Diplomacy Space (Based on Reference Materials of the Ambassadorial Prikaz)

In the 1560s–1580s, the Ambassadorial Prikaz (foreign ministry) began to create a series of reference books that had a dual purpose. On the one hand, they allowed for quick access to up-to-date information on the relations between the Russian state and foreign powers and explained how to format messages to certain sovereigns. At the same time, each of the reference books could only cover one or two aspects of diplomatic contacts. On the other hand, taken together, these materials were a kind of training manual that allowed new employees of the foreign policy department to quickly get up to speed. Such reference books included order inventories, books of titles, viceroyal books, thematic extracts on contacts with a specific state, examples of gold-lettered design of charters to neighboring states, and books (notebooks) that recorded what seals were used to a particular document.