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# Michel de Montaigne's journal for February 1581 mentions a Muscovite ambassador in Rome, dressed in a crimson cloak, a cassock of gold brocade, a nightcap-shaped hat of gold brocade trimmed with fur, and a skufia of silvery linen…
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/v-dnevnikakh-mishelia-montenia-za-fevral-1581-goda-upominaetsia-moskovskii-posol-v-rime-odetyi-v-bagrianyi-plashch-sutanu-iz-zolotoi-parchi-shapku-v-vide-nochnogo-kolpaka-iz-zolotoi-par/
- Published: 2021-03-04T20:41:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:41:28.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Books, Observations, Mores, Rome

Michel de Montaigne's journal for February 1581 mentions a Muscovite ambassador in Rome, dressed in a crimson cloak, a cassock of gold brocade, a nightcap-shaped hat of gold brocade trimmed with fur, and a skufia of silvery linen, who had come to ask Pope Gregory to help bring the war with Poland to an end. He lodged in rented rooms and ate at the Pope's expense. He appeared at court without interpreters, and could himself speak no language but his own. When he was invited to the Castel Sant'Angelo for the Spanish ambassador's feast, where a great gathering of people was promised, he was merely amused, remarking mockingly that in his country a cavalry detachment, for instance, is understood to number some 25 to 30 thousand horses. But what I liked best of all was the diplomatic flexibility of our compatriot. When he was taken to meet the Pope, he insisted that he would on no account kiss the pontiff's feet, and would consent to put his lips only to his right hand. When he was told that emperors and kings had kissed the papal feet, he did not yield. This ambassador was Leonty Shevrigin, nicknamed Istoma, otherwise known as Tommaso Severigeno. Remember the name of this worthy Russian.