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{{distinguish|Company of Merchant Adventurers of London}}
The '''Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands''' was an early joint stock association, which began with private exploration and enterprise, and was to have been incorporated by King Edward VI in 1553, but received its full [[Royal Charter]] in 1555. It led to the commencement of English trade with Russia, Persia and elsewhere, and became known informally, and later formally, as the [[Muscovy Company]]. ▼
 
▲The '''Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands''' was an early joint stock association, which began with private exploration and enterprise, and was to have been incorporated by King [[Edward VI]] in 1553, but received its full [[Royalroyal Chartercharter]] in 1555. It led to the commencement of English trade with Russia, Persia and elsewhere, and became known informally, and later formally, as the [[Muscovy Company]].
 
==First phase==
The Company was formed in [[London]] in about 1551 by [[Richard Chancellor]], [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]] and Sir [[Hugh Willoughby (sea captain)|Hugh Willoughby]].<ref>[https://archiveJ.org/stream/earlyenglishvoya00hameuoft/earlyenglishvoya00hameuoft_djvu Hamel, transl.txt J.S. Leigh, ''Early English voyagesVoyages to Northern Russia: comprising the voyagesVoyages of John Tradescant the Elder, Sir Hugh Willoughby, Richard Chancellor, Nelson, and others'' (Richard Bentley, London 1857), [https://archive.org/details/earlyenglishvoya00hameuoft/page/n19/mode/2up Chapter 1] (Internet Archive).</ref> Some 240 ''adventurers'' (investors<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot. The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages, p.483</ref>) purchased shares at £25 each and a royal charter was prepared for their company under [[Edward VI of England|King Edward]] in 1553, making Sebastian Cabot its Governor. However the King died before it could receive the [[Great Seal of England|Seal]]. The circumstances are described at the opening of the Charter of 1566: <blockquoteref>"divers'The verynew good Subiects of this Realme of England in the latter end of the reigne of the late right highNavigation and mightie prince our Soueraigne Lord king Edward the sixt, at the gracious incouragement and right good liking of the said king, and by his Maiesties liberall example, did at their aduenture, and to their exceeding great charges, and for the glory of God, the honor and increase of the reuenues of the Crowne, and the common vtilitie of the whole Realme of England, set forth three ships for the discoverie by sea, of Iles, lands, territories, dominions and Seigniories vnknowen, and by the Subiectskingdom of the sayd late king not commonly by seas frequented: and after that Almightie God [Moscovia...] calledin to his mercie the said king1553', whoin died before the finishing and sealing of his most ample and gracious letters of priuiledges promised to the sayd Subiects..."<ref>E. Goldsmid (ed.), ''The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, collected by [[Richard Hakluyt]], Preacher'', Vol. III,: North-Eastern Europe and Adjacent Countries, Part II: The Muscovy Company and the North-Eastern Passage (E. &and G. Goldsmid, EdinburghEdminburgh 1886), pp. 52-76, at [https://archive.org/streamdetails/cihm_33119#/page/n341n57/mode/2up?view=theater ppp. 31952-55] (Internet Archive).</ref></blockquote> However the King died before the charter could receive the [[Great Seal of England|Seal]]. The circumstances are described at the opening of the Charter of 1566:
 
<blockquote>"divers very good Subiects of this Realme of England in the latter end of the reigne of the late right high and mightie prince our Soueraigne Lord king Edward the sixt, at the gracious incouragement and right good liking of the said king, and by his Maiesties liberall example, did at their aduenture, and to their exceeding great charges, and for the glory of God, the honor and increase of the reuenues of the Crowne, and the common vtilitie of the whole Realme of England, set forth three ships for the discoverie by sea, of Iles, lands, territories, dominions and Seigniories vnknowen, and by the Subiects of the sayd late king not commonly by seas frequented: and after that Almightie God [...] called to his mercie the said king, who died before the finishing and sealing of his most ample and gracious letters of priuiledges promised to the sayd Subiects..."<ref>''The Principal Navigations'', Vol. III, Part II: The Muscovy Company and the North-Eastern Passage, [https://archive.org/stream/cihm_33119#page/n341/mode/2up p. 319] (Internet Archive).</ref></blockquote>
The purpose of the Company was to seek a new, northern trade route to [[Cathay]] ([[China]]) and the Spice Islands (the [[Moluccas]], now part of [[Indonesia]]).▼
 
▲The purpose of the Company was to seek a new, northern trade route to [[Cathay]] ([[China]]) and the Spice Islands (the [[Moluccas]], now part of [[Indonesia]]).
The first expedition of the Company was led by Willoughby seeking the [[Northeast Passage]] to [[China]]. Three ships were outfitted and crewed for the expedition, which departed from London's [[Deptford]] Docks on 11 May 1553. Willoughby was aboard the ''Bona Esperanza'' (120 tons), with Richard Chancellor in command of the ''Edward Bonaventure'' (60 tons) and ''Bona Confidentia'' (90 tons). The ships became separated in a storm in the [[North Sea]]: the ''Bona Confidentia'' and ''Bona Esperanza'' rejoined, rounded North Cape and sailed east to [[Novaya Zemlya]]. The ''Edward Bonaventure'' likewise sailed around North Cape and along the [[Kola Peninsula]], entering the [[White Sea]] in August. On 24 August 1553, Chancellor cast anchor near the mouth of the [[Northern Dvina|Dvina River]] and was met by local Russians.<ref>[http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/whitesea.htm The Trade Route around the North Cape to the White Sea]</ref> While his crew wintered over near present-day [[Arkhangelsk]], Chancellor travelled overland to [[Moscow]], where he was received by Tsar [[Ivan the Terrible]]. Willoughby's two ships turned back from Novaya Zemlya in September and attempted to winter over on the coast of [[Lapland (Finland)|Lapland]]. Every crew member soon died from cold and hunger.▼
 
▲The first expedition of the Company was led by Willoughby seeking the [[Northeast Passage]] to [[China]]. Three ships were outfitted and crewed for the expedition, which departed from London's [[Deptford]] Docks on 11 May 1553. Willoughby was aboard the ''Bona Esperanza'' (120 tons), with Richard Chancellor in command of the ''Edward Bonaventure'' (60 tons) and ''Bona Confidentia'' (90 tons). The ships became separated in a storm in the [[North Sea]]: the ''Bona Confidentia'' and ''Bona Esperanza'' rejoined, rounded North Cape and sailed east to [[Novaya Zemlya]]. The ''Edward Bonaventure'' likewise sailed around North Cape and along the [[Kola Peninsula]], entering the [[White Sea]] in August. On 24 August 1553, Chancellor cast anchor near the mouth of the [[Northern Dvina|Dvina River]] and was met by local Russians.<ref>[http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/whitesea.htm The Trade Route around the North Cape to the White Sea]</ref> While his crew wintered over near present-day [[Arkhangelsk]], Chancellor travelled overland to [[Moscow]], where he was received by Tsar [[Ivan the Terrible]]. Willoughby's two ships turned back from Novaya Zemlya in September and attempted to winter over on the coast of [[Lapland (Finland)|Lapland]]. Every crew member soon died from cold and hunger.
Chancellor returned to the White Sea in March 1554 and arrived back in London in the autumn, bearing a letter from Tsar Ivan to the English king, welcoming trade between the two Christian nations.▼
 
▲Chancellor returned to the White Sea in March 1554 and arrived back in London in the autumn, bearing a letter from Tsar Ivan to the English king, welcoming trade between the two Christian nations. By this time King Edward had died and Queen Mary was ruling in England.
 
==The Charter of Incorporation, 1555==
In 1555 the Company received its formal royal approbation in a Charter of Incorporation issued under the date 6 February 1554/5 (but long afterwards amended to 26 February) by [[Mary I of England|King Philip and Queen Mary]], of which the full name was <blockquote>"The Marchants Adventurers of England for the Discovery of Lands, Territories, Iles, Dominions and Seigniories Unknowen, and Not before that Late Adventure or Enterprise by Sea or Navigation Commonly Frequented"<ref>Goldsmid (ed.), ''Principal Navigations of the English Nation'', Vol.III Part III.ii (1886), [https://archive.org/stream/cihm_33119#page/n109/mode/2up pp. 101-112.] </ref></blockquote> as one body and perpetual Fellowship and Commonalty. ThisThe waspromoters of this Charter are headed by [[William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester|William Marquess of Winchester]] (Lord high Treasurer), [[Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel|Henry Earl of Arundel]] (Lord Steward of the Household), [[John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford|John Earl of Bedford]] (Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal), [[William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1570)|William Earl of Pembroke]], and [[William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham|William Lord Howard of Effingham]] (Lord High Admiral of England), who with others <blockquote>"Haue at their own aduenture, costs and charges, prouided, rigged and tackled certaine ships, pinnesses and other meete vessels, and the same furnished with all things necessary haue advanced and set forward, for to discouer, descrie, and find, Isles..." (etc.)</blockquote>

The Charter constituted the Company under its Governor, Sebastian Cabot ("the chiefest setter forth of this iourney or voyage"), with four Consuls, [[George Barne II|Sir George Barne]], [[William Garrard]], [[Anthony Hussey]] and [[John SouthcotSouthcote (died 1585)|John Southcote]], with 24 Assistants named from among the principal Adventurers, its many named investors becoming the Fellowship.<ref>The fellowship names are omitted from the older printings of the Charter in Hakluyt, but are found in the ''Calendar of Patent Rolls: Philip & Mary II: 1554-1555'' (HMSO 1936/Kraus, Lendeln 1970), pp. 56-59 [https://dcmsbabel.ldshathitrust.org/deliverycgi/DeliveryManagerServletpt?dps_pidid=umn.31951001945210i&view=1up&seq=IE93468 Ex Libris Rosetta pdf67 pp. 6155-6559] (Hathi Trust).</ref> The Fellowship was to meet annually to elect one or two Governors and 28 of 'the most sad, {{not a typo|discreete}} and honest persons' of their fellowship as Assistants to the Governor or Governors, of whom four were to be chosen Consuls. This became known (for short) as the "[[Muscovy Company]]" or Russia Company, and its members the Merchants of Muscovy or Merchants of Russia.<ref>T.S. Willan, ''The Muscovy Merchants of 1555'' (Manchester University Press 1953). See also J. Olson, ''Historical Dictionary of the British Empire: K-Z'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996), [https://books.google.com/books?id=f0VnzMelzm8C&lpg=PA769&dq=mary%20tudor%20muscovy%20company&pg=PA769#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 769].</ref>
 
The Company sent Richard Chancellor again to the White Sea in 1555, in the ''Edward Bonaventura'' and the ''Philip and Mary'', where he learnt of the fate of Willoughby and spent 1556 in further exploration and negotiations with the Tsar. Having recovered and refitted the ''Bona Esperanza'' and ''Bona Confidentia'', he set out to return, taking with him the first Russian Ambassador to England, Osip Gregorjevitsch Nepeya. Three of the ships attempted to overwinter at [[Trondheim]], where both of Willoughby's ships were lost, the ''Philip and Mary'' arriving in London in April 1557. Chancellor's ship went ahead but in November 1556 foundered off the east coast of Scotland near [[Pitsligo Castle|Pitsligo]], and Chancellor was drowned. Nepeya however was rescued, and was conducted by [[Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu|Viscount Montagu]] to London, where in March 1557 he was met by a grand procession led by [[Thomas Offley|Sir Thomas Offley]], Lord Mayor, and conducted through the City to his appointed lodging. Here during the months of March and April he was fêted by the City Companies, and with the exchange of royal gifts he returned safely to Moscow.<ref>'A Discourse of the Honourable Receiving into England of the First Ambassador of the Emperor of Russia... Registered by Master Iohn Incent, Protonotary', in Goldsmid (ed.), ''Principal Navigations'', III Part ii (1886), [https://archive.org/stream/cihm_33119#page/n157/mode/2up pp. 141-51].</ref>
 
==Elizabeth's Charter of 1566==
In 1566 [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] issued a new Charter of Incorporation to confirm the Company's privileges, partly in response to the increasing expansion of the Company's sphere of activity, and partly in order to restrict unlicensed trading into Russia and elsewhere which had recently been undertaken. This Charter, which was confirmed by Act of Parliament, reincorporated the Company as <blockquote>"The Fellowship of English Merchants for the Discovery of New Trades".<ref>Goldsmid (ed.), ''Principal Navigations'', III Part ii (1886),
[https://archive.org/stream/cihm_33119#page/n341/mode/2up pp. 319-25].</ref></blockquote> At this time Sir William Garrard and [[William Chester (mayor)|Sir William Chester]] were its Governors. It continued to be referred to as the Muscovy Company.
 
Having referred to Mary's Charter of 1555, this continues:<blockquote>"Since the making of which letters patents, the said fellowship haue, to their exceeding great costes, losses and expences, not onely by their trading into the said dominions of the said mightie prince of Russia, &c., found out conuenient way to saile into the saide dominions: but also passing thorow the same, and ouer the Caspian sea, haue discouered very commodious trades into Armenia, Media, Hyrcania, Persia, and other dominions in Asia minor, hoping by Gods grace to discouer also the country of Cathaia, and other regions uery conuenient to be traded into by merchants of this realme, for the great benefite and commodities of the same."</blockquote> It continues to explain that there has since arisen unlicensed trade: "divers subiects of this realme... minding for their peculiar gaine, vtterly to decay the trade of the said fellowship, haue contrary to the tenor of the same letters patents, in great disorder traded into the dominions of the said mightie prince of Russia, &c., to the great detriment of this common wealth:" and therefore, that in future no part of these places "shall be sailed or traffiqued vnto, visited, frequented or haunted by any person being or that shalbe a citizen or denizen of this realme, by themselues, their factor or factors" other than by the order, agreement, consent and ratification of the Fellowship, on penalty of the forfeit ''ipso facto'' of their ships and goods so trafficking, half to the Crown and half to the Fellowship. Established merchants of York, Boston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Hull who were already continually involved in such trade and were invested before 25 December 1567 were to be accounted free of the Fellowship and bound by its statutes.
Further English ventures led to the creation of the [[Levant Company]] in 1581, the [[Venice Company]] in 1583, [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in 1600, [[Virginia Company]] in 1609, and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in 1670.▼
 
▲At this time Sir William Garrard and [[William Chester (mayor)|Sir William Chester]] were its Governors. It continued to be referred to as the Muscovy Company. Further English ventures led to the creation of the [[Levant Company]] in 1581, the [[Venice Company]] in 1583, [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in 1600, [[Virginia Company]] in 1609, and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in 1670.
 
==See also==
*[[Company of Merchant Adventurers of London]] (with which the "Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands" is not to be confused).
 
==References==
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{{Chartered companies}}
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:1551 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Defunct companies of England]]
[[Category:Chartered companies]]
[[Category:Organizations established in the 1550s]]
[[Category:Muscovy Company]]
[[Category:Companies established in the 16th century]]
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