Willoughby’s chief navigator and second-in-command Richard Chancellor, with the ship Edward Bonaventure, had found the entrance to the White Sea and anchored at the port of Archangel.

Tsar Ivan, upon hearing of Chancellor's arrival, had immediately invited the exotic guest to visit the capital for an audience at the royal court.

Chancellor makes the journey of over six hundred miles (over one thousand kilometers) through snow and ice covered country to Moscow, finding the city large (much larger than London) and primitively built, most houses being constructed of wood.

The palace of the Tsar is however very luxurious, as are the dinners he offers Chancellor.

The Tsar is pleased to open the sea trading routes with England and other countries, as Russia does not yet have a connection with the Baltic Sea at the time and the entire area is contested by the neighboring powers of Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden.

In addition, the Hanseatic League has a monopoly on the trade between Russia and Central and Western Europe.

Chancellor is no less optimistic, finding a good market for his English wool, and receiving furs and other Russian goods in return.

The Tsar gives him letters for England inviting traders and promising commercial privileges.