«And ambassador’s letters…all were thrown into the water»: the experience of studying a crime in Novgorod land at the beginning of the 17th century

Abstract

This article touches on one of the extraordinary aspects of the Time of Troubles, namely an example of criminal activity in Novgorod land in the beginning of the 17th century, which fell under the jurisdiction of Novgorod voivode trial. The research was carried out on the basis of a number of voivode responses and minutes of interrogation from the archives of the Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, some of which are published in full for the first time and thus introduced into scientific circulation. The documents used in the research highlight the robbery of the ship of the English ambassador and distinguished diplomat John Meyrick who took part in the negotiation process regarding the conclusion of the Treaty of Stolbovo of 1617. In 1615 Meyrick’s ship was robbed by Novgorod peasants and Cossacks. The documents provided in the article reveal the elements of the criminal incident and cover the judicial investigation. The author of this article addresses the analysis and description of the sources and cites their content. Through studying the voivode responses, it is possible to identify the algorithm for launching and running the voivode trial in Novgorod land in the beginning of 17th century, to determine officials engaged in the investigation as well as their authority. The author concludes that the voivode responses do not provide enough information on the completion of the trial, but they can clarify the time and place of the crime as well as its elements and perpetrators. Judging by the content of the documents, the robbery was an example of crimes organized by peasants, typical for the turn of 16th–17th centuries. Such crimes were mundane, and the robbery was not intended to disrupt the negotiation process.