Kremlin showed one of the strangest diplomatic documents in the history of relations between Russia and France.
Paris, April 1595. The Flemish merchant Michel Musheron is pleased: he finally managed to get a royal charter, with a seal! Now you can safely go to distant Muscovy: the message contains a request to grant Mr. Moucheron the right to free trade. At the same time, it contains a request to leave the doctor Paul to France to see family and friends. In return, it was promised to send in his place an equally skilled healer. The king’s message was connected with the desire to expand trade markets for European merchants – suppliers of the French court. King Henry IV also intended to purchase a consignment of wax through Michel Musheron for the needs of the royal house.
A letter is like a letter: at a time when foreign business trips were an exceptional affair, letters of this kind served as an analogue of today’s passports. Another thing is surprising: although more than ten years passed after the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and the accession to the throne of his son Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich in 1584, no one at the court in Paris really knew about it!
Today, in the era of twitter diplomacy, a royal letter with an addressee in the style of “grandfather’s village” looks very unusual.
The diploma of Henry IV has survived to this day and now, along with 232 other unique exhibits, can be seen at the exhibition “France and Russia. Ten Centuries Together ”, which opened on September 17, 2021 at the Moscow Kremlin Museums.
The further fate of Michel Moucheron is vague. We do not know if the request to authorize the purchase of wax was granted. But it is known that the physician Paul was not released to Paris. Remaining in Moscow, he soon got married and lived in the capital for several more years. Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich had less than three years to rule: in January 1598, he died, and the Rurik dynasty was interrupted with him. But that’s a completely different story …
Exhibition “France and Russia. Ten Centuries Together ”is taking place in the Exhibition Halls of the Assumption Belfry and the Patriarchal Palace until January 9, 2022.
