The activity of Western European merchants played an important role in the formation of the All-Russian market1 . The literature focuses on the English, Dutch, and Swedish 2 merchants who performed most of their foreign trade operations on the Russian market in the 17th century. Researchers have noted that German, Danish, French, and Italian merchants also traded in 17th-century Russia. However, along with these national groups, there was also an international group of Western European trade people operating in Russia. In the first half of the 17th century, the merchants who were part of it were called "Moscow merchant Germans" .3 They were protected by an Embassy order. Judging by their names, which in the sources are almost always distorted by Russian translators, and sometimes simply replaced with similar-sounding Russian nicknames, the "Moscow merchant Germans" came from Western European states. Sometimes there are also direct references to their national identity. In general, this group, which is mentioned in some works on various occasions, has not yet been specifically considered. Below we will discuss the status, number and main areas of capital application of the "Moscow merchant Germans" of the first half of the XVII century.

According to their legal status, the "Moscow merchant Germans" occupied an intermediate position between Russian merchants and national groups of Western European merchants. The charters granted to Andrey Witt, Andrey Buk, and Ivan Yuriev (Ivan Bukolt) 4 indicate that this group of merchants existed at least from the end of the XVI century. In the earliest of these charters, granted to A. Witt in 1599, he is called "Moscow tenant Nemchin". Since 1613, the term "Moscow merchant nemchin" appears in the letters of A. Buku and I. Bukoltu.

Chartered letters allowed free trade throughout the state. "Moscow merchant Germans" did not pay dues and duties from their yards in Moscow and other cities, their yards were exempt from standing orders, they were allowed to keep wine "to themselves". They sued only in the Embassy order. The charters granted to Witt and Buk granted them the right of duty-free trade. Bukolt was obliged to pay duties "by decree". Witt was granted the "living room name", i.e. he received the status of "Moscow guest". Unlike Buk and Bukolt, he was allowed to travel freely to other states, which was his guest privilege, as was duty-free trade .5 Buk was granted the right of duty-free trade for its "service". Bukolt had to pay customs duty because he didn't get in

1 Cm. Soloviev S. M. History of Russia since ancient times. Book V. M. 1961, p. 70 - 72, 90 - 95, 135 - 148, 304 - 306 Mulyukin A. S. Essays on the history of the legal status of foreign merchants in the Moscow State. Odessa. 1912; Smirnov P. P. New petition of Moscow merchants about the expulsion of foreigners in 1627. In: Readings in the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler. Book 23, issue 1. Kiev. 1912; Kurts B. G. The state of Russia in 1650-1655 according to the reports of Rhodes. In the collection: CHOIDR, 1915, book 2; Lyubimenko I. I. Moskovskiy rynok kak arena bor'by Holland s Angliey [Moscow Market as an arena of the Dutch-English struggle]. In: Russian Past, Vol. 5. Pg. - M. 1923; Basilevich K. V. Collective petitions of trade people and the struggle for the Russian market in the first half of the XVII century. - Izvestiya AN, VII series. Department of Social Sciences, 1932, N 2; Telegina E. P. K voprosu o torgovo-predprinimatel'noy deyatel'nosti anglichans v Rossii v 30 - 40-e gg. XVII veka [On the issue of trade and entrepreneurial activity of the British in Russia in the 30-40s of the XVII century]. - Scientific Notes of the Blagoveshchensk Pedagogical Institute, 1958, vol. IX; Zhordania G. Ocherki iz istorii franco-russkikh otnoshenii kontsa XVI i pervoi poloviny XVII v. Hch. 1-2. Tbilisi. 1959; Shaskolsky I. P. On the main features of Russian-Swedish trade in the XVII century. In: International relations of Russia in the XVII-XVIII centuries M. 1966; Sharkova I. S. Russia and Italy: trade relations of the XV-first quarter of the XVIII century L. 1981.

2 Swedish merchants are not only Swedes, but also Germans from the cities of the Swedish part of the Baltic States.

3 Later in the sources there is a slightly modified term "Moscow merchant foreigners", and it happens that the same merchant is called both the former and the new term. Obviously, these terms referred to the same group of sales people.

4 SGGD. Part II. M. 1819, N 72; part III. M. 1822, NN 14, 17.

5 Cf. privileges of guests and drawing rooms of hundreds of merchants, confirmed in 1648 (DAI. T. III. SPb. 1848, N 44).

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in the category of guests and did not provide significant services to the government. As a rule, "Moscow merchant Germans" were released from Russia with special permission from the government, while they were issued travel certificates to Arkhangelsk or Novgorod with a special mark on permission to travel abroad. Such permission was also necessary for their children when traveling to Western European countries "for learning... language and literacy skills" and to settle financial matters that are important to their parents 6 .

Thus, the status of a "Moscow merchant nemchin" in the first half of the 17th century implied exemption from the posadsky tax, jurisdiction only by an Embassy order, the right to conduct free trade within the state (in some cases duty-free), keep wine for their own needs, and the ability to travel abroad with the permission of the government. If the "Moscow trade nemchin" was granted a "living room name", then he could freely travel abroad. This position corresponded to the status of all Western European merchants, who were trading in Russia at that time according to salary certificates, 7 and was close to the status of privileged Russian merchant corporations (guests and guests of the hundred).

Joining the "Moscow trade Germans" was accompanied by an oath of 8 . Swearing an oath to the tsar in an Embassy order in the presence of a pastor, the future "Moscow merchant Germans", apparently, also " promised... serve us (the tsars) and be straight and want good", as in May 1682 their brothers swore allegiance to Peter I and Ivan V. 9 . The royal charters noted that they lived in Moscow and other cities "in our name" 10 . After taking the oath, each of them was given a certificate of merit "under the red seal" 11, listing their rights and privileges.

The duty of the "Moscow merchant Germans" to serve the Russian sovereigns distinguished them from other Western European merchants who traded in Russia. The "Moscow merchant Germans" also differed from Russian merchants in that they did not accept Orthodoxy, remained Protestants or Catholics. The adoption of Orthodoxy by a Western European merchant meant his transition to Russian citizenship. The service status of the "Moscow merchant Germans" is reflected in their petitions to the tsar's name. They must contain the stereotypical formula "your serf", adopted in the appeal to the tsar of Russian service people in the fatherland, in the device and members of privileged merchant corporations.

The service of the" Moscow merchant Germans " consisted primarily in carrying out various government assignments. This could be the purchase of various goods for the treasury and the sale of government goods to Western European merchants. So, in the 30s of the XVII century. "Moscow merchant nemchin" Grigory Van der Heyden" for a long time " lived in Putivl "by the sovereign decree for the purchase of saltpeter". He also sold state-owned caviar to Dutch merchants 12 .

They also carried out diplomatic missions. Especially often such trips were entrusted to the most prominent "Moscow merchant nemchin" of the first half of the XVII century. Heinrich Kellerman (in Russian sources - Andrey Kelderman). In the first years of Mikhail Fyodorovich's reign, Kellerman sent embassies to England three times "for interpretation and translation". During the Smolensk War (1632-1634), he was sent to Riga "for the sovereign's needs" alone "with the sovereign's treasury" (furs) of 10 thousand rubles. and stayed there for a year and a half. In Russia, he helped translate diplomatic documents in the Embassy Order. In 1647, his son Thomas Kellermann was sent as a courier to the Russian embassy in Holland, who succeeded his father in the diplomatic and commercial field in the second half of the XVII century. T. Kellermann rendered major services to the government, for which he was first granted the "common name", and then the title " Moscow state attorney and honor worthy" 13 .

6 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 2, 1636, N 5.

7 Wed. letters of grant to the Dutch G. Klenck and M. de Vogelaar (1613), K. de Molin (1613), I. Bernards (1628), G. van Ryngen (1629), A. Vinius (1631), P. Marselis of Hamburg (1638). III, N 109; Kordt V. A. Essay on the relations of the Moscow State with the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1631-Collection of Books, vol. 116, St. Petersburg, 1902. Adj. NN 7 - 8, 13 - 14, 17).

8 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 3, 1651, N 37, l. 49.

9 PSZ. T. II. SPb. 1830, N 924.

10 Smirnov P. P. Uk. soch., p. 104.

11 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 3, 1651 g, N 37, ll. 91-92.

12 Ibid., op. 1, 1634, No. 18; op. 2, 1641, No. 14, l. 2.

13 DAI. Vol. VI. SPb. 1857, N 53; PSZ. Vol. II. N 1121.

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The service also included the payment of extraordinary dues to the treasury. G. Kellerman" paid for the Smolensk service "the money he earned, gave money for horses for date people, and" made an earthen city " 14 . In 1654, the tenth money was collected from commercial foreigners who lived in Novgorod and in the Novgorod suburbs .15
The main group of "Moscow merchant Germans" of the first half of the 17th century (among them there are both individuals and family groups) included: Timofey Martynov Angeler; Zakhar Berdebekov; Samoila Ivanov Bernarts; Samoila Ivanov Briton; father and son-Andrey Yuryev Buk and Andrey Andreyev Buk; father and son-Ivan Yuryev Bukolt and Andrey Ivanov Bukolt; Ivan Ulyanov Burnsley; Valentin Valentinov; Grigory van der Heyden; father and sons-Pavel Ivanov West, Ivan Pavlov West and Yakov Pavlov West; Semyon Semenov West; Yuri West; Andrey Witt; Ivan Ivanov Gake; Ivan Nikitin Grenenberg; Robert Grief; Samoila Denart; Andrey Ulyanov Dekrev; Ivan Yelizarov; Boldvinko Zakharov; Danila Danilov Ilf; Andrey Ishkilev; father and son-Andrey (Genrikh) Andreev Kellerman and Thomas Andreev Kellerman; Barnabas Leontiev; father and sons-Eremey Panteleev Mars, Grigory Eremeyev Mars, Eremey Eremeyev Mars and Ivan Eremeyev Mars; Ivan Nikitin; Yuri Romanov; Kornilo Sakharnikov; Martin Yuryev; Mauricius Yuchter. Total-38 people 16 .

The sphere of application of the capital of the "Moscow merchant Germans" was primarily trade. Every summer they traveled from Moscow to Arkhangelsk for the fair. The nature of their activities - mainly trade operations within the country-brought them closer to Russian traffickers. "Moscow merchant Germans" brought hemp, leather, lard, honey, furs, fish, etc. to the Archangel fair, and bought cloth, fabrics, metal products, wine, paints, etc., i.e., the same as Russian merchants. The trip to the Arkhangelsk Fair was long and difficult. Information has been preserved that river vessels with goods suffered shipwrecks, trade caravans were attacked by robbers, etc. "Moscow merchant Germans", like other Western European merchants, required permission from the government to travel to the fair, which issued a special travel certificate with a route designation (Moscow, Pereslavl Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Ustyug Veliky, Kholmogory). Local authorities were instructed not to detain merchants, to provide support and take duties by decree.

The Russian merchants did not consider the "Moscow merchant Germans" who were in the tsarist service as their competitors in the domestic market and did not mix them with other Western European merchants. In well-known collective petitions of the first half of the 17th century, Russian merchants complain about the competition of the Dutch, English, Hamburg, etc., but not "Moscow merchant Germans". Although they were not legally part of the Russian merchant class, the "Moscow merchant Germans" were practically indistinguishable from it in the nature of their activities; by investing capital in Russian trade, they promoted the exchange of goods with Western Europe.

"Moscow trade Germans" conducted wholesale trade. Only in 1654 were they allowed to trade in the Moscow Gostiny Dvor and in the rows, i.e. retail. It is not known how long the permit was valid, as it was immediately clear that it would cause damage to small Russian merchants .17 As a reward for their services to the government, some "Moscow merchant Germans", such as the Kellermans, were allowed to own shops in Moscow .18 In their trade operations, they were closely associated with the Russian merchant class .19 Eg,

14 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 3, 1651, N 60, l. 3.

15 AI. Vol. IV. SPb. 1842, N 93.

16 SSGA, part II, N 72; Part III, N 14, 17; PSZ. T. II, N 1121; TSGADA, f. 141 op. 1, dd. za 1616, 1617, 1619, 1622, 1624 - 1631, 1633, 1634 years; op. 2, dd. for 1636, 1637, 1639, 1641, 1642, 1644 - 1648, 1650 op. 3, dd. for 1651, 1653, and 1655.

17 DAI, vol. Ill, N 121. In this particular case, "Moscow merchant Germans" are identified with other Western European merchants who were prohibited from retail trade. Perhaps this is the point of view of the boyar Prince M. Pronsky, and not the entire government.

18 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 3, 1651, N 60, ll. 1-2.

19 At the same time, the practice of transferring goods on credit with deferred payment was widespread, which is recorded in the preserved "memories" compiled in such cases. This practice indicates a significant level of commercial culture in Russia of the XVII century.

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I. Mars and the merchant man and hundreds of T. Spiridonov were connected. In 1645-1646, Mars took 368 rubles ' worth of goods from him. In turn, Spiridonov owed Mars 424 rubles for the goods borrowed on credit. A court case arose between them, since neither of them paid in time specified in the "memoirs" 20 .

Some "Moscow merchant Germans" were major creditors of Russian and European merchants, serving foreigners (mostly officers). Thus, J. West in 1645 lent 684 rubles to a Muscovite merchant A. Badeev from the Sourozh district, and I. Bukolt lent 880 rubles to an English merchant T. Vich. 21 and so on. The "Moscow merchant Germans" themselves also made extensive use of credit from Russian and foreign merchants and representatives of the ruling class. A. A. Buk, the son of A. Y. Buk, in 1636 - 1638 had a debt of 2264 rubles. Among his 11 creditors were the boyars I. N. Romanov, G. I. Morozov, Princes I. I. Shuisky and A. Yu. Sitskoy. Having turned out to be an insolvent debtor, Buk was put on pravezh, and several creditors claimed his yard in Moscow, and he "ran away from the bailiffs without being known", leaving his house and family. His further fate is unclear 22 . This fact is apparently exceptional. Other cases of ruin of the "Moscow commercial nemchin" in the first half of the XVII century are not noted.

So, in terms of their position, the "Moscow merchant Germans" did not differ much from other Western European merchants who traded in Russia according to salary certificates, and approached the privileged Russian merchants. Legally, they were not part of the Russian merchant class, but the nature of their trade did not differ from that of Russian merchants. At the same time, the "Moscow merchant Germans" were not identified with the national groups of Western European merchants. Their trade was accompanied by credit operations that included both Russian and Western European merchants. They were also credited by representatives of the ruling class of Russia. The Russian government was interested in the "service" of the "Moscow merchant Germans", which consisted in carrying out various assignments abroad, buying and selling government goods for the treasury, and paying emergency fees. The activities of this group of merchants contributed to the strengthening of trade relations between Russia and Western Europe.

20 TSGADA, f. 141, op. 2, 1647, N 52.

21 Ibid., 1644, No. 51; 1645, No. 19, ll. 118, 120.

22 Ibid., 1636, No. 11, l. 18; 1637, No. 41.

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