Contents

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………3-4

1. GILES FLETCHER'S 'OF THE RUSSE COMMONWEALTH'…..5-15

   1. Historical background…………………………..………………….5-7

   2. Giles Fletcher's biography…………...………………..……………7-8

   3. 'Of the Russe Commonwealth'……………………………………..8-9

   4. The analysis of 'Of the Russe Commonwealth' ……………...….10-15

      1. The descriptions of the country……………..………………..10-11

      2. The description of the Tsar’s family……………..…………..11-12

      3. The state and form of the Russe government….……………..12-13

      4. The description of common people……………..……………13-14

      5. Religious attitude………………..……...…………………….14-15

2. SILVESTER'S 'DOMOSTROY'……………………..………………15-16

   1. About 'Domostroy'…………………………………………………..15

   2. Analysis of 'Domostroy'…………………………………………15-16

      1. The relationship between Russian people and the Tsar………….16

      2. Religious practices…………………………………….......……..16

2.2.3. The mode of life of Russian people……………………….……..16

3. CONCLUSIONS ON THE ACCOUNTS……………….…………...17-19

   1. Fletcher’s account………………..………………………………17-18

   2. Domostroy’s clichés……………………………………………..18-19

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS……………………………...………………........19

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….20

Introduction

Not many of us have ever taken an interest in England and Russia’s relations, especially in their formation: some of us just know of its existence, others are unaware of them at all. However, recently the interest to the subject has considerably risen. Several important exhibitions dedicated to the countries’ relations have been organised (there has been an exhibition in the Kremlin devoted to the Golden Age of the English court from Henry VIII to Charles I; plus in 2013 there is going to be an exhibition at the British museum dedicated to the 400^th anniversary of the House of Romanov).

England and Russia’s official relations first began during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, approximately in 1553, when the vessel of Richard Chancellor took refuge in the White Sea and landed in the domains of Muscovy. Since then a kind of trade treaty was established between the two empires, and lots of voyagers were being sent on official purposes. However, official voyages gave the English traders an opportunity to keep an account of what they did and saw. To sum it all up, in 2009 Great Britain re-published all the accounts found in a book to which the editors gave an audacious and irritating title – ‘Rude and barbarous kingdom’.

The ‘inflammatory’ book provoked a great interest in me. My fundamental purpose was to provide proof that the ‘offensive’ impressions of the voyagers had been mostly due to the culture shock and both countries’ extreme differences in values, religious beliefs and other aspects. In order to provide proof, I decided to examine one of the most remarkable monuments of Old Russian literature – ‘Domostroy’, written in the 15^th century, and edited by Archpriest Silvester in the 16^th century. As a typical example of an English voyager’s impressions of Muscovy, I decided to take one of the most important England’s accounts of Muscovy – ‘Of the Russe Commonwealth’, written by Giles Fletcher during his official trade mission to Russia.

The topicality of my research work is the recent increase of interest towards England and Russia’s relations during the Golden Age (the organisation of the exhibition in the Moscow Kremlin and the future exhibition of the 200^th anniversary of the House of Romanov in the British Museum, London).

Therefore, the aim of my research is to provide proof of the differences between both countries’ cultures depicted in the English materials and in Russian historical literature.

While I was carrying out the research, I put forward the following tasks:

• Select the required materials for the research;

• Visit the exhibition devoted to the Golden Age in Great Britain;

• Analyse the English materials;

• Analyse a typical piece of relevant Russian literature;

• Give a detailed analysis of the resources.

The hypothesis of my research is as follows: 'The exaggeration of the barbarism and rudeness of the Muscovites depicted in the English materials can be explained in terms of national values, state and social structure, religious beliefs and, importantly, historical circumstances'.

The methods of my research work are:

• Looking for relevant information;

• Providing an adequte analysis;

• Comparing the resources;

• Providing adequate conclusions.

As it has already been mentioned above, in order to carry out the research I have been using Giles Fletcher's treatise 'Of the Russe Commonwealth' and Archpriest Silvester's 'Domostroy'.