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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

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Engagement Symbol A 17th century view of Moscow
European Cartographers Map the World


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 
Russia Symbol European Cartographers Map the World

  
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Gerhard Mercator (1512–1594)
Atlas novus [A New Atlas]
Amsterdam: Henric Hondius & Joannem Jansonius, 1638
NYPL, Map Division

Portraits decorating the corners depict Julius Caesar; Claudius Ptolemy; the printer's father, Jodocus Hondius; and his mentor, Gerhard Mercator. Caesar conquered much of his world, and perhaps the allusion is to Mercator's capturing the world in his monumental atlas, of which this map is a part.

Russian lands are characterized as located in Asia, in the yellow-tinted portion of the Eurasian continent. The vague mapping of eastern Russia reveals the lack of knowledge about this region; similarly with western North America. And the suspected but unexplored Antarctica is labeled "Terra Australis Incognita," or unknown southern land.