Exploring Russia in the Elizabethan commonwealth

The Muscovy Company and Giles Fletcher, the elder (15461611)

By (author) Felicity Jane Stout

Hardback - £85.00

Publication date:

01 October 2015

Length of book:

272 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

234x156mm

ISBN-13: 9780719097003

Exploring Russia in the Elizabethan Commonwealth tells the story of English relations with Russia, from the ‘strange and wonderfull discoverie’ of the land and Elizabeth I’s correspondence with Ivan the Terrible, to the corruption of the Muscovy Company and the Elizabethan regime’s censorship of politically sensitive representations of Russia. Focusing on the life and works of Giles Fletcher, the elder, ambassador to Russia in 1588, this work explores two popular themes in Elizabethan history: exploration, travel and trade and late Elizabethan political culture. By analysing the pervasive languages of commonwealth, corruption and tyranny found in both the Muscovy Company accounts and in Fletcher’s writings on Russia, this monograph explores how Russia was a useful tool for Elizabethans to think with when they contemplated the nature of government and the changing face of monarchy in the late Elizabethan regime. It will appeal to academics and students of Elizabethan political culture and literary studies, as well as those of early modern travel and trade.