22:
221:
princes of Russia "being either moved by the grandeur of his achievements or stricken with fear, became subject to him.". All was very much at odds with previous-perceived reality but much closer to currently-understood
Russian history. Similarly, the previously-touted ideal of the fairness of the Muscovy monarchy was contrasted with Herberstein's depiction of peasants as being in "a very wretched condition, for their goods are exposed to plunder from the nobility and soldiery".
220:
His description of Ivan's unification campaign was a series of banishments and forced relocations of whole populations to break the power of regional rulers. That culminated in Ivan's "plan of ejecting all princes and others from the garrisons and fortified places" and all formerly-independent
212:
His investigations made it clear that
Muscovy, contrary to the view of fanatical loyalty, had suffered a violent political struggle and that Muscovy had emerged only very recently as the dominant power in the region. Besides the man who achieved the unification of Muscovy,
192:
As a result, Herberstein was able to produce the first detailed eyewitness ethnography of Russia, encyclopedic in its scope, providing a view that was very accurate for the time of trade, religion, customs, politics, history and even a theory of
Russian political culture.
196:
The book contributed greatly to a
European view held for several centuries of Russia as a despotic absolute monarchy. That view was not new, but previous writers had presented an idealized view. Herberstein influenced the development of his view in two ways:
229:
One final thing for which
Herberstein and his book was noted, though not widely understood, was his contribution to a spelling confusion which did not emerge until the end of the 19th century and still causes disagreement: he recorded the spelling of
207:
He presented a view of
Russian political culture quite opposite to that argued by other writers. Although others claimed Russians were fanatically loyal to their ruler and treated in return with great fairness, Herberstein saw and wrote
119:. Beginning in the late 15th Century, the Princes of Muscovy began asserting their claim as the sole inheritor of the legacy of Kievan Rus'. Muscovy would annex many of the other Russian principalities and would evolve into the
173:
careful review of existing publications on Russia, comparing what he read with his own observations. He viewed most publications skeptically, because he knew that most of the authors had not been able to actually visit
127:
starting at the end of the 17th century. Russia was the region, Muscovy was the state until it no longer included just Moscow. Muscovy was then ruled by the
Muscovite monarchy, starting with
312:, as used for this article. There are one partial and two complete English translations of this work, the most recent one, by J. B. C. Grundy, based itself on a German version.
100:
These visits occurred at a time when very little was known about Russia outside the region. The few published descriptions of Russia were in some cases wildly inaccurate.
426:
317:
Notes upon Russia: being a translation of the earliest account of that country, entitled Rerum moscoviticarum commentarii by the Baron
Sigismund von Herberstein.
183:
investigation of
Russian written publications, which provided him with information on Russian culture completely unavailable at the time in Europe.
201:
He accentuated the absolute power of the monarchy even more than previous works had done. Writing about the
Russian Tsar, Herberstein wrote that
436:
285:, in Latin-writing Slavic languages as well as in the transliterations of Cyrillic-writing ones. English and French moved from the
217:
was characterized by Herberstein as a cruel tyrant, drunk, and a misogynist, far from being a ruler of great fairness and equity.
397:, which cites many other contemporary publications such as Giorgio, Fabri and Campense. See also the notes above in the section
431:
319:
Translated and edited by R. H. Major, London: Hakluite Society, 1851-1852, 2 vols.; reprint, New York: B. Franklin, 1963
360:
308:
consistently when translating the Latin title. A slightly more precise English translation of the Latin title would be
177:
corroboration. He was careful to make sure not to accept anything that was not well corroborated. As he wrote, he
146:
are treated as similar entities. In land area there is not much difference between Muscovy and Russia west of the
239:
325:. Edited by Bertold Picard, translated by J. B. C. Grundy, London: Dent, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1966
355:
350:
345:
85:, which became important later on his mission in Russia, when he was able to communicate with ordinary
371:
For searching digital reprints and other online versions of related source materials and maps see the
405:
203:"in the power he holds over his people the ruler of Muscovy surpasses all the monarchs of the world."
179:"did not rely upon this or that man's account, but trusted only to the unvarying statements of many."
47:
154:(region based on Moscow) because that is what it was known as in the West then. We know the area as
304:, who has written extensively on Herberstein and Russian history generally, uses the English title
247:
166:
Herberstein developed a keen interest in all things Russian, and researched in several ways:
51:
170:
using his knowledge of Slavic, he questioned a variety of people on a wide range of topics.
8:
421:
258:
278:
262:
372:
361:
Latin text of Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii, together with the early German version
111:
in the 16th century was one of the Russian states which emerged after the collapse of
366:
340:
124:
94:
90:
82:
67:
54:. The book was the main early source of knowledge about Russia in Western Europe.
254:
71:
147:
120:
112:
415:
21:
404:
For the derivation of tsar and Herberstein's contribution of czar, see the
390:
301:
116:
261:(as Herberstain spoke and wrote it) and furthermore also pre-20th century
281:
pronounce the title "tsar" with , which is always written with a simple
341:
Digital reproduction of the English translation by R. H. Major, 1851-52
266:
62:
Herberstein was an Austrian diplomat who was twice sent to Russia as
395:
Herberstein and Origin of the European Image of Muscovite Government
214:
128:
86:
78:
132:
63:
26:
323:
Description of Moscow and Muscovy, 1557, Sigmund von Herberstein
43:
231:
103:
356:
Digital reproduction of the Italian edition of 1550
131:(1462–1505), who expanded Muscovy, and ending with
367:http://stepanov01.narod.ru/library/herb/herb00.htm
351:Digital reproduction of the German edition of 1557
346:Digital reproduction of the Latin edition of 1571
413:
365:For the Russian text of Herberstein's book, see
329:
246:. This may cause confusion nowadays because the
25:Notes on Muscovite Affairs, edition printed in
427:History books about the Principality of Moscow
50:on the geography, history and customs of the
385:The main English source of information on
135:, who claimed the title "Tsar of Russia".
158:, so that is how it is referred to here.
20:
296:
414:
257:and is there pronounced as . However,
66:ambassador, in 1517 and 1526. Born in
104:Historical note on Muscovy and Russia
437:History books about the 16th century
16:Book on 16th-century Russian customs
375:project at the Library of Congress.
13:
14:
448:
387:Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii
40:Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii
224:
393:'s publications, particularly
293:spelling in the 19th century.
1:
408:, 2nd edition, entry on tsar.
330:External links and references
57:
7:
273:for . Contrary to what the
161:
10:
453:
432:16th-century history books
310:Notes on Muscovite Affairs
269:' dialects of Polish used
253:is today only used in the
187:
150:. Herberstein wrote about
35:Notes on Muscovite Affairs
406:Oxford English Dictionary
48:Sigismund von Herberstein
115:under pressure from the
306:Notes on the Muscovites
81:, he was familiar with
52:Grand Duchy of Muscovy
30:
24:
399:English Translations
373:Meeting of Frontiers
297:English translations
389:and Herberstein is
277:might suggest, all
259:early modern German
291:⟨ts⟩
287:⟨cz⟩
279:Slavonic languages
275:⟨cz⟩
271:⟨cz⟩
251:⟨cz⟩
31:
283:⟨c⟩
138:In this article,
444:
335:Online editions:
292:
289:spelling to the
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284:
276:
272:
252:
95:Slavic languages
452:
451:
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411:
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299:
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274:
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255:Polish language
250:
227:
190:
164:
125:Peter the Great
106:
89:as Slovene and
60:
42:) (1549) was a
17:
12:
11:
5:
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148:Ural Mountains
121:Russian Empire
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59:
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46:book by Baron
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
449:
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28:
23:
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398:
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391:Marshall Poe
386:
379:
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334:
333:
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309:
305:
302:Marshall Poe
300:
243:
235:
228:
225:Tsar vs Czar
219:
211:
208:differently.
202:
195:
191:
178:
165:
155:
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143:
139:
137:
117:Golden Horde
108:
107:
99:
74:
61:
39:
34:
33:
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18:
234:" (Russian
113:Kievan Rus'
422:1549 books
416:Categories
267:mazurizing
240:pronounced
58:Background
263:Hungarian
93:are both
265:or the '
215:Ivan III
162:Research
129:Ivan III
87:Russians
79:Carniola
64:Austrian
380:Others:
248:digraph
188:Content
174:Russia.
152:Muscovy
144:Muscovy
133:Ivan IV
109:Muscovy
91:Russian
83:Slovene
75:Wippach
27:Antwerp
156:Russia
140:Russia
123:under
72:German
68:Vipava
29:, 1557
242:) as
44:Latin
244:czar
236:царь
232:tsar
142:and
77:),
418::
238:,
97:.
401:.
230:"
70:(
38:(
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