PAUL I (1754-1801) AUTOGRAPH Clerical manuscript. Autograph of Paul I. St. Petersburg, March 4, 1799

Lotto 8

2 5003 000

1 p. 22.6x18.4 cm. In Russian. Humidity traces. The document describes the stay of S.A. Kolychev in Vienna. Stepan Alekseevich Kolychev (1746–1805) was a Russian diplomat under Paul I, an Active Privy Councillor, and at the beginning of Alexander I’s reign, Vice-Chancellor. In 1799, relations between Russia and Austria deteriorated, and the Russian ambassador to Vienna, Count Razumovsky, was forced to leave the Austrian capital. Kolychev was then dispatched to take his place, already holding the rank of Privy Councillor, to represent Paul I in his capacity as Grand Master of the Order of Malta. The Viennese court, refusing to recognize the Orthodox monarch’s claim to membership in a Roman Catholic order, was reluctant to accept Kolychev’s credentials as the Order’s representative. His position in Vienna was extremely difficult.

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