Beyond politics: about Peter I’s visit to Gdansk in 1716 in the light of selected contemporary sources

The article presents the visit of Tsar Peter I to Gdańsk in 1716; it is based on an unpublished anonymous manuscript from the Gdansk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Summarischer Bericht Deßen, was währender Ihro Groß-Czaar: Maytt: Hoher Gegenwart Anno 1716. allhier in Dantzig passiret und vorgegangen [PAN BG rkps 699]), and coverage by the European press (mainly Europäische Fama and Hamburger Relations-Courier) compared with selected texts from the era, including Major von Conradi Geschriebenes Journal des Kriegs Etats von Anno 1704 biss 1719 (PAN BG rkps 592). These sources allow to show the cultural context of this visit and offer new information on the role of Gdansk as a center of natural science in the 18th century. (The text of the manuscript PAN BG rkps 699 is attached as an annex to the article). For a better understanding of the non-political aspects of Peter I’s stay in Gdansk in 1716, however, manuscript and old-print materials held in Russian institutions, primarily in St Petersburg, need to be identified. An analysis thereof will provide better contextualisation of the source material studied so far and provide more details on the cultural elements of Peter I’s two-month visit to the city on the Motława River and its impact on Gdansk-Russian relations in the 18th century.