Goods Chambers of the Secret Affairs Order in the Russian state in the second half of the 17th century

About the author:

Larisa Yu. Varentsova, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Professor, Department of Theory and History of State and Law, Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

l_varentsova.65@mail.ru

Abstract:

In 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich established the Secret Affairs Order, which functioned until the death of the great emperor in 1676. It dealt with political, palace, military, civil, and criminal matters. The purpose of this article is to study a special area in the activities of the Secret Order — the management of Large and Small Goods Chambers of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The source base was unpublished office documents from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (Moscow) (f. 27 “Order of Secret Affairs”, f. 396 “The Armory”), memoirs of foreign contemporaries — the German traveler A. Olearius, Patriarch Macarius III of Antioch, secretary of the Austrian embassy, who arrived in Moscow in 1675, A. Lizek. From fund 27, we used case 367 “On the management of the Astrakhan, Chernoyarsk and Yaitsky fisheries in the order of the Grand Palace in 1676”. It examines the activities of the liquidation commission headed by boyars knyazs N. I. Odoevsky and M. Yu. Dolgoruky after the abolition of the Secret Order in 1676, and determines the fate of the main economic facilities belonging to this central institution. Out of fund 396, we analyzed case 53158 called “February 1676. List of villages, hamlets, ironworks, saltworks, and fisheries under the Secret Affairs Order”. The case reflects the main directions of the palace economy, which was under the jurisdiction of the Secret Affairs Order. The memoirs of the German traveler A. Olearia characterize Russian international trade in the 17th century. The memoirs of Patriarch Macarius III of Antioch and Secretary of the Austrian Embassy A. Lizek are illustrative material about gifts given by foreign guests to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The author came to the conclusion that the appearance of the chambers was associated with the development of diplomatic and trade relations in Russia in the second half of the 17th century, the active participation of clerks and scribes of the Secret Affairs Order in their functioning.

References:

Astashkin, R. S. (2021). The place of the Moscow Tsardom in the expansion of Europeans to the East in the 16th–17th Centuries (to the statement of the problem). Bulletin of Samara University. History, Pedagogy, Philology, 27(4), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.18287/2542-0445-2021-27-4-19-28 [In Russian]

Bazilevich, K. V., & Ustyugov, N. V. (1955). Trade. In A. V. Novoselsky, & N. V. Ustyugov (Eds.), Essays on the History of the USSR. The Period of Feudalism in the 17th Century (pp. 113–139). Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences. [In Russian]

Baranovsky, M. (1914). The Palace Economy in the Secret Affairs Order. Printing House of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir. [In Russian]

Buganov, V. I. (1989). The World of History. Russia in the 17th Century. Molodaya Gvardiya. [In Russian]

Veselovsky, S. B. (1912). The Order of the Administration of the Moscow State. Tip. T-va I. N. Kushnerev and Co. [In Russian]

Gurlyand, I. Ya. (1902). The Order of the Great Sovereign of Secret Affairs. Printing House of the Provincial Government. [In Russian]

Dal, V. I. (2002). Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language: In Twelve Vols. Vol. 4. Zak-Kach. Mir Knigi. [In Russian]

Dal, V. I. (2003). Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language: In Twelve Vols. Vol. 11. Sap-Tekh. Mir Knigi. [In Russian]

Demkin, A. V. (2007). Industry and trade of the Russian State in the 16th–17th centuries. In A. V. Semenova (Ed.), Collection of Articles “Connection of Centuries: Research on Source Studies of Russian History before 1917. In Memory of Professor A. A. Preobrazhensky” (pp. 87–98). Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN). [In Russian]

Dubman, E. L. (2000). Industrial Entrepreneurship and Development of the Lower Volga Region in the Second Half of the 16th–17th Centuries [Dr. Sci. (Hist.) dissertation]. Samara. [In Russian]

Zaozersky, A. I. (1937). Tsar’s Estate in the 17th Century. From the History of the Economic and Administrative Policy of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. State Social and Economic Publishing House. [In Russian]

Kovrigina, V. A., & Marasinova, L. M. (1979). Trade, routes, and means of transportation. In A. V. Artsikhovsky (Ed.), Essays on Russian Culture of the 17th Century. Part 1 (pp. 122–144.). Moscow University Press. [In Russian]

Kostomarov, N. I. (1862). Essay on the Trade of the Moscow State in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Nikolai Tiblen Publishing House. [In Russian]

Kostomarov, N. I. (1997). Russian History in Biographies of Its Most Important Figures: In 3 Books (Vol. 2). Phoenix. [In Russian]

Kotoshikhin, G. K. (2000). On Russia in the Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN). [In Russian]

Christensen, S. O. (1989). History of Russia in the 17th Century. A Review of Research and Sources. Progress. [In Russian]

Lisek, A. (1837). The Tale of Adolf Lisek about the Embassy from the Emperor of Rome, Leopold, to the Grand Tsar of Moscow, Alexei Mikhailovich, in 1675 (Translation from Latin by I. Tarnava-Borichevsky). Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. [In Russian]

Liseitsev, D. V., Rogozhin, N. M., and Eskin, Yu. M. (2015). Orders of the Moscow State in the 16th and 17th Centuries: A Reference Dictionary. Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts; Center for Humanitarian Initiatives. [In Russian]

Olearius, A. (2003). Description of a Journey to Moscovy (Translation from German by A. M. Lovyagin). Rusich. [In Russian]

The Journey of Patriarch Macarius of Antioch to Moscow in the 17th Century. (1898). (Translation from Arabic by G. A. Murkos). P. P. Soikin’s Publishing House. [In Russian]

Solovyov, S. M. (1962). History of Russia from Ancient Times: In 15 Books (Book 7. Vol. 13–14). Sotsekgiz. [In Russian]

Rabinovich, Ya. N. (2019). The Beginning of the functioning of the overland trade route from Saratov to Moscow in the third quarter of the 17th century. Bulletin of Saratov University. New Series. Series History. International Relations, 19(2), 225–232. [In Russian]

Romanovsky, V. E. (1911). State Institutions of Ancient and Modern Russia. I. Knebel. [In Russian]

Ustyugov, N. V. (1974). Scientific Heritage. Economic Development, Class Struggle, and Culture in the Russian State in the 17th Century. The Peoples of Central Asia and the Urals in the 13th–18th Centuries. Nauka. [In Russian]