Siegmund (Sigismund) Freiherr von Herberstein (or Baron Sigismund von Herberstein; 23 August 1486 – 28 March 1566) was a
Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
Imperial Council. He was most noted for his extensive writing on the geography, history and customs of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, and contributed greatly to early Western European knowledge of that area.
Early life
Herberstein was born in 1486 in
Vipava Vipava can refer to:
* Vipava, Vipava, town in southwestern Slovenia
* Vipava (river), in Slovenia and Italy
* Vipava Valley
The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Lit ...
(german: Wippach) in the
Duchy of Carniola, now in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
, then part of the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
. His parents were Leonhard von Herberstein and Barbara von Lueg, members of the prominent German-speaking family which had already resided in Herberstein Castle for nearly 200 years. Little is known of his early life apart from the fact that he became familiar with the
Slovene language
Slovene ( or ), or alternatively Slovenian (; or ), is a South Slavic language, a sub-branch that is part of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken by about 2.5 million speakers worldwide (excluding speak ...
spoken in the region. This knowledge became significant later in his life.
In 1499, he entered the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...
to study philosophy and law. In 1506, he entered the army as an officer and served in a number of campaigns. In 1508, he was knighted by the Holy Roman Emperor,
Maximilian I, in person. In 1515, he entered the Imperial council, or Parliament, and began a long and illustrious diplomatic career.
Diplomatic career
Between 1515 and 1553, Herberstein carried out approximately 69 missions abroad, travelling throughout much of Europe, including
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. He was feted by the ruling
Habsburgs and rewarded with titles and estates. He was twice sent to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
as ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1517 to attempt to arrange a truce between Russia and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and in 1526 to renew a treaty between the two signed in 1522. These extended visits (nine months in his 1517 visit) provided him with the opportunity to study a hitherto largely unknown Russian society.
Writing on Eastern Europe
Herberstein's knowledge of
Slovene, acquired in his youth, allowed him to communicate freely with Rusins and Moskovits, as Slovene and
Russian both belong to the
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...
. He used this ability to question a variety of people in Moskovia and Nowgorod as well as Kyiv on a wide range of topics. This gave him an insight into Moskovia and Moskovits unavailable to the few previous visitors to this region.
He probably wrote his first account of life in Moskovia between 1517 and 1527, but no copy of this survives. In 1526, he was asked to produce a formal report on his experiences in Moskovia, but this remained relatively unnoticed in the archives until he was able to find time to revise and expand it, which he possibly started in the 1530s.
The evidence suggests that Herberstein was an energetic and capable ethnographer. He investigated in depth both by questioning locals and by critically examining the scarce existing literature on Moskovia. The result was his major work, a book written in Latin titled ''
Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii'' (literally ''Notes on Muscovite Affairs''), published in 1549. This became the main early source of knowledge in Western Europe on Moskovia.
In 1546 he made the first known map showing Western Europe territory, including Nowgorodia, Moskovia, Twer and Volodimeria as well as some Ukrainian cities and countries Moldavia, Lithuania and Livonia.
«Moscovia Sigismundi liberi Baronis in Herberstein, Neiperg, et Gutenhag anno M. D. XLV»
He was the first to record the spelling of ''
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
'' as ''czar'' (both spellings are meant to express the same pronunciation). Later, English and French began to move from the 'cz' spelling to the 'ts' spelling in the 19th century.
References
*The primary source of material on Herberstein is
Marshall Poe's publications, particularly A People Born To Slavery': Russia in Early Modern European Ethnography'' (Cornell UP).
Footnotes
External links
*
Notes upon Russia', the English translation of Herberstein's book by
Richard Henry Major, with a long preface; vol. 1
Russian text of Herberstein's book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herberstein, Sigismund Von
1486 births
1566 deaths
Carniolan nobility
Carniolan diplomats
People of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
People from Vipava, Vipava
Carniolan people of German descent
Writers about Russia