Charter of the Muscovy Company

Timeline

1. 1553–1556White Sea · White SeaRichard Chancellor and others reached the White Sea via the northeast route, establishing initial trade contacts with Tsar Ivan IV and proving England could trade directly with Moscow bypassing traditional land or Baltic routes.
2. 1560–1569Moscow · MoscowIn the 1560s the Muscovy Company maintained its monopoly on Russian trade, setting up trading posts in Arkhangel'sk and Moscow, exchanging English cloth and metal goods for Russian furs, pitch, rope, and wax, forming a stable transcontinental commercial network.
3. 1561–1570London and Moscow · MoscowIn the later 1560s, Muscovy Company envoys maintained contact with the Russian tsar's court, and under Elizabeth I England also considered allying with Russia against Spain, showing that chartered trade was embedded in the broader early modern international political landscape.