K. N. Nefimonov’s Mission in Vienna in 1696–1697

The negotiations of the Russian mission in Vienna, headed by the clerk of the Ambassadorial Prikaz K.N. Nefimonov, are analyzed. The embassy was sent to conclude a written agreement with the Holy Roman Empire within the framework of the Holy League, which opposed the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. The result of almost a year’s stay in the Austrian capital and more than two dozen meetings and “conversations” with nobles and diplomats of the two countries was the conclusion of the Vienna Agreement between Austria, Russia, and Venice for a three-year period. Among the causes of the delay in the negotiations, one can single out the diplomatic “tightrope walking” of the Austrians; the lack of a clear understanding by the Russian envoy of the tasks set before him; and the complicated logistics of correspondence between the clerk, the Ambassadorial Prikaz, and Peter the Great. The latter even led sometimes to the loss of diplomatic mail. Overall, it seems that the events described were Russia’s first experience in signing multilateral treaties.