which we agreed,” thought Prince Andrei. “Where is he,” Prince Andrei thought again, looking at the left side of the road and without knowing it, without recognizing him, he admired the oak tree that he was looking for. The old oak tree, completely transformed, spread out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, swayed slightly, swaying slightly in the rays of the evening sun. No gnarled fingers, no sores, no old mistrust and grief - nothing was visible. Juicy, young leaves broke through the tough, hundred-year-old bark without knots, so it was impossible to believe that this old man had produced them. “Yes, this is that same oak tree,” thought Prince Andrei, and suddenly an unreasonable, spring feeling of joy and renewal came over him. All the best moments of his life suddenly came back to him at the same time. And Austerlitz with the high sky, and the dead, reproachful face of his wife, and Pierre on the ferry, and the girl excited by the beauty of the night, and this night, and the moon - and all this suddenly came to his mind. “No, life is not over at the age of 31, Prince Andrei suddenly finally, permanently decided. Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary for everyone to know me, so that my life does not go on for me alone So that they don’t live so independently of my life, so that it affects everyone and so that they all live with me!” Returning from his trip, Prince Andrei decided to go to St. Petersburg in the fall and came up with various reasons for this decision. A whole series of reasonable, logical arguments why he needed to go to St. Petersburg and even serve were ready at his service every minute. Even now he did not understand how he could ever doubt the need to take an active part in life, just as a month ago he did not understand how the thought of leaving the village could have occurred to him. It seemed clear to him that all his experiences in life would have been in vain and would have been meaningless if he had not applied them to action and taken an active part in life again. He did not even understand how, on the basis of the same poor reasonable arguments, it had previously been obvious that he would have humiliated himself if now, after his life lessons, he again believed in the possibility of being useful and in the possibility of happiness and love. Now my mind suggested something completely different. After this trip, Prince Andrei began to get bored in the village, his previous activities did not interest him, and often, sitting alone in his office, he got up, went to the mirror and looked at his face for a long time. Then he turned away and looked at the portrait of the deceased Lisa, who, with her curls whipped up a la grecque [in Greek], tenderly and cheerfully looked at him from the golden frame. She no longer spoke the same terrible words to her husband; she simply and cheerfully looked at him with curiosity. And Prince Andrei, clasping his hands back, walked around the room for a long time, now frowning, now smiling, reconsidering those unreasonable, inexpressible in words, secret as a crime thoughts associated with Pierre, with fame, with the girl on the window, with the oak tree, with female beauty and love that changed his whole life. And at these moments, when someone came to him, he was especially dry, strictly decisive and especially unpleasantly logical. “Mon cher, [My dear,],” Princess Marya would say when entering at such a moment, “Nikolushka can’t go for a walk today: it’s very cold.” “If it were warm,” Prince Andrei answered his sister especially dryly at such moments, “then he would go in just a shirt, but since it’s cold, we need to put warm clothes on him, which were invented for this purpose.” This is what follows from the fact that it’s cold, and not like staying at home when the child needs air,” he said with particular logic, as if punishing someone for all this secret, illogical inner work that was happening in him. Princess Marya thought in these cases about how this mental work dries out men. Prince Andrey arrived in St. Petersburg in August 1809. This was the time of the apogee of the glory of the young Speransky and the energy of the revolutions he carried out. In this very August, the sovereign, while riding in a carriage, fell out, injured his leg, and remained in Peterhof for three weeks, seeing daily and exclusively with Speransky. At this time, not only two so famous and alarming decrees were being prepared on the abolition of court ranks and on examinations for the ranks of collegiate assessors and state councilors, but also an entire state constitution, which was supposed to change the existing judicial, administrative and financial order of government of Russia from the state council to the volost board. Now those vague, liberal dreams with which Emperor Alexander ascended the throne were being realized and embodied, and which he sought to realize with the help of his assistants Chartorizhsky, Novosiltsev, Kochubey and Strogonov, whom he himself jokingly called comite du salut publique. [committee of public safety.] Now everyone has been replaced by Speransky on the civil side and Arakcheev on the military side. Prince Andrei, soon after his arrival, as a chamberlain, came to the court and left. The Tsar, having met him twice, did not honor him with a single word. It always seemed to Prince Andrei that he was antipathetic to the sovereign, that the sovereign was unpleasant about his face and his whole being. In the dry, distant look with which the sovereign looked at him, Prince Andrei found confirmation of this assumption even more than before. The courtiers explained to Prince Andrey the sovereign's lack of attention to him by the fact that His Majesty was dissatisfied with the fact that Bolkonsky had not served since 1805. “I myself know how much we have no control over our likes and dislikes,” thought Prince Andrei, and therefore there is no need to think about personally presenting my note on the military regulations to the sovereign, but the matter will speak for itself.” He conveyed his note to the old field marshal, a friend of his father. The field marshal, having appointed an hour for him, received him kindly and promised to report to the sovereign. A few days later it was announced to Prince Andrey that he had to appear before the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev. At nine o'clock in the morning, on the appointed day, Prince Andrei appeared in the reception room of Count Arakcheev. Prince Andrei did not know Arakcheev personally and had never seen him, but everything he knew about him inspired him with little respect for this man. “He is the Minister of War, the confidant of the Emperor; no one should care about his personal properties; he was instructed to consider my note, therefore he alone can give it a go,” thought Prince Andrei, waiting among many important and unimportant persons in the reception room of Count Arakcheev. Prince Andrei, during his mostly adjutant service, saw a lot of adopted important persons and the different characters of these adopted ones were very clear to him. Count Arakcheev had a very special character in his reception room. A sense of shame and humility was written on the unimportant faces waiting in line for an audience in Count Arakcheev’s reception room; on the more official faces one common feeling of awkwardness was expressed, hidden under the guise of swagger and ridicule of oneself, one’s position and one’s expected face. Some walked thoughtfully back and forth, others laughed in whispers, and Prince Andrei heard the sobriquet [mocking nickname] of Andreich’s forces and the words: “uncle will ask,” referring to Count Arakcheev. One general (an important person), apparently offended that he had to wait so long, sat crossing his legs and smiling contemptuously at himself. But as soon as the door opened, all the faces instantly expressed only one thing - fear. Prince Andrei asked the duty officer to report about himself another time, but they looked at him with ridicule and said that his turn would come in due time. After several persons were brought in and out by the adjutant from the minister’s office, an officer was let in through the terrible door, striking Prince Andrei with his humiliated and frightened appearance. The officer's audience lasted a long time. Suddenly, peals of an unpleasant voice were heard from behind the door, and a pale officer, with trembling lips, came out of there, grabbed his head, and walked through the reception area. Following this, Prince Andrei was led to the door, and the attendant said in a whisper: “to the right, to the window.” Prince Andrei entered a modest, neat office and at the desk saw a forty-year-old man with a long waist, a long, short-cropped head and thick wrinkles, with frowning eyebrows over brown, dull green eyes and a drooping red nose. Arakcheev turned his head towards him, without looking at him.

In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin dated October 31, 2002, a professional holiday was established - Diplomat's Day, which is celebrated on February 10. In Russian historiography, this date is conventionally considered to be the day of the formation of the first foreign policy department of Russia - the Ambassadorial Prikaz.

There is no exact official date for the establishment of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, since no special act on its creation and functions has been preserved. It was created from the State Court - the office of the Moscow state, which was also involved in foreign relations. By the middle of the 16th century, the external relations of the Moscow state had expanded so much that an urgent need arose to create a central department for foreign affairs.

In 1549, Tsar Ivan IV ordered the Duma clerk Ivan Mikhailovich Viskovaty to “take charge of the embassy affairs,” who in a short time managed to put the embassy documents in order, dismantled and systematized the extensive royal archive, which was badly damaged by the fire of 1547. For the first time, inventories of archival documents appeared under him, and records of used business papers were kept. It was under Viskovaty that the Ambassadorial Office was finally formed, which was soon called the order.

This is what the documents of those years say, in particular “A brief extract about the correspondence, wars and truces between Poland and Russia”, made in the Ambassadorial Prikaz around 1565-1566: “In the year 57 (i.e. in 7057" from the creation of the world" or 1549) the ambassadorial work of Ivan Viskovaty was ordered, and he was still a clerk...". It also says that on February 1 (10), 1549, I. Viskovaty, together with the clerk Bakaka Karacharov and the Lithuanian clerk, wrote a letter of peace, that is, an agreement on a truce, at the State Court. Thus, the date February 1 (10), 1549 is considered the most accurate date for the founding of the Ambassadorial Prikaz.

From the very beginning, the Ambassadorial Prikaz became the center where information about all external affairs flowed. Here they asked visiting strangers about what they saw and heard, about events taking place in the world, about the relationships of monarchs, etc. Reports from Russian ambassadors were received here, containing a wide variety of information about the countries where they had been, from which it was possible to judge what was interest for Russia at that time. Orders for Russian ambassadors going abroad were also prepared here. From 1549 to 1559 alone, 32 embassies from different countries visited Moscow.

The Ambassadorial Prikaz was in charge of not only diplomatic affairs, but also legal matters relating to trade. The letters of commendation directly stated to foreign merchants that in addition to exemption from duties, they could enjoy the privilege of suing Russian subjects through the Ambassadorial Prikaz.

In the 17th century, the growth of the international importance of the Russian state caused a significant expansion of the functions of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Structurally, it was divided on a territorial-state basis into districts, that is, unique departments that performed certain functions. The order included bailiffs and watchmen. All employees of the order were sworn in, promising to keep state secrets, not communicate with foreigners, and to translate truthfully when translating. The order also had gold painters, that is, those who painted letters sent to foreign countries with gold and paints (usually the borders of letters and the initial words were painted). The Ambassadorial Order was entrusted with the general management of the country's foreign policy and all current diplomatic work. In addition, the Ambassadorial Prikaz kept state seals and the state archive.

If in the 16th century the Ambassadorial Prikaz was mainly an office for external relations, executing the decisions of the Tsar and the Boyar Duma, then in the 17th century it turned into a central government institution with broad powers and significant independence.

Since 1667, the head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz was no longer clerks, but boyars; some of them, for example A.L. Ordin-Nashchokin, were given a special title - “the guardian of the royal great seal and state great ambassadorial affairs.” Among the leaders of the Ambassadorial Prikaz there were many outstanding Russian diplomats - A. Ya. Shchelkalov and V. Ya. Shchelkalov, A. S. Matveev, V. V. Golitsyn, E. I. Ukraintsev and others.

The main task of Russian diplomacy at that time was control, monitoring relations with foreign states, annexing new territories and gathering the Russian state. A. L. Ordin-Nashchokin, in one of his addresses to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, especially emphasized: “In the reigning city of Moscow, the immaculate people should guard the Ambassadorial Order like the apple of their eye. Because this institution is the eye of all great Russia!” Russian diplomacy monitored the observance of “state interest” in the most attentive manner.

The small staff of the Ambassadorial Prikaz tirelessly maintained relations with almost three dozen countries, collecting military, political, economic and cultural information about the countries of Europe and Asia. In fact, the employees of the Order laid the foundations and principles of Russian diplomacy.

In the second half of the 17th century, the Ambassadorial Prikaz began to be called the State Prikaz, which emphasized its special significance. Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, it received the name of the State Order of the Embassy Press. Since the 80s of the 17th century, it was sometimes called the State Embassy Chancellery, which later, under Peter I, was transformed into the Ambassadorial Camping Chancellery, and then in 1720 into the College of Foreign Affairs.

Prepared based on the article A. Y. GUSEVOY,
third secretary of traffic police

ORDIN-NASHCHOKIN AFANASY LAVRENTIEVICH (1606–1680) - Russian statesman and military leader, diplomat and politician during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Born into the family of a poor nobleman. Local sextons taught him literacy and mathematics, the Poles taught him Polish and Latin, and later he himself mastered German and Moldavian. Like all young nobles at that time, in 1622 he began “regimental service.” In 1642 he was involved in ambassadorial work at the court of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. During the Russian-Swedish and Russian-Polish wars of the mid-17th century. was both a governor and a diplomat, and proved himself to be a capable military leader. In 1656 he signed a treaty of friendship and alliance with Courland. Ordin launched an active struggle against trade privileges for foreign merchants, proposing to oblige them to pay high duties for the goods they imported. Having achieved the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo with Poland, which was beneficial for Russia, in 1667, he received the rank of boyar and became the head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz.

One of Ordin-Nashchokin’s first actions as head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz was the implementation of the New Trade Charter. The Charter of 1667 generalized the provisions on customs duties and strengthened the protective nature of taxation. This gave impetus to the formation of an all-Russian market. In the capital building of the Ambassadorial Prikaz under Ordina, foreigners began to be received - everything marked the beginning of the development of diplomatic etiquette in Russia. For all of Ordin’s diplomatic qualities - intelligence, eloquence, tenacity for life - maneuvering in the whirlpools of the political life of Russia was becoming more and more difficult for him as he grew older. Directness in judgment brought his disgrace closer. In 1671 he was removed from service in the Ambassadorial Prikaz, returned to his homeland and became a monk under the name of Monk Anthony. But there was no better expert on Polish realities in the country, and in 1679 the tsar sent for Ordin to Moscow. But his advice regarding the Poles was considered outdated, Ordin himself was removed from the negotiations and returned to Pskov. There he died a year later, in 1680 in the Krypetsky Monastery at the age of 74.
A. L. Ordin-Nashchokin belonged to the cohort of Russian reformers who knew how to combine the interests of patriotism and renewal. He sought to protect domestic production through protectionist measures and updated fiscal policy. His patronage of the development of trade and the fleet and the establishment of trade relations between Russia and many countries also played a major role. Ordin raised the importance of embassy service, giving it economic and political justification. A highly educated man of his time, Ordin-Nashchokin stood out among the courtiers with his lively mind, brilliant rhetorical talent, and erudition. His versatile activities left a deep mark on many areas of Russian life, preparing the country for the reforms of Peter I.

Artamon Sergeevich Matveev (1671-1682) A. L. Ordin-Nashchokin’s successor as head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz in February 1671 was the Duma nobleman, hereditary diplomat Artamon Sergeevich Matveev. A. S. Matveev enjoyed unlimited trust Alexei Mikhailovich, for which there were serious reasons. He grew up and was brought up in the palace with the king. Possessing many talents, Matveev, just like his predecessor, was a member of the “elected Duma” formed around the tsar. Even before he assumed the post of head of the foreign policy department, Matveev did a lot in the diplomatic field. In 1653 he headed the embassy to Ukraine and negotiated with B. Khmelnitsky on the issue of reunification of Ukraine with Russia. As a result of all the negotiations, in January 1654, the reunification of Russian and Ukrainian lands took place. In April 1669, A.S. Matveev headed the Little Russian Order. Here he proved himself to be a flexible politician, a skilled diplomat, and he managed to smooth out the sharpest corners in the relationship between the authorities and the local population. Contemporaries noted his special ability to get along with people, avoid conflicts, his loyalty and devotion to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who highly valued Matveev’s merits. In 1672, soon after being appointed head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, Artamon Sergeevich was granted okolnichy, and in October 1674 he was promoted to nearby boyar.
Matveev’s diplomatic activities coincided with grueling negotiations and Russia’s long and persistent struggle with Poland and Lithuania for Little Russia. After successful negotiations with the Poles in 1674, Artamon Sergeevich signed an agreement assigning Kyiv to Russia. Being an ardent supporter of Russia's rapprochement with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Matveev was convinced that such an alliance was necessary to unite the Slavs against Turkey. Wanting to enlist the support of other European countries in creating an anti-Turkish coalition, he sent Russian diplomats to England, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Austria, Brandenburg and Prussia. However, these plans remained unfulfilled due to the war in Europe itself. Matveev continued the policy of his predecessors to develop Russia’s relations with the countries of the East, India and China.

Under Matveev, reference books necessary for diplomats were compiled in the Ambassadorial Prikaz for official purposes. The author of one of them, called “Titular Book,” was Matveev. This book is a detailed account of the history of diplomatic relations between the Moscow State and foreign countries.
After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, due to intrigues, Matveev found himself in disgrace and was removed from the management of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. In the struggle between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys for succession to the throne, A. S. Matveev, an adherent of Peter, fell victim to the Streltsy revolt of 1682.

Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn (1643 - 1714) - boyar, diplomat and statesman of pre-Petrine Rus'. The actual head of the Russian government during the regency of Princess Sophia (1682-89) with the rank of voivode. He received an excellent education at home and spoke fluent Latin, Greek, Polish and German. Possessing a sharp and sober mind, Vasily Vasilyevich came to the conclusion about the need to transform the system of power, realizing what difficulties he would have to face at court in the struggle to implement his ideas.
One of his missions was related to the task of leading Russia out of a crisis foreign policy situation, when the country was under the threat of border raids by Tatar hordes and the invasion of its former ally, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The result of Golitsyn’s far-sighted policy was the conclusion in 1681 of the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty, which established a buffer zone between the Dnieper and the Bug for 20 years.

Under Sophia, V.V. Golitsyn headed the Ambassadorial Prikaz in May 1682. In addition to the institutions in charge of Russia's foreign relations, Prince Vasily took control of the combat-ready units of the Russian army into his own hands. By 1683, a difficult situation had developed in Russia: the Ottomans were strengthening along the Dnieper, the Crimean raids intensified, troops were concentrated on the Swedish border and a Polish invasion was being prepared. Access to the Baltic and associated trade with the West seemed to him less promising for Russia compared to strengthening its positions in the Black Sea. He considered it vitally important to develop the southern Russian lands and liberate his co-religionists from Ottoman rule in the Caucasus and Balkans. At the same time, he successfully used the balance of interests in Europe without causing damage to his partners. So, for example, with the Swedes, without resorting to military demonstrations, he achieved in 1683 an extension of the Peace of Kardis, having the opportunity to concentrate forces in the southern direction.
Golitsyn showed true diplomatic skill in negotiations with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, concluding the “Eternal Peace” in April 1686, according to which the reunification of Ukraine with Russia was legally enshrined. The treaty put an end to the discord between the Slavic states and announced Russia's entry into the war with the Turks as part of the Holy League - Austria, Poland and Venice.

The aggravation of the internal political situation in Russia in connection with the struggle for power led to the fall of Sophia’s reign and the disgrace of V.V. Golitsyn.

The inquisitive mind and comprehensive education of V.V. Golitsyn allowed him to correctly assess the political processes taking place in the world and determine the main directions in Russian foreign policy. He respected the achievements of European countries in various fields and considered it necessary to establish permanent Russian diplomatic missions there. He introduced informal meetings at home for the first time into diplomatic practice with foreigners who saw him as a kindred spirit.