Embassy of Prince Grigory Konstantinovich Volkonsky to the Crimea in 1614–1615

Abstract

Introduction. The author examines the insufficiently studied period of diplomatic communicationsof the Moscow Tsardom and the Crimean Khanate after Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov’s enthronement, which led to establishing relatively peaceful mutual relations between them at the final stage of military and political confrontation of Russia with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Crown. Materials. The paper reveals the circumstances of establishing contractual relations between Moscow and Bakhchysarai on the basis of unpublished sources. The information from the columns of 1613–1614 about the stay of the embassy of A. Lodyzhensky and P. Danilov in the Crimea from autumn of 1613 to July 1614, the preparation and holding of the embassy congress and exchange of ambassadors at Livny in August 1614, the stay of the embassy of Prince G.K. Volkonsky and P. Ovdokimov in the Crimea in August 1614 – June 1615, the stay of Magmet Chelebi’s embassy in Moscow in September 1614 – March 1615 and, finally, the embassy exchange under Valuyki in July 1615 form a single set of documents that let us trace the course of diplomatic relations between the Moscow Tsardom and the Crimean Khanate in 1613–1615. The decisive stage in difficult and tense diplomatic negotiations of the parties in this period, in our opinion, is the stay of the embassy of Prince Grigory Konstantinovich Volkonsky and clerk Peter Ovdokimov in the Crimea. Results. This article shows the role of relations with the Crimea in general foreign policy of the government of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and in the restoration of military and political control over the Lower Volga Region territory.