The Image of Muscovy in French-language Sources in the XVII Century.

The prevailing opinion in historiography is that the 17th century’ image of Muscovy in French-language sources rest on several translations of foreign books and Margeret and Neuville diaries. Researchers argue that France and Muscovy cared very little about each other until the 18th century, but I argue that their mutual interest runs deeper. Analyzing periodicals, diplomatic and travelers’ diaries and works of cabinet scientists posted on the website BNF-Gallica, I find French Rossica (Moscovitica) already existing at the start of the 17th century: the image of Muscovy was complete, information about it was extensive. Overall, I identified the certain general image of Muscovy, determined the features of the language of description coming from the specifics of each selected genre, studied the mechanisms of including Muscovy in a militarily consolidated Europe. In particular, the paper analyzes the communication channels through which information about Muscovy reached France and establishes the role of Poland and Amsterdam as one of the leadings place-mediators of knowledge about Muscovy.