Jacob Ulfeldt Described Russian Court Etiquette with Great Astonishment and Displeasure

Jacob Ulfeldt described Russian court etiquette with great astonishment and displeasure. Ivan the Terrible he portrays as an arrogant, pompous, vain and abrupt man, surrounded by dull-witted boyars and streltsy. The prince, moreover, was wholly inattentive and simply did not listen to the reading of the embassy's letters and addresses, forever being distracted and chattering with the boyars. Dressed in costly garments and hung with golden chains, with a pearl ring on every finger, Ivan Vasilyevich sat enthroned on a high seat, and the envoys' particular attention was caught by the Tsar's manner of playing with a large golden apple studded with precious stones. The orb struck the Danish aristocrats as something unusual and outlandish, and they were greatly intrigued that the Tsar kept lifting it, turning it about and setting it down on a special stand. In fact, this royal insignia was unfamiliar even to the Grand Duke himself: the spherical regalia had only recently been borrowed from Europe, and he did not quite understand how to handle it.