Isaac Massa

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Isaac Massa
Portrait by Frans Hals, 1626
BornOctober 7, 1586
Haarlem
Died1643 (aged 56–57)
NationalityDutch
Occupation(s)merchant, diplomat, cartographer
Known forEmbassy to Russia and memoirs of the Time of Troubles
SpouseBeatrix van der Laen

Isaac Abrahamszoon Massa (baptized October 7, 1586, in

Groningen
. It aims to stimulate scientific and cultural contacts between the Russian Federation and the Netherlands.

Biography

Isaac Massa was born into a wealthy silk merchant's family; his father Abraham Massa had relocated the family from

Reformation.[3]
The family surname was also known as Massart, Massaert, suggesting French origins, which is where most Huguenots started. Under religious persecution, they generally relocated to Protestant countries, such as England and those of northern Europe.

In 1601 Massa left Haarlem for

False Dmitriy I and left Russia in 1609, before the fall of Tsar Vasily Shuysky
.

Massa compiled an account of the 1601–1609 events (

Maurice. It was reproduced in print in the nineteenth century.[3] In 1612–1613 Massa published two articles on Russian events and the geography of the Land of Samoyeds,[5] accompanied by a map of Russia, which were published in an almanac edited by Hessel Gerritsz. His notes on his various travels have been published in conjunction with maps made by the explorer Henry Hudson.[6]

These articles were translated and reproduced anonymously in European languages, because the author's name was removed in early Dutch reissues. The most complete translations were published in Russian in 1937 (reissued in 1997) and in English in 1982. Massa's writing was based on an underlying religious concept of punishment for sins being indispensable. He believed that Godunov, False Dimitri, and the nation itself paid for their mortal sins. (Massa believed that Godunov killed

Tsarevich Dimitri). Russian sources consider him the least biased of contemporary Western witnesses, and very well informed. (His contemporary, Jacob De la Gardie, characterized Massa as "extremely artful in learning other people's secrets").[7]

Massa is credited with five published maps of Russia and its provinces, the last ones compiled around 1633, and two maps of Moscow city, including the schematic account of the 1606 battle between Vasily Shuysky and Ivan Bolotnikov's armies.[8] Retrieving original maps of the city could have been dangerous for Massa himself and fatal for his Russian sources.[9] Massa's rendition of the Siberian coast represented an advance in geography; for decades it was the only map of this region. It was subsequently copied by Gerardus Mercator and Jodocus Hondius, Jan Janssonius and Willem Blaeu.[10]

Gydan Peninsula

In 1614 Massa returned to Moscow, this time accompanied by his brothers, as an envoy of

Archangelsk
. At the time Russian people showed great interest in artillery compounds such as lead and gunpowder.

An average of thirty ships sailed each year to Archangelsk, a harbour near the

Lapland.[11]

In April 1622 he married Beatrix van der Laen, the daughter of a

Gustaf II Adolf of Sweden to pursue trading grains with Russia.[13]
While nourishing the relationships between Russia and Sweden, he was knighted by the Swedish King in 1625 for his arduous efforts. One year later, in 1626, he attempted to gain exclusive rights on the trading of grains out of Russia.

Massa promoted the idea of setting up a trading

Filaret (the Patriarch of Moscow) of the internal affairs of the Dutch Republic. By doing so he attempted to tarnish the reputation of his competitors and personal opponents.[15]

Portrait of Isaac Massa and his wife, Beatrix van der Laen by Frans Hals. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Because of the ongoing war between Sweden and Poland no grain could be exported through the city of Dantzig.[16] One of his opponents, Klenck, himself a wealthy merchant trading in caviar, was given Russia's permission to export ten or twelve cargo loads of rye meal. Meanwhile, Trip feigned to act on behalf of the Swedish Monarchy.[17]

In 1630 the price of grain remained extremely high due to increasing competition. Albert Burgh tried to ensure a monopoly for the City of Amsterdam. At the same time, countries such as Sweden and England endeavoured to do the same. Russian merchants tried to curtail trading by limiting import and export exclusively via Archangelsk. For the next two decades Massa combined diplomatic service with his own business.

Paintings by Frans Hals

Massa has been the subject of several portraits by Dutch painter Frans Hals, including a marriage portrait with his wife, Beatrix Van Der Laen, dated 1622 and a solo portrait of him leaning over the back of a chair dated 1626, and .[18] The wedding portrait is considered unique in composition for the period.,[19] The novel composition, "picnic style", may have been Massa's own design.[20] Massa owned a country house near Lisse, next to his brother-in-law, Adriaen Maertensz Block. He was the protector of Torrentius, a notorious painter from Haarlem.

  • Hals portrait also considered to be of Massa
    Hals portrait also considered to be of Massa
  • Hals portrait of Massa according to an engraving
    Hals portrait of Massa according to an engraving
  • The engraving by Adriaen Matham
    The engraving by Adriaen Matham
  • The solo portrait
    The solo portrait
  • Same composition later in life
    Same composition later in life

References

Notes

  1. ^ Year of death, 1643, as in Keuning, p. 65. Russian sources (e.g. Massa, 1997 p. 467) state it as 1635
  2. ^ Death of the first false Dmitrii
  3. ^ a b Massa, 1997 p. 466
  4. ^ Russian sources (Massa, 1997 p. 467) state that he was sent by his father, but Keuning suggests that Abraham Massa may have died as early as 1598.
  5. ^ Fragments reprinted in Schilder, p. 500
  6. ISBN 9781402195587
    – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Massa, 1997 p. 468
  8. ^ Massa, 1997 p. 467
  9. ^ Woodward, p. 67
  10. ^ Schilder, p. 501
  11. ^ Wijnroks, E. (2000) Handel tussen Rusland en de Nederlanden, 1560–1640: een netwerkanalyse van de Antwerpse en Amsterdamse kooplieden, handelend op Rusland, p. 236.
  12. ^ "Woonhuis van Isaac Massa".
  13. ^ Klein, P.W. (1974) De Trippen in de 17e eeuw, p. 159.
  14. ^ Engels, pp. 161, 165
  15. Amstelodamum [nl
    ]    , p. 78.
  16. J.G. van Dillen
    (1970) Van Rijkdom en Regenten, p. 65.
  17. ^ Klein, P.W. (1974) De Trippen in de 17e eeuw, p. 160.
  18. ^ "Portrait of a Couple, Probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, Frans Hals, c. 1622 - Rijksmuseum".
  19. ^ Westermann, p. 135
  20. ^ Harris, p. 323

External links

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