Chronology of the Key Historical Events on the Western Seas of the Russian Arctic (the Barents Sea, the White Sea, the Kara Sea) Ninth century 870–890 The travel of Otar, a Viking from the Norwegian province of Hologaland (now Helgeland), who discovered the way to the White Sea. The story of this journey was recorded from his own words by the English King, Alfred the Great. 9th–10th century The beginning of the Russian advance to the north and northeast and their appearance on the shores of the White Sea and the Barents Sea. Tenth century 920 The Viking Eirik Bloodaxe sailed in the mouth of the Northern Dvina (it was called “Vina” in the sagas). 965 The son of Eirik Bloodaxe, the Viking Harald Grey Cloak made a trip to the mouth of the Northern Dvina. Eleventh century 11th century The people of Novgorod, coming out of the White Sea, won Biarmia, the country located on the Pechora River and the Northern Dvina. 1026 The mouth of the Northern Dvina was visited by the Viking Torer Dog, who first engaged in peaceful trade but ended up plundering the temple of Iomala (supposedly located on the site of the current Kholmogory). Twelfth century 12th century (first The mention in the annals of the Terskiy Shore (the White Sea Throat), among Novgorod’s half) possessions. 1110 or 1130 The archbishop of Novgorod, John, founded a monastery of the Archangel Michael (at the mouth of the Northern Dvina), at which there was a settlement, an early precursor of the port and the city of Arkhangelsk. Thirteenth century 1222 Ivar Gacon, a warrior of the King of Norway from the Gulf, sailed at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. On the way back his ship was wrecked at the entrance to the White Sea. Fourteenth century 1302, 1320, 1323, The Belomorskiye armed forces performed sea voyages from the White Sea around the Kola 1349 Peninsula to Norway. Fifteenth century 1411 The sea campaign of the people from Dvina and Ustyug to Northern Norway, headed by Posadnik (governor of medieval Russian city-state, appointed by prince or elected by citizens) Yakov Stepanovich. 1412 The sea raid of Russian armed forces from the Dvina land to Northern Norway. 1419 The Norwegians sent to the White Sea a squad, which plundered and ravaged the villages in the deltas of the Varzuga, the Onega, and the Northern Dvina. During the repulse of the attack two Norwegian ships were captured. The first voyage of the White Sea industrialists to Novaya Zemlya. (continued) # Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 475 I.S. Zonn et al., The Western Arctic Seas Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Seas, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-25582-8 476 Chronology of the Key Historical Events on the Western Seas of the Russian Arctic 1427 The White Sea is depicted as the Gulf of the Arctic Ocean on the map of Claudius Klavusa. 1435 The monk Zosima founded the Solovetsky Monastery on the Solovetsky Islands. 1445 The attack of the Norwegian troops from the sea at the mouth of the Northern Dvina. 1491 In Varzuga, a large village of the Pomors, the temple of Nicholas of Myra (popularly called Nicholas Pomor, the patron saint of seafarers) was built. 1494 The voyage of the Moscow Ambassadors D. Zaitsev and D. Grek from Denmark around the Scandinavian Peninsula to the White Sea. 1496 The voyage of Moscow Ambassador G. Istoma on four ladyas (boats) from Novgorod to Copenhagen via Velikiy Ustyug, the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean around the Scandinavian Peninsula to the City of Trondheim (Norway), as a result of which the navigation (as defined by Academician B. A. Rybakova) description “Sailing in the Arctic Ocean” was made. The sea campaign of the people from Dvina and Ustyug to Northern Norway under the command of the governors of Moscow Ivan Lyapun and Peter Ushatyy. 1497 The voyage of the diplomats from Moscow, Dmitry Zaitsev and mates, from Copenhagen to the mouth of the Northern Dvina. 1500–1501 The voyage of the envoys of Ivan III, Tretyak Dalmatov, and Yuri Manuylov Grek, from the Northern Dvina to Denmark. Sixteenth century 1517 The farmers of Antonevo-Siysk Monastery in the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina, Terentiy and Grigoriy Tsivilёvs, Fedor and Nazar Timofeyevs made a routine trip to the Ob on their kocha (boat). The map by S.Gerbershteyn was printed. It was the first to include the Solovki (Solovetsky Islands). 1532 The Bavarian scientist Jacob Ziegler compiled the “Eighth Map, Containing the Skandinavsky Peninsula and the Most Powerful Kingdom of Norway, Sweden, Gothia, Finland, as well as the Area Inhabited by the Lapps.” 1550 The construction of the Kola stockade town. 1553 The first English expedition went into the Arctic Ocean to search for the Northeast Passage to India. The expedition consisted of three ships under the command of H. Willoughby. Around the coast of Norway the squad was divided. H. Willoughby with two ships went to the shores of the islands of Novaya Zemlya, but he died at the Murmansk coast. The commander of the third vessel, Edward Bonaventure, Richard Chancellor, passing along the Murmansk coast entered the White Sea and reached the mouth of the Northern Dvina River, arriving at Arkhangelsk. Then he went to Moscow, where he met with the Tsar of Russia, Ivan Vasilyevich IV the Terrible. 1554 The agreement on the trade of the Moscow State with England, through the White Sea, was signed. 1555 The first Russian pilot assistance at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River was set up. The English merchant Richard Gray built in Kholmogory a rope manufactory, which became the first Russian factory. 1556 According to the materials of the English navigator, the first among the Western Arctic explorers, S. Barrow, a map of the Barents Sea was compiled. The “Society of Merchants and Prospectors” organized an expedition in London, headed by R. Chensler, visiting the White Sea for the second time. The Englishman Stephen Burrough, on a small ship Searchthrift, searching for the Northeast Passage to China and India, arrived in Kholmogory, where he wintered. 1555–1557 The magnetic variation at the mouth of the Pechora River, the islands of Novaya Zemlya, Vaygach Island and in the village of Kholmogory was defined. 1557 The English merchant and captain A. Jenkinson came to Novye Kholmogory. 1564 A Danish expedition tried to go to China via the Arctic from Iceland, went to the Novaya Zemlya, but had to return due to the heavy ice. The description of it was given by Dietmar Blefken, a member of the expedition. 1565 The Dutch established a trading station in Kola. The Dutchman Oliver Brunel performed a voyage from Kola to Kholmogory, on a Russian ship. (continued) Chronology of the Key Historical Events on the Western Seas of the Russian Arctic 477 1569–1594 G. Mercator’s map, which depicts the White Sea, but neither the Onega Bay nor the Kanin Nos Peninsula, was published. 1570 The Dutch merchant Simon Van Salingen went through all the bays and harbors of the White Sea coast and conducted the first hydrographic surveys in Murman (between the Kola Bay and Svyatoy Nos). The beginning of the construction of ships in the Vologda Region for the White Sea and Baltic Sea under the direction of the Moscow Tsar Ivan IV. 1572 The first buildings of the Pomors appeared at the confluence of the Osetrovka and the Taz Rivers. 1576 The Russian vessel under the direction of O. Brunel went from the Pechora Delta to the Ob via the Yugorskiy Shar. 1577 The first Dutch vessel came to the mouth of the Northern Dvina. 1578 A fortress was built in Kem. 1580 A British expedition of two small vessels, George (40 t) and William (20 t), under the command of Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman, got into the Kara Sea (the first British to do that). The ship William vanished on the way back. The description of this voyage was found in 1875 in the Ice Harbor on the Novaya Zemlya, in the form of a manuscript. 1583 Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible issued a special charter ordering the magistrates Peter Naschokov and Nikifor Zaleshanin to find a port city “at the Dvina River,” near the Archangel Monastery, 42 versts (an old Russian measure of distance equal to 3500 feet or 1.067 km) from the White Sea. 1584 The voyage of the Dutch O. Brunel to the Novaya Zemlya. His ship was wrecked in the Sangeyskiy Shar (Pechora). The Dutch Simon Van Salingen arrived at Kola as a diplomatic representative of the Danish King Frederick II, whom he promised to compile a sea map. The first Russian commercial Port of Novye Kholmogory was built (Novokholmogory – the future Arkhangelsk). 1585 According to the Tsar’s decree, Arkhangelsk became the only city where foreigners could buy goods from the interior regions of the country. 1587 Frencis Cherry, an agent of the British trading company in Moscow, said that “there is the Warm Sea behind the Ob.” 1590–1592 The attack of the Swedish armed forces at Pomorje and Kola. Kola was burnt down. 1591 “Navigation Guidelines” by the Dutchman Luke Wagener was compiled, based on the data of the Pomorian survey of the White and Barents Seas. The Dutch merchant Simon Van Salingen published his essay “On the Lopii Land,” in which he described his journey in the White Sea in the 1570s. 1594 The first Dutch expedition of W. Barents with the objective of finding a sea route to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic waters.