THE DIPLOMATIC MISSION OF TIMOTHY WILLIS TO MUSCOVY IN 1599: THE STORY OF A MISTAKE

In August 1599, the English diplomat, physician, and alchemist Timothy Willis (1560–1620) arrived in the Tsardom of Russia, sent by order of Queen Elizabeth I Tudor to the court of Boris Godunov. Notably, this embassy was strikingly different from previous English visits to Muscovy. During his stay in the country, Willis was supposed to convey congratulations to the new tsar on his coronation, as well as dispel rumors about England’s military support for Sigismund III and the Ottoman Sultan. Willis was also required to take up the post of the tsar’s court physician and replace Mark Ridley in this position. It is known that Willis not only failed to accomplish these tasks but also became one of the few foreign envoys of the 16th–17th centuries who were denied an audience with the Russian tsar. The purpose of this article is to show that the failure of the English envoy was a logical outcome of a series of errors, among which can be highlighted both a deficit of political and diplomatic experience and the Englishman’s lack of interest in his mission. Timothy Willis’s embassy became a significant episode in the history of Anglo-Russian relations: its outcomes made the mission itself a precedent that was actively discussed during subsequent exchanges of embassies between the two countries.