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PODCAST

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors

Steven W. Aunan

The epic story of a 17th century trade expedition from Germany to Persia that failed so completely its leader was publicly executed upon his return. semipropilgrim.substack.com

history places & travel

All Episodes

32:23

Episode 12: Gunpowder Empires

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/12/11

Welcome to The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors, the epic story of a 17th century trade expedition from Germany to Persia that failed so completely its leader was publicly executed upon his return. This is Episode 12: Gunpowder Empires.It is still early February, 1637, and our voyagers are still in the city of Schamachie, Persia, just a few days by horseback from where they were shipwrecked on the Caspian Sea. They have been drinking their way across two continents, carrying barrels of the

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28:40

Episode 11: Death and Astronomy

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/12/03

It is now January 1637, and the new year begins with a funeral for the Persian man who drank himself to death at the welcome party for our ambassadors in the town of Schamachie.Olearius visits various schools and mosques on his walks in the city, and sometimes carries with him a small celestial globe which he has made himself. Teachers and students tell him that “astrology and the mathematicks” must be taught better in Germany than Persia, for they are “not acquainted with the invention of globes,

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24:14

Episode 10: Mountains, Mausoleums, and Music

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/11/26

It is now December 1636, and our adventurers are making their way south along the coast of the Caspian Sea, in what is still one of the most dangerous places on earth.We ended the last episode with a brief history of the major conquests of the region. As I write this episode, the most recent military conflict has ended in the old way: a prolonged siege with all the suffering that entails, followed by conquest, the expulsion of civilians, and celebration by the victors.This particular chapter of the

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24:30

Episode 9: How Many Miles to Babylon?

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/11/19

How many miles to Babylon? Threescore miles and ten.Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again.If your heels are nimble and light,You may get there by candle-light. – Songs for the Nursery (1805)The date is November 15, 1636, and the wrecked Friedrich has deposited them in a very pleasant country, green and filled with birds who sing until the middle of December. The village of Nisavay has only 15 or 16 poor houses, built of clay and absolutely square, with turf roofs you can walk on. In

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24:59

Episode 8: Hyrcanian Sea

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/11/12

It is now October 10, 1636, and the Friedrich is sailing down the shallow Volga delta, guided by a new pilot from Astrakhan and preceded by a boat of Tatars who are supposed to help them avoid the sandbars.Incredibly big plants grow along the river, Olearius says. Esula, today listed among the world’s 100 most invasive species, grows as tall as a man, and Angelica as big as a man’s arm. Angelica has been cultivated in northern climates since the 10th century, and can be used to make candy and flavor

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22:18

Episode 7: The Venice of the South

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/11/05

The date is September 16, 1636. After an exhausting voyage down the Volga, our ambassadors are anchored off the Russian city of Astrakhan, and Paul Fleming is writing a 200-line poetic monument to his friend and fellow poet, Adam Olearius.He relates how he and Olearius are wont to go down to the edge of the Caspian to contemplate the tempestuous sea, describing its fury and the events that culminated in the Baltic shipwreck described in Episode 4. And he exclaims that he wishes all his unhappiness

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33:58

Episode 6: The Cossacks

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/10/29

Welcome to The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors, the epic story of a 17th century trade expedition from Germany to Persia that failed so completely its leader was publicly executed upon his return. This is Episode 6: The Cossacks.We are now in Book 4, the date is July 30, 1636, and the ambassadors are about to board the Friedrich, and leave Nizhny Novgorod for Astrakhan, where the Volga River empties into the Caspian Sea.But they discover that a labor dispute has been simmering among the

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24:25

Episode 5: To the Volga

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/10/22

It is now the spring of 1636. For the past two-and-a-half years, our ambassadors from Holstein have traveled to Moscow twice over land and sea. Not only have they been shipwrecked, shot, kicked by horses, and thrown off sleds into the snow, they’ve been attacked by Russian insects and German mercenaries. And they’ve partied with Livonian nobles, with Swedish ambassadors, and with working-class Russians on the frontier.Ambassadors Bruggeman and Crusius are negotiating the company’s departure to

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20:34

Episode 4: Back to Moscow

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/10/15

Welcome to The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors, the epic story of a 17th century trade expedition from Germany to Persia that failed so completely its leader was publicly executed upon his return. This is Episode 4: Back to Moscow.So far, our trade ambassadors from Holstein have sailed up the Baltic, traveled overland to Moscow, and been granted permission by Tsar Mikhail I to cross Russian territory into Persia. But Duke Frederick of Holstein must also sign the treaty and approve a

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23:17

Episode 3: To Moscow

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/10/08

Welcome to The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors, the epic story of a 17th century trade expedition from Germany to Persia that failed so completely its leader was publicly executed upon his return. This is Episode 3: To Moscow.It is now the end of July 1634, and the company is, once again, eager to get moving, but they are forced to remain in a small island fort on Lake Ladoga, called Nöteburg because it is shaped like a nut, for another three weeks. They arrive in Great Novgorod on July 29,

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29:49

Episode 2: Waiting for the Tsar

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/10/01

In Episode 1, we followed the Ambassadors on their winter voyage up the Baltic Sea from Lubeck to Riga, and then overland to Narva in a convoy of horse-drawn sleds. We pick up the story as Adam Olearius and his companions are waiting for Tsar Mikhail I to authorize their entry into Russia. It is now January 1634, and as the company waits to get moving, I will introduce the ambassadors chosen for the journey by Frederick, Duke of Holstein. Get full access to The Semi-Pro Pilgrim at

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25:30

Episode 1: The Fortune

The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors ·

2023/09/24

On the night of Nov. 11, 1633, a ship named Fortune, 34 passengers aboard, was making her way up the Baltic Sea from Lubeck to Riga, when a storm forced the crew to take in all sails.In the bowels of the convulsing ship, one of the passengers was keeping a journal. “Those among us who were not used to the sea were so sick that some vomited blood,” he wrote.That passenger was Adam Olearius, a 31-year- old university-educated Master of Philosophy, who was now on a 6-year, 7000-mile journey to Moscow

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