In the XVII – XVIII centuries. Europeans built their view of Russia on the basis of the material of a book written by Adam Olearius. This traveler has visited Muscovy three times. So Russia was called by the inhabitants of Western countries. Olearius left a detailed description of the life and orders of Russia. He made his notes during his stay at the embassy, traveling to Persia.
Childhood and education
The traveler Adam Oleari was born on September 24, 1599 in the German city of Aschersleben. He came from a simple working-class family. His father was a tailor. The head of the family died shortly after the birth of his son. Despite everyday difficulties and poverty, Adam was able to enter the University of Leipzig. In 1627, he became a master of philosophy.
The young scientist began working at his native university, but his scientific career was interrupted due to the devastating Thirty Years War. Bloodshed also affected Saxony. Adam Olearius decided not to risk his life and went north, until the war never reached. The philosopher took refuge at the court of the Duke of Holstein Frederick III. Olearius was not only a philosopher, but also an orientalist, historian, physicist and mathematician. He knew oriental languages. The Duke appreciated these rare skills and left the scientist in his service.
First trip
In 1633, Frederick III sent his first embassy to Russia and Persia. The Duke wanted to establish strong trade relations with these rich and vast countries, where rare and valuable goods were sold to Europeans. First of all, the Germans were interested in buying eastern silk. Philippe von Kruzenshtern, as well as trader Otto Brugman, was led at the head of the embassy mission. Adam Olearius became a translator and secretary, recording everything that happened to the Germans on their journey. It was this function that enabled him to later systematize his many notes and publish a book about Russia, which has become extremely popular in Western Europe.
There were 36 people in the embassy. According to Adam Olearia, the path of diplomats ran through Riga, Narva and Novgorod. The Germans solemnly arrived in Moscow on August 14, 1634. The embassy stayed in the capital for 4 months. Russian Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich (the first monarch from the Romanov dynasty) allowed foreigners to freely go to Persia. However, this goal was set before the next embassy. The first delegation, having received permission for the future, went home and returned to Gottorp in April 1635. According to the German scientist Adam Olearia, in Moscow they were received with open arms. Mikhail Fedorovich was also interested in contacts with Europeans, just as they themselves wanted to cooperate with the Russians. For four months in the city and a few more weeks on the road, Adam Olearius diligently recorded on paper everything he saw.
Second journey
Frederick III was pleased with the results of the first preliminary embassy. He was not going to stop there and set about organizing a second trip. This time, the scientist Adam Oleari became not only a secretary-translator, but also an adviser to the embassy. The Germans had to go literally to the ends of the world - to Asia, where even in the 17th century there were almost no Europeans.
According to Adam Olearia, the delegation sailed from Hamburg by sea on October 22, 1635. On board the ship there were many gifts for the Russian Tsar and the Persian Shah Safi I. But on the way near the island of Gogland in the Baltic Sea, the ship crashed on the rocks. All gifts and credentials were lost. People did not die, they barely climbed onto the shore of Gogland. Because of this misfortune, the Germans had to wander around the Baltic Sea ports on random ships for about a month.
Finally, the ambassadors were in Reval. At the end of March 1636, they entered Moscow, and in June moved to Persia. The embassy's path ran through Kolomna and Nizhny Novgorod. In the local port, the Lübeck master in advance built a ship for the Schleswigers on which they went down the Volga and ended up in the Caspian Sea. According to Adam Olearius, merchants and fishermen, who hunted on this rich fish river, also used this transport. And this time, the embassy was not destined to end its journey without incident. A raging storm threw the ship onto the Azerbaijani coast near the town of Nizabat. In late December, the Germans reached the frontier Shemakha.
Stay in Persia and return home
For another four months they had to wait for the official permission of the shah to move on. According to the German scientist Adam Olearius, the ambassadors were ready for this, realizing that the habits and norms of the eastern peoples are fundamentally different from European ones. In August 1637, the embassy arrived in Isfahan - the capital of Persia. There he stayed until the end of December. The return trip lay through Astrakhan, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. On January 2, 1639, Adam Olearius again found himself in Moscow. The Russian Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich drew attention to him and offered to stay in Russia as a court scientist and astronomer. However, Olearius refused this honor and in August 1639 returned to Germany. In 1643, he again visited Moscow, although not with such a long visit. This was the last time that Olearius visited Russia.
In general, the trip was a failure. It cost the duchy a lot of money, but no agreements on trade with Persia through the territory of Russia were agreed. In addition, the head of the embassy, Otto Brugman, abused his powers, because of which he broke out a conflict with colleagues. After returning home, the German scientist Adam Olearius became a prosecutor in court against his former boss. Brugman was executed for excessive embezzlement and failure to comply with the orders of the Duke.
Book of olearia
In 1647, Olearia’s book Description of Travel to Muscovy was published, in which he outlined the full chronology of his voyage to the east. The book immediately gained enormous popularity. Europeans' ideas about Russia were the most vague, and they eagerly absorbed any information about this distant country. The composition of Olearius has long been the most informative and rich in details. On each page of the book, his awareness, erudition and observation became apparent. The work has been translated into many European languages. In part, the book of Olearius has become a source of tenacious stereotypes about Muscovy with its unkempt nature and strange orders.
Among other things, drawings made on copper depicting outlandish paintings of Russian life, unusual for Europeans, gained special value. Their author was Adam Olearius himself. Transport and a leisurely journey allowed to take with you all the necessary tools. Drawings were created right on the journey in the wake of fresh impressions. Finished them already in Germany. In Europe, drawings depicting the inhabitants of Muscovy were completed. Especially for this, Olearius brought back Russian national costumes to his homeland, and used compatriot models dressed in foreign dresses and caftans as nature.
Appearance of Russians
The book of Olearius was divided into many chapters, each of which concerned a particular aspect of Russian life. Separately, the author described the appearance and clothing of Muscovites. Long hair relied only to the ministers of the church. Nobles should have a haircut regularly. Women liked to blush and whiten, and much more European women, which immediately caught the eye of a native of Germany.
Olearius considered men's clothing very similar to Greek. Widespread were wide shirts and pants, on which narrow and long camisoles were worn, hanging down to the knees. Each man wore a hat, by the look of which it was possible to determine the social belonging of a person. Princes, boyars and state advisers did not remove them even during public meetings. Caps for them were made of expensive fox or sable fur. Ordinary citizens in the summer wore hats made of white felt, and in winter - cloth.
Russian short and front-pointed boots made of morocco or yufti resembled Polish shoes. According to the scientist Adam Olearius, the girls walked in high-heeled shoes. Women's costumes were very similar to men's ones, only their outer clothes were slightly wider and edged with gold-colored laces and gowns.
Muscovites nutrition and welfare
The German scientist made many notes about the life and well-being of Russians. All this was very interested in the omnipresent Adam Olearius. According to the German scientist, the Muscovites were much poorer than the Germans. Even the aristocracy, who owned towers and palaces, built them only in the last thirty years, and before that she herself lived quite poorly. Speaking about this period, Olearius had in mind the Time of Troubles, when Russia was devastated by the civil war and Polish intervention.
The daily nutrition of commoners consisted of turnips, cereals, cabbage, cucumbers, salted and fresh fish. While the average European had “delicate dishes and goodies,” the Russians did not know anything and did not try. Olearius noted that the magnificent pastures of Muscovy gave good lamb, beef and pork. However, the Russians didn’t eat meat very much, since almost half a year in their Orthodox calendar was a strict post. It was replaced by various fish dishes mixed with vegetables.
Olearius was surprised at the special look of Russian cookies, which was called pies. In Muscovy there were a lot of sturgeon caviar, which was transported in barrels on carts and sleighs. According to the scientist Adam Olearius, this transport was also used to deliver other products that were not produced in cities.
Government structure
Olearius described in detail the state structure of Russia. First of all, he noted the slavish position of the supreme nobles in relation to his king, which, in turn, was transferred to lower-level officials and, finally, to commoners.
In the 17th century, corporal punishment was widespread in Russia . They were applied even to aristocrats and wealthy merchants who, for example, for disrespectful reason missed an audience with the sovereign. Attitude to the king as to God was inculcated from the earliest years. Adults inspired this norm to their children, and those in turn to their children. In Europe, such orders are already in the past.
Olearius, studying the situation of the boyars, noted that they serve the tsar not only in state affairs, but also in the courts and chancelleries. So the German out of habit called the orders - the predecessors of the Russian ministries. In total, the Olearius counted 33 offices. He also noted the severity of the Moscow courts. If a person was caught stealing, they began to torture him in order to find out if he had stolen anything else. The executioners beat with a whip, pulled out their nostrils, etc.
The most frequent courts were the debt and debtor courts. As a rule, a term was set for such people during which they could legally pay the required amount. If the debtor did not fit into this period, then he was sent to a special debt prison. Such prisoners were taken out to the street in front of the office building every day and punished with sticks on the legs.
Orthodox Church
In Moscow of the 17th century there were a huge number of churches, which Adam Olearius noted. Each year, the bishops initiated the construction of new churches. Olearius counted 4 thousand clergymen in the Russian capital with a total population of about 200 thousand people. The monks walked around the city in long black caftans, over which were the same color of their raincoats. Their other obligatory attributes were hoods (bonnets) and staves.
In order to become a priest, a man had to pass certification, that is, pass exams and convince the commission that he can read, write and sing. In Muscovy there were much more monks than in European countries. This was noted by Adam Olearius. Moscow bishops patronized many monasteries, located not only in Moscow, but also scattered throughout the country outside the cities. The German in his book emphasized that Russian priests adopted a lot from the Byzantine Orthodox Church, and part of their order was contrary to Catholic customs. For example, priests could marry and raise children, while in the west it was impossible to start a family. Newborns were baptized immediately after birth. Moreover, this was done not only by the clergy in their families, but also by all the common people. Such a hasty baptism was necessary for the reason that all people are born in sin, and only a cleansing rite can save the child from filth.
The bishops moved around Moscow in special sleighs covered with black cloth. According to Adam Olearia, this transport emphasized the special situation of the passenger. A little later, already under Aleksei Mikhailovich, carriages appeared, which the patriarchs and metropolitans began to use. If all secular people worshiped the tsar as a god, then the monarch himself had to strictly perform all church rituals, and in this he did not differ from his subjects. Russians of the 17th century closely watched the calendar. Every Sunday was celebrated by a festive service in the temple, and even the king could not help but go there or be in the church with his head covered.
Volga region
In Nizhny Novgorod of the 17th century, Russians, Tatars and Germans lived. Thus, it was the easternmost city where Lutherans had a church and were free to practice their religion. When Adam Oleari arrived, the German community consisted of a hundred people. Foreigners came to Nizhny Novgorod for various reasons. Some were brewing, others were military officers, and others were distilling.
Ships from all over the Volga arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. According to Adam Olearia, this transport was used by the “Cheremis Tatars” (that is, the Mari), who lived downstream of the Volga. The German scientist left a curious sketch about them. Cheremis, originally from the right bank of the Volga, were called upland. They lived in simple huts, ate game, honey, and also thanks to cattle breeding.
Interestingly, Olearius in his book called the local natives "a robber, treacherous and sorcerer's people." Surely he carried on paper those rumors that were popular among the Volga Russian commoners who feared Cheremis. Such notoriety was due to the fact that many of them remained pagans in the 17th century.
The last years of Adam Olearia
Olearius spent most of his life in Schleswig. He lived at the court of the Duke, was his mathematician and librarian. In 1651, he was entrusted with the most important project - the creation of the Gottorp globe. At the time of its appearance, it was the largest in the world (its diameter reached three meters). The frame, supporting structures and mechanisms were made under the direction of Olearius for several years. Frederick III, who initiated the project, did not live to see the opening of the globe. It was introduced to the public by the next Duke Christian Albrecht.
The globe had an internal cavity in which a table and a bench for 12 people were placed. You could enter inside through the door. A map of the Earth was drawn from the outside. Inside was a planetarium with constellations. The design was unique. Two cards could rotate simultaneously. Under Peter I, the globe was presented to Russia. It was stored in the Kunstkamera and burned in a fire in 1747. From the miracle of engineering and cartographic thought, only the door was preserved, which at that moment was stored in the basement. A copy of the original model was later created.
In addition to the book about Russia and the planetary globe, Adam Olearia had many other undertakings. He wrote prose, translated fiction, and even composed a manuscript of the Persian dictionary. But most of all, the scientist remained famous precisely because of his journey to the east and notes on Russia. Adam Olearius died in 1671.