V. V. Shishkin. Pyotr Ragun — Pierre Ragun, Translator from French under Ivan IV and Feodor
Ivanovich // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 2, 2026, pp. 111–119.

DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_2_111

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the main milestones of the biography of the
translator in the service of Ivan IV Vasilyevich and Feodor I Ivanovich, Pierre Ragon, who appears in Russian sources as Peter Ragun. Drawing upon documentary sources of French origin, albeit notably incomplete and fragmentary, it can be argued that the subject in question is a small nobleman from Champagne who served at the Russian court during the 1580s and was twice dispatched as the royal messenger to the French court of Henry III. The text puts forward hypotheses regarding the reasons for his presence in Russia and traces his fate upon his return to France.

Key words: Russian-French relations, 16th century, Pierre Ragon, Feodor I Ivanovich, Henry III de Valois.

Author:

Shishkin, Vladimir Vladimirovich — Dr. of Sci in Hist., chief researcher of St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: VladimirGenghis@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-5163-5474

References:

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