DER RUSSLANDHANDEL LÜBECKS IM PAMPHLET „KURTZER BERICHT UNDT INFORMATION DER HANSISCHEN VON ALTERS HERO AUF LIEFLANDT UND RUSSLANDT GEBRAUCHTER SIGILLATION, GEWERB UNDT HANTIRUNG“ VON 1571 AUS DEM STADTARCHIV TALLINN

Abstract

The article presents the original text of a previously unknown letter of Lübeck to the citizens of Reval from 1571. The letter deposited in the Tallinn City Archives contains a program for the preservation and expansion of the privileges of the Hanseatic League in Russia and Livonia. Being in a difficult economic and political situation, Lübeck was interested not only in preserving the old markets, but also in expanding its trading activity. The shifting of the center of the international trade at the Baltic Sea to some Russian cities could simultaneously contribute to the preservation of the old Hanseatic trade system and was thus highly desirable for Lübeck. In this case, all lucrative trade between Europe and Russia would have been under its control. To achieve this goal, Lübeck intended to use the mediation of Reval in the upcoming Russian–Swedish talks.