Count Andrey Artamonovich Matveev () (1666–1728) was a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n statesman of the Petrine epoch best remembered as one of the first Russian ambassadors and

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

's agent in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. Andrey Matveyev was the son of the more famous

Artamon Matveyev Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev (; – ) was a Russian statesman, diplomat and reformer. He served as the head ('' dyak'') of the foreign ministry (''Posolsky prikaz'') from 1671 to 1676 during the reign of Alexis of Russia, succeeding Afanasy Or ...

by a Scottish woman,

Eudoxia Hamilton Eudoxia (, ''Eudoxía''), Eudokia (, ''Eudokía'', anglicized as Eudocia) or Evdokia is a feminine given name, which originally meant "good fame or judgement" or "she whose fame or judgement is good" in Greek. The Slavic forms of the name are East ...

. At the age of eight he was granted a rank of ''chamber

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

'' (комнатный стольник) but was

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

d together with his father during

Feodor III Feodor or Fyodor III Alekseyevich (; 9 June 1661 – 7 May 1682) was Tsar of all Russia from 1676 until his death in 1682. Despite poor health from childhood, he managed to pass reforms on improving meritocracy within the civil and military stat ...

's early reign. The Matveyevs returned to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on 11 May 1682, and four days later Artamon Matveyev was killed by the rebellious ''

Streltsy The streltsy (, ; , ) were the units of Russian firearm infantry from the 16th century to the early 18th century and also a social stratum, from which personnel for streltsy troops were traditionally recruited. They are also collectively kno ...

'' during the

Moscow Uprising of 1682 The Moscow uprising of 1682, also known as the Streltsy uprising of 1682 (), was an Rebellion, uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments that resulted in supreme power devolving on Sophia Alekseyevna, the daughter of the late Tsar Alexis I of Russ ...

, while Andrey fled the capital again. In 1691–1693 he served as ''

voyevoda Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

'' in the Dvina Region.

, who had deeply respected Matveyev the elder and whose own mother had been brought up in the Matveyev family, sent him in 1700 as

ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

, firstly in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

(1699–1712), afterwards in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(1712–1715), where he was granted in 1715 a comital title of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. In 1705, Matveev did not succeed in his

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

mission to treat with

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on trade issues. He then settled in

with the purpose of persuading Queen Anne to mediate between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and Russia and not to acknowledge

Stanisław Leszczyński Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanisław Bogusław; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duk ...

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

. Just before leaving England, Matveyev was accosted and apprehended by some

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

s, "a Brutal sort of People", who made his release from the

Sponging-house A sponging-house (more formally: a lock-up house) was a place of temporary confinement for debtors in the United Kingdom. If a borrower defaulted on repaying a debt, a creditor could lay a complaint with the sheriff. The sheriff sent his bail ...

contingent on payment of £5

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Debates_of_the_House_of_Commons_During_t/H65FAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA1-PA327&printsec=frontcove

Having suffered verbal and physical abuse, Matveyev reported to the Russian Foreign Office that the English "have no respect for common law whatsoever". Despite subsequent apologies from the Parliament of Great Britain, Parliament and the Queen, the diplomatic corps in London raised such an outcry over the incident that it led the Parliament to adopt the

Diplomatic Privileges Act 1708 The Diplomatic Privileges Act 1708 (7 Ann. c. 12) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It is also known as the Act of Anne or the Statute of Anne. It should not be confused with the Copyright Act 1710, also known as the Statute of Ann ...

(

7 Ann. This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the year 1708. For acts passed until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland. See also the list of acts o ...

c. 12), the first-ever act to guarantee

diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

. In 1716, Matveyev was recalled to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he received the rank of

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

and was appointed to run a

naval academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

. Three years later, he became Senator and President of

Justice Collegium The Collegium of Justice (also College) was a Russian executive body (collegium), created in the government reform of 1717. It was de-established during the decentralising reforms of Catherine II of Russia. Its first President was Andrey Matveev ...

. For three years before his retirement in 1727 he presided over the senate office in Moscow. His daughter

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

— rumoured to have been the tsar's mistress — was the mother of Field-Marshal Peter Rumyantsev. In his declining years, presumably influenced by

Pyotr Shafirov Baron Peter Pavlovich Shafirov (; 1670–1739) was a Russian statesman and a prominent coadjutor of Peter the Great. Early life and career Shafirov was born into a Polish Jewish family. His father, Pavel Shafirov, was a translator in the Russian ...

's research on Russian history, Matveyev described the Moscow Uprising of 1682, appending a summary account of the subsequent events up to 1698. The book is written in florid, antiquated language replete with outlandish spellings. It has a tangible bias: the actions of tsarevna Sofia and her party are painted as evil, while those of the Naryshkins and the author's father are immoderately glorified.

References