Back Muscovy Company Afrikaans Московска компания Bulgarian Companyia de Moscòvia Catalan Moskevská společnost Czech Det moskovittiske kompagni Danish Muscovy Company German Compañía de Moscovia Spanish شرکت مسکووی Persian Muscovy Company Finnish Compagnie de Moscovie French
 Seal of the Muscovy Company, showing the date 1555 above an escutcheon of arms: Barry wavy of six argent and azure, over all a ship of three masts in full sail towards sinister proper, sails, pennants, and ensigns of the first, each charged with a cross gules all between three bezants, a chief or, on a pale between two roses gules seeded or, barbed vert, a lion passant guardant of the fifth[1] All encircled by motto: Refugium Nostrum in Deo Est ("Our Refuge is in God"). The ship is shown, unusually for heraldry, sailing towards the sinister, signifying "The East" | |
| Company type | Trading company; charity |
|---|---|
| Industry | Trading company; now a charitable organization |
| Predecessor | Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands |
| Founded | 6 February 1555 in England |
| Founders | Richard Chancellor, Sebastian Cabot and Sir Hugh Willoughby |
| Fate | Existed until 1917 as a trading company. Now operates mainly as a charity. |
The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company; Russian: Московская компания, romanized: Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint-stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England and finance its exploration of the world. The Muscovy Company had a monopoly on trade between England and Russia until 1698 and it survived as a trading company until the Russian Revolution. Since 1917, the company has operated as a charity, now working within Russia.[2][3]